A Message from Mark Hewitt
My brother in law Derek Latham as well as being a top bloke and a good mate was a talented amateur cyclist. He rode with a local (Stoke based) cycling club then called Lyme Wheelers. I didn't do cycle racing but went with him on cycling trips in my youth. Derek used to get to the top of these long (and obviously hard climbs) and then stand about with a camera to get the "racked in agony" shot.
Character building, is what I think now. You can probably guess what I was thinking then.
During this period Derek was involved in the lunatic fringe end of the cycle racing world and still holds his club record for a 24 hrs endurance race Lyme Racing Club. The medal he got for this achievement is currently on display at a racing bike shop in Stoke (Swynertons)
His pride and joy at the time was a racing bike made by a specialist bike firm Bob Jackson
Derek kept this bike in pristine condition and needless to say it was only brought out on nice days for training and for events.
The years ticked on and I left Stoke to join the Police returning to see my family a couple of times a year.
I recall Christmas 1983 I went for a drink in our local with Derek and noticed he didn't look too well. I thought nothing of it and was shocked to learn that he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer and had been rushed to hospital for an operation. He had the operation which was apparently successful and I recall going to see him and he was sitting up and eating.
The cancer came back with a vengance, killing him six weeks later.
I was devastated.
Not only had my sister, Vilma lost a devoted husband and father to their two young daughters (Katie and Kerry) but I had lost a true friend.
After Derek's death in early 1984 Vilma kept the bike as he had left it.
It was only last year that I decided I was far enough away from this experience to set in motion a long held ambition to ride the Lands End to John o Groats run on Derek's bike as an homage and to do a bit of good by raising a few quid for charity. I think he'd have found the whole thing hilarious.
I mentioned this scheme in passing one day to Bill Durrant a fellow detective and cyclist who said he wanted to do the run and nominated the Sobell House cancer hospice who had cared magnificently for his own father who sadly also died of cancer.
I duly took the bike by train to London and got it re-furbished in readiness for the ride.
The Arresting Cancer Tour will therfore see two Scotland Yard detectives attempting an unsupported ride between Lands End and John o Groats starting on 12th June (Bill birthday) finishing on 6th July (my birthday).
