| "With a tandem bike there’s an awful lot of trust involved – and quite a lot of balancing!" | | Richard Smith |
Father and son Richard and John Smith are making sure they spend even more time together – by doing a charity ride on a tandem bicycle. Richard, aged 33, and his 61-year-old dad John are cycling over 900 miles from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall. They are raising money for Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation and Oxfam. They chose two of the good causes because John, from Countesthorpe, has angina and his other son, 31-year-old Steve, is diabetic. The ride will last from 10-23 July and they aim to cover around 60 miles a day. Richard’s partner, housewife Pauline Dams, aged 39, and John’s wife, 58-year-old teaching assistant Sue, will accompany them in a car. Richard, who works for a web design company and lives in Narborough, says he is not worried about his father, who works for a security alarm company, keeping up with him. “My dad has always been a keen cyclist and bikes to work four times a week. “But with a tandem bike there’s also an awful lot of trust involved – and quite a lot of balancing!” | 
