Top pro cyclists Ian Stannard and Ben Swift will be talking about their careers at an event later this month in memory of Charlie Craig, the 15-year-old up-and-coming cyclo-cross rider who died in his sleep in January.
Stannard and his former Team Sky colleague Swift, now riding for UAE Team Emirates, will be joined at the #ChatForCharlie event in New Mills, Derbyshire by coach Rod Ellingworth, with ex-pro and now TV pundit, Rob Hayles acting as compere.
Starting at 7.15pm on Friday 24 November, the evening aims to raise money for #RideForCharlie, the trust set up by the youngster’s parents to support young, off-road cyclists.
Charlie’s father, Nick Craig, says: “Charlie left his family and friends in a state of shock and an incredible hole in our hearts.
“It’s nearly a year since Charlie left us and we miss him more every day. It would have been his 16th birthday in November.
“The #ChatForCharlie evening will be a chance to celebrate his memory and hopefully inspire the next generation and raise funds for us to be able to support up-and-coming young riders.”
> Tributes paid to rising cyclo-cross star Charlie Craig
A raffle will be held on the evening, and anyone wishing to donate a prize is asked to contact Fred Salmon at the Bike Factory in Whaley Bridge via email at fredsalmon [at] btclick.com or by phone on 07712 068 887.
Tickets cost £15 for adults and £12 for under-16s. The venue is the New Mills Art Theatre, Jodrell Street, New Mills, High Peak, SK22 3HJ, with New Mills served by direct trains from both Manchester and Sheffield.
#RideForCharlie aims to provide support to boys and girls aged 14 and over who ride off-road bikes and “who are or would have been inspired by Charlie to follow in his pedal strokes.”
You can find out more here.
> Video: GB junior men sweep podium at Cyclo-cross World Championships
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.