Man, 83, smashes cycling feat in memory of wife
SuppliedAn 83-year-old man hopes he has become one of the fastest octogenarians to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats raising more than £10,000 in memory of his wife.
Eddie McGourley, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, said he was "elated" to finish his attempt to smash the record after getting the idea from a copy of the Guinness World Records book at the library.
He completed the 1,000 mile journey in 11 days, arriving in John O'Groats on Thursday beating he hopes, a previous record by three days.
McGourley is raising money for St Cuthbert's Hospice in Durham where his late wife Winifred spent her final days.
He said: "We've just finished a hard ride today and its just starting to sink in that we've done it. I'm a little bit tired.
"Winifred would have been well chuffed. She was my manager when I was racing, she looked after me.
"When I did good I got a pat on the back, when I didn't do well I was told where I went wrong."
In his youth, McGourley, who is president of Houghton Cycle Club, was a successful competitive cyclist and was a North East champion three times.
In 1970, he took part in the Milk Race where he was crowned King of the Mountains during for being the fastest cyclist on the hill sections of the course.
McGourley praised his "absolutely brilliant" support team of five who helped him along the route, including friend Stephen Foster, 71, who rode alongside and "kept me going".
Supplied"It's been tough," he said.
"There wasn't a single day where I could think 'oh, well I did well there' - we had a couple of days of absolutely Biblical conditions."
"The final push was extremely hard, it was very misty coming into John O'Groats.
"I'm really pleased we've finished and with a good record. If anyone wants to beat it they'll really have to stick in and try."
McGourley said he planned to "take things easy, watch a bit of football" and get back on the bike in a couple of days time.
Handout