A group of friends will set off on an epic bike ride with a difference next month.
In their sights is the TT course, which they plan to race around, but with pedal power on their bicycles.
The 21 cyclists, mainly Yorkshire men, will ride the 185-mile round trip from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, to the Isle of Man, before getting into competitive mode and tackling the TT circuit.
It’s all in memory of their friend, Christopher Roy ‘Taz’ Tarran of Elland who died of cancer at the age of 53 last November.
Taz was a biker and loved his motorsports.
His friends and work colleagues, mostly all novice cyclists, decided to organise a charity ride called ‘TT for Taz’ from September 7 to 9 in his memory with all money raised going to his nominated funeral charities, Macmillan Cancer Support and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Dozens of individuals and local companies have already donated products, money or their time to help with the challenge and over £2,000 has already been raised. The riders, who started training in January, would like to top the £10,000 mark and have set up a website, Facebook and Twitter account to spread the word.
The riders are; Tim Ingram from Holywell Green, Simon Jones from Brighouse, Rick Helliwell from Hebden Bridge, Paul Sharpe and Matt Sykes from Elland, Steve Gully from Northowram, Halifax, Owen Peace from Bradshaw, Halifax, James Coop from Luddenden Foot, Halifax, Thomas Dobbie, Luke and Kev Barnes from Bradford, Sean Jesson, Christian Laughton, Danny Empsall and Mark Aveyard from Wakefield, Ian Crossley and John Butler from Huddersfield, Will Page from Leeds, Eddie Whittle and John McDonough from Blackburn and Graham Waller from Surrey. Alistair Bray from Elland based international freight business ‘Europe Now’ is supplying and driving their support vehicle.
‘It really is going to be a case of blazing saddles, said one of the friends, Tim Ingham. ‘It’s a mammoth task but we’re all determined to do this for Taz who was a well respected lad and sorely missed. It takes patience, time and teamwork to stage such an event and all the cyclists have really pulled together for these two great charities, and we’ve had fantastic support from friends, families and colleagues. We can’t thank all our sponsors enough.’
Pat Whitaker, Taz’s mum said: ‘Chris’s family would like to thank the cyclists for taking part in this cycle ride, especially Tim, Simon and Paul for bringing everyone together and making this event possible. We wish them every success and thank everyone for their incredible efforts and kind donations.’
Yorkshire Air Ambulance needs to raise £9,900 a day (£2.65 million a year) to keep two air ambulances in the air saving lives across Yorkshire.
One in three people will have cancer at some point in our lives and may rely on Macmillan Cancer Support whose nurses care for individuals in their home.
For more details or to donate online visit www.tt4taz.org.uk