A 76-year-old man who took up cycling eight years ago after beating cancer has completed his third European cycle ride, raising thousands of pounds for charity.
Brian Kirby, of Belton, in Rutland, has just completed his latest ride, cycling just under 3,000 miles to the Austrian capital Vienna and back – raising £2,300 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Brian, who was treated for bowel cancer in 2005 and 2006, often had to rely on Voluntary Action Rutland's (VAR) driver service to get him to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
He was determined to thank the service for its help and joined it as a driver six years ago.
Brian said of this latest trip: "I was looking at a map of Europe over the winter and I just thought 'what about Vienna?'
"I cycled through Holland, Belgium and Germany, alongside the rivers Rhine, Maine and Danube, into Austria.
"It's surprising how many people of a similar age I met on the trip who were also cycling, not just Europeans, but Americans and Australians."
Not many of those he met, however, need to wear a colostomy bag, as Brian does.
Brian did his first cycle ride to Germany in 2012, raising £1,600 for the service and Macmillan. Last year, he cycled 2,000 miles to Berlin and back and raised £1,700 for Hope Against Cancer.
Brian, whose latest trip took 70 days, said: "I met one chap on my travels and we got talking and I discovered he wore a colostomy bag, as well – we were comparing notes.
"We both agreed that focussing on exercise helped us get through the whole thing.
"Cycling in the Continent is really enjoyable. You don't have to dice with death like you do here and the countryside is quite different.
"Everybody's got a bike and when I was in Berlin last year I cycled right up to the Reichstag."
The retired engineer, who will be 77 in October, is also an admirer of the civil engineering work that goes into bridges and similar structures along the route.
He said: "I rode across the Scheldt estuary tidal barrier in Holland, built after thousands lost their lives in a tidal surge in 1953.
"The Thames Barrier protecting London has 10 gates, this is 10 miles long and has 68 gates."
He was almost forced to turn round 10 days into the trip after his bank called to tell him his debit card had been cloned.
He said: "Every time I wanted to draw out money for things I had to ring them to unlock my account."
Next year, Brian is thinking about a trip to the South of France where he can to indulge his interest in bridges with a visit to the 1,000ft high "bridge in the clouds" at Millau.
