David’s speed helps him ride for charity

Aptly named cyclist David Speed hails from just outside the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire but he travels every month from West Riding to Blackpool to attend St Johns Lodge No 2825 where he was raised to a Master Mason earlier this year. David laughs off the monthly trek, and says: “Travelling the distance from Sheffield to Blackpool does not give rise to any particular problems for me.”   Showing just how far he is prepared to travel, he recently took part in the ‘Ride 100 Cycle Series’. The Ride started in Clitheroe, Lancashire, passing through the Lancashire moors, Cumbria, the Yorkshire dales, Bowland forest and Ribble valley and was completed in one day.

 
Blackpool’s David Speed gets ready to set off on the Ride 100 Cycle Series. 

The event is organised by Action Medical Research, which has been one of the leading children’s charities for the last 60 years. The charity helps to fund medical research to treat very sick babies and to tackle premature births. Another important aim of the charity is to make life better for children with disabilities and to target a group of rare diseases which severely affects many children and which in turn has consequential effects on their families.  David adds: “I completed the 105 mile journey in seven hours, 23 minutes and four seconds. Although the ride was not a race I finished at a very respectable 23rd out of 83 participants”.

Blackpool Masons too pedalled hard in their fund raising efforts and with a tremendous response from St John’s Lodge David raised the fantastic sum of £1176 for the charity. Encouraged by the response from Blackpool Masons, David is planning another ride next year for a different charity.