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Dorking bike shop to the rescue after vital bike stolen from girl with painful illness

12-year-old needs bike to get around

A bike shop in Dorking has come to the rescue after a vital bike was stolen from a schoolgirl with an illness that makes walking long distances painful.

Twelve-year-old Lottie-Mae Terry-Evans, from Ashstead, has Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the body’s connective tissue. In August last year her mum Hannah Akers gave her a bike so she could ride to school in Epsom.

But last Monday the Apollo bike was missing from its protective cover after being stolen sometime over the weekend.

Hannah Akers posted an appeal on a village Facebook page, hoping that the bike might have been spotted, but there were no leads.

She told Jennifer Hardwick of the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser: “I only let her start riding the bike a month ago because the weather has been so bad. It makes her life so much easier. She gets a lot of pains in her joints so it had been really helping. For it to be taken was gutting.”

Enter a knight in shining armour - or more likely a bike shop polo shirt - in the form of Max Whicher, also from Ashstead.

Max owns and runs Bikes Direct in Dorking, and wrote to Hannah to say he had a suitable bike in stock that Lottie-Mae could have.

Hannah said: “When Max first said it I thought ‘that’s so lovely but I can’t really accept it’.

“People say things but you can’t really expect them to do them. But after I spoke to the police again and realised it was very unlikely the bike was coming back, I thought ‘I literally can’t afford a buy her another bike”, so I did ask him. It’s amazing that he helped.”

Lottie-Mae was delighted. She said: “When I came home my mum said this man from the shop had said I could have a bike. I just started jumping up and down and screaming because I was so happy.”

When her bike was stolen, she’d been devastated. “I had to walk to school and I was crying all the way because I was so sad it had gone,” she said.

Hannah said the family would always be grateful to Max.

She said: “She loves her new bike, she was just so pleased.

“We got the train from Ashtead to Dorking on Friday and when we were walking there she was in a lot of pain. By the time we got there she was in agony, so when we left she got on the bike and it just took all the pressure off.”

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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9 comments

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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Well done that shop, sounds like a proper community asset.

Excellent.

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pedalismo | 9 years ago
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At the risk of detracting from the kind act that prompted this story, let me qualify my hyperbole/nonsense/opinion.

What Max did for Hannah is completely what I've come to expect from him. He's always on hand to fix my bikes at short notice. He's always helpful, smiling and happy to do you a favour. He'll collect and return your bike, if you want. All the repairs are swiftly done to the highest standard. You get great advice. The shop has bikes for everyone, to suit every budget. It's great for families, and for first-timers or seasoned cyclists. You can try the bikes before you buy. You get the idea. A true local bike shop that cares about its customers.

On the other hand, my experience with many bike shops, especially 'specialists' and including HFTH, is a bit shabby in comparison. We all have our favourites.

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pakennedy | 9 years ago
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It's a shame they don't seem to do mail order on parts. I'd buy something out of principle. Can't afford another bike at the moment.

Faith in humanity restored for the second time today.

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pmanc | 9 years ago
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Well done Max. Good man.

And interesting to note, once again, that cycling needn't just be for the quick and the brave. Given the opportunities it can even work well for those who might otherwise have their independence and mobility limited by difficulties walking longer distances (as my then-pregnant wife discovered on a city break in Copenhagen).

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pedalismo | 9 years ago
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Fair point but fatuous comment, my friend. In my opinion, it is the best bike shop. And cycling is nothing like a church.

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oozaveared replied to pedalismo | 9 years ago
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pedalismo wrote:

Fair point but fatuous comment, my friend. In my opinion, it is the best bike shop. And cycling is nothing like a church.

Head for the Hills is by far the best Bike shop in Dorking by a country mile any day of the week and twice on a Sunday.

However Chapeau to Max for what he did. He deserves praise for that deed. There's no need for the nonsense.

and cycling is just like a church. Lots of people go for a short time on a Sunday . Some people think there's more to it than that.

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pedalismo | 9 years ago
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As well as the owner, Max, being an all round good egg, it's the best bike shop in Surrey, if not the world. Three cheers for independently-run local bike shops!

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oozaveared replied to pedalismo | 9 years ago
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pedalismo wrote:

As well as the owner, Max, being an all round good egg, it's the best bike shop in Surrey, if not the world. Three cheers for independently-run local bike shops!

Yep I like indy bike shops. This is indeed a good deed. I work in Dorking. But then you went and spoiled it all by saying something stupid like I love you. Or it's the best bike shop in Surrey. It isn't even the best bike shop in Dorking. Hyperbole is daft in this case.

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leqin | 9 years ago
0 likes

Shame on whoever stole Lottie's bike and three cheers for Max on being such a all round nice guy - well done sir and I salute you.

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