A CYCLIST from Meysey Hampton has riden 1200 km from Paris to Brest and back again, on a fixed gear bike.

Richard Tofts was aiming to emulate French cyclist Pierre Griffard who first organised the extreme challenge in 1891 and was riding to raise money for the Fairford Hospital League of Friends and the Meysey Hampton playing field.

Back in 1891 people thought it impossible to cover such a distance on a bicycle. 400 riders entered the first time the challenge ran and nearly half of them had pulled out before the starting gun went off.

Over half of those gave up during the race and got the train home, but one hundred did finish. The winner completing in just under 72 hours, a very creditable time even by modern standards.

Paris-Brest-Paris became a tradition that continues to this day, and it’s now one of the oldest amateur bicycling events in the world, running every four years.

It is no longer a race but has to be completed within a maximum 90-hour time limit. The course from Paris to Brest on the Atlantic coast of France is arduous with many hill climbs and pedalling around the clock.

Like Griffard, Richard undertook the challenge on his old fixed gear bicycle, making the challenge even tougher.

He left Paris on August 16, and reache the French capital in under 90 hours, less than four days, later, which equates to riding about 200 miles a day.

“The ride went very well,” he said. “It was hard work as anticipated but I got round within the time limit and had time for a coffee and croissant break before riding in to the finish at the Paris velodrome.

“It was much more than just an endurance cycling event.

“There was a huge amount of local participation along the route and it was a real celebration of cycling in all its forms, with tandems, recumbents, velomobiles, folding bikes, elliptigos and even a couple of Italians with waxed moustaches and tweed breeches riding bikes dating, I think, from around 1900, with acetylene lamps.

“Old bicycles sprayed in dayglo paint were strapped half-way up lamp posts as a form of decoration and route-marking in many villages along the way and even in the wee small hours there'd be people shouting 'allez, allez', unseen by riders passing in the darkness.

“I noticed around a dozen other fixed gear riders, most from the UK and USA and found that the route was quite well-suited to riding 'on the cog' although the long descents meant a lot of leg-spinning.

“There are many memories I have of the ride but one of the most memorable and certainly inspirational concerns a man with one leg who was in the same starting group as me.

“He went off like a whippet, his left foot resting inert on the pedal which didn't rotate but acted simply as a foot rest.

“All the work was done by his right leg. I did eventually catch up with him, but only after one thousand kilometres.”

Richard has raised over £250 so far but is looking for more donations. To sponsor him you can contact Graham Hewitt at graham.hewitt@yahoo.co.uk.