Man completes 960-mile bike ride in memory of friends who died from MND

In total Pete cycled 960 miles around the country (Picture: Sue Hawkins/PA)

A 62-year-old man has cycled through places in Britain with the word ‘ness’ in the name in tribute to friends lost to motor neurone disease (MND).

Pete Hawkins, from Tideswell in the Peak District, rode for 13 days in memory of his friends Tony Hams and David Ellis, who lost their lives within two years of an MND diagnosis.

He wanted to honour his friends memory after they both died without their family surrounding them due to Covid lockdown restrictions at the time.

He started on June 24 and rode through Durness, Scotland, before making his way to Alness, West Shinness, Loch Ness, the River Ness, Inverness, Bo’ness, The Nesses, a field in the village of Haxby, near York, before finishing on Friday at Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, London.

In total Pete cycled 960 miles and the money raised will go towards the Motor Neurone Disease Association and raise public awareness of the disease.

He said: ‘(MND) is still underfunded and it is not as much in the public eye as a lot of other diseases.

‘(MND) is not (a disease) I knew much about, but I think Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow have raised it up in the public profile.

‘Because I rode a national ride, it had to be a national charity, so I thought let’s support the MND Association.

The cyclist started it all in Durness, Scotland (Picture: PA)

People have been out and about supporting Pete along the way (Picture: PA)

‘I’ve met some lovely people from the MND Association… they’re heroes.

‘They do all the work on a day-by-day basis. They’re just very inspiring people and doing what they can to raise funds and raise the awareness and the profile of the disease.

‘I think the highest spot of the ride was meeting local motor neurone disease Association folk on the way down.

He’s now raised almost £7,000 (Picture: PA)

‘I’d originally set the target at £3,000, broke that before I started the ride, set it to £5,000, broke that about five days ago, so now I have upped it to £7,500.

‘We’ve lost two or three friends from motor neurone disease with Tony and David, and suddenly life can change so you just have to enjoy it,’ he said.

‘I think if there’s any message that doesn’t sound too trite, then just get out and do something.’

To support Pete’s cause you can do so via his JustGivingPage here.

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He rode through places with ‘ness’ in the name.