Watch: Cyclist Alan set for Everest challenge - a mile from his Shropshire home
Oswestry cyclist Alan Lewis will be climbing Everest later this month – all within a mile of his home.
Alan will be getting on his bike just off Trefonen Lane at 5am on June 20 and setting off on a long climb to the top of The Racecourse. Then he will turn round, ride back to the bottom and repeat the process – 49 times.
The 50th climb, about 16 hours later, will see the 39-year-old reach 29,000 feet, the equivalent of the highest mountain in the world.
Alan Lewis is also organising a midnight bike ride which he hopes will capture the imagination of other cyclists. The Oswestry to the Coast Midnight Ride will take place at 11.30pm on August 1, ending in Barmouth the next day at sunrise.
He is appealing for sponsors for his challenge, with all the proceeds going to the Isabelle Lottie Foundation. Alan's niece, Isabelle, was diagnosed with a tumour in May 2013 at the age of two. Today she is recovering well after five major brain operations and chemotherapy.
Her family and friends launched The Isabelle Lottie foundation aims aiming to improve awareness of brain tumours in children and young adults and fund and raise the profile of supporting organisations and neurosurgical research. Mr Lewis, who has done several cycling challenges, said that with two young sons of his own, two-year-old Benjamin and one-year-old Thomas, he could not begin to imagine how the family had coped.
"On the last lap before Benjamin's bedtime I plan to swap over to my mountain bike, which has a childseat, and take him up to The Racecourse to get him involved," he said.
"It will be a tough challenge. I will be eating and drinking whatever I can while I am cycling and the climbs will get progressively tough as the day goes on".
