Cyclist prepares for 2,000 mile challenge

Ready to ride . . . Oldham business man Colin Stuttard who will cycle 2,000 miles for charity

Oldham businessman Colin Stuttard is planning to travel 2,000 miles to his holiday home in Malaga the hard way . . . by cycling.

He hopes his painful pedal push to Spain will raise over £1,000 for a charity which will help his grandson, Adam, who has cerebral palsy.

The marathon ride starts in May when Mr Stuttard (58), owner of Stamford Heating, sets off for London with his son Damian, who is 35.

After London, he will be accompanied by Adam’s father, Nigel Wyatt, and friends to Dover, but once on the ferry to France he will be on his own.

The epic ride, which takes in Bordeaux, southern France, the Cantabrian Mountains and Madrid en route, is in aid of the Dame Vera Lynn Trust for children with cerebral palsy.

The charity runs a school where Adam, aged 21/2, is learning to move and interact, on a one-to-one basis with staff.

Lees-born Mr Stuttard, whose company carries out heating installations for Oldham Council, said: “I’ve been inspired by the school which is absolutely brilliant.

“Adam was blind when he was born, now he can see and his little arms are beginning to move.

“He is trapped inside a body which doesn’t work properly. The school is always short of money and so I decided to raise a minimum of £1,000.”

Mr Stuttard, who says he is overweight and unfit, did a similar ride for charity 14 years ago, when he cycled from Oldham to Barcelona for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

He is currently training for his latest adventure and will be backed by his wife, Susan, driving their camper van. He said: “I hope to do it in 30 days, and I will have my old road bike and panniers.

“I’m hoping my wife will meet up with me and take the laptop so I’ll be able to sit down in the evenings and put my blog in.

“Getting there is not hard, but you have to cycle for seven hours a day, and it is just getting up hills. Some parts are seven hours uphill, and 20 minutes down the other side.

“You are cycling along, with no phone, and no one can get hold of you, through beautiful countryside, seeing things you would never normally see, such as a deer and her faun which crossed the road in front of me.”

Anyone wanting to sponsor him can go to www.justgiving.com/colinstuttard