Stratford friends complete cycling challenge 40 years in the making

TWO old school friends who talked of cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats when they were in their teens have finally completed the challenge... and raised £5,000 for Ukraine.

Chris Meixner, from Stratford, and Dave Thorpe – both aged 58 – resurrected their ambitions to cycle the length of Britain when they got together for the recent 25th wedding anniversary of Chris and his wife, Rosalind. The celebration was a good time to agree to take on the charity cycle challenge as both men went to Tudor Grange School, Solihull, and Dave was best man at Chris’s wedding.

Chris said: “We’ve fulfilled a lifelong ambition formulated 40 years ago during summer rides across France when we were schoolmates and we supported the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.