Buxton Lads’ 360 miles in 36 hours bike challenge

Lewis Beresford, 20, Matthew Bradley, 19, Jack Atherton, 20, and Samuel Sessions, 20, are undertaking the body-shattering bike ride in aid of Help for Heroes – a charity close to the lads’ hearts.

The fearless foursome will be embarking from Lewis’ home at Stoop Farm, near Hollinsclough, on July 19.

The route – which is actually 372 miles – will head East to Skegness, South below Peterborough, West above Leicester then back up through the Peaks to finish at Stoop again.

Lewis, a former Buxton Community School student, said he’s ridden 1,400 miles since March to prepare for the mammoth challenge.

“The hardest things will be battling the boredom of riding for 36 hours – not to mention the intense sleep deprivation,” said Lewis, who now studies at Cambridge University.

“The sleep depravation adds a real element of risk to the ride,” he added. “When you are so tired, with your body shattered, the risk of crashing becomes a lot more likely.

“But we wanted push ourselves to the very limit with this challenge, in the hope that people will donate generously. My sister, Hannah, is in the army, and we have a lot of respect for people in the forces.

“Help for Heroes do absolutely fantastic work in supporting servicemen and women, and we wanted to do what we could to support them.”

To find out more, or sponsor the lads, visit https://www.justgiving.com/Lewis-Beresford/