Dad’s bike challenge for ‘fantastic’ facility

Andy Cash, Leland Fieldsend and Dan Gould travelled from Eastbourne to Winchester last Saturday to purchase specialist communication resources to support Andy’s son, Harrison.

The three-year-old was born 16 weeks premature and as a result of complications had a tracheotomy which means he is unable to speak.

Mr Cash, 28, an outdoor education teacher, said: “This is a really important time for Harrison and the nursery has been preparing him for when he goes up to school in September.

“Offington Park was the only pre-school that accepted him and they have offered fantastic support, as well as pushing him to achieve.

“He needs one-on-one care all the time so we wanted to give something back to the nursery.”

The trio completed a number of training rides leading up to the event and said they spurred each other on throughout.

Their first mishap occurred at around 8am when Leland crashed on a bridge and had to receive medical aid.

They also endured two punctures but were given a boost at the top of Bignor Hill when they were joined by friend Mat Winton for the rest of the challenge.

After cycling through the night, the group made it to Winchester at 1am on Sunday morning after an 18- hour journey.

Mr Cash said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to Leland and Dan, my heroes, for supporting me on the ride.

“Without their enthusiasm, motivation and determination I just couldn’t have done it on my own.

“It was a brilliant day despite the hard work and I think we did really well with the time we did it in.

“By the time it got dark we were all very tired but we managed to carry on with the help of lots of food and plenty of isotonic drinks.

“My brother came to the finish and said we actually looked better than some of the people stumbling out of clubs at that time.”

The event has to date raised £2,000 for the nursery.

“That is almost double what we were hoping for and is fantastic because it means we can buy more IT equipment such as a tablet.”