Daughter 'at peace' after cycle challenge for dad

Jes Oakley-Stafford, along with her husband, took on the challenge just two days after laying to rest her father Eric Oakley

A woman who took on her father's charity cycle ride after he died suddenly half way through has said completing it in his memory made her feel "at peace".

Eric Oakley, 64, from Hampsthwaite near Harrogate, collapsed and died of unknown causes on the seventh day of the ride between Land's End and John O'Groats in September.

The experienced cyclist was raising money in memory of his father and his cycling buddy David Birtwistle who both died of cancer.

His daughter Jes Oakley-Stafford, along with her husband, decided to pick up the route where her father Eric collapsed near Settle.

Ms Oakley-Stafford told BBC Radio York: "When we first started pedalling on Friday afternoon it was actually only two days after we'd laid dad to rest.

"So it was quite 'flash to bang', it was quite raw, but if anything that just made it even more important, more pertinent, to get it started and get it done.

"It was the most at peace I have felt since we lost dad, it just made it even more sure in my own mind that we were doing the right thing."

Eric Oakley set out to cover a 1,018-mile route from Land's End to John O'Groats

They decided to complete the challenge over three weekends - rather than in seven days because of work commitments.

Speaking about her father's fitness levels, Ms Oakley-Stafford said: "We had nowhere near the level of training that he did.

"Me and my husband are both quite physically fit, we train and go to the gym, so we're both in good health, but it would also have been a bit 'mental' to try and cycle 520 miles in seven and a half days straight."

She said even that was a "challenging enough" with the number of hills and climbs and while working in between describing it as "full on."

Ms Oakley-Stafford (second from right), her sister Emma and their stepmother Jo, decided to increase their fundraising goal to £20,000 after Eric's death

The pair had to battle the elements with Storm Ashley striking on what was meant to be the last day of cycling.

Recalling a particularly gruelling section of the route along the Scottish coastline, Ms Oakley-Stafford said: "It absolutely battered us physically. It was absolutely awful."

She said they managed to get a pub that was closed to let them in for some shelter after the landlord saw them knocking at the window.

"They opened up especially for us to give us a coffee and to let us dry off and get out of the storm for a little bit."

"It wasn't safe to keep cycling and we still had 11 and a half miles to go on the Sunday evening, which was quite hard to take", she said.

The couple were forced to continue the challenge on the Monday instead, getting back to Yorkshire after midnight, with work the next day.

"All it did was make me even more astounded and in awe of what he was doing", she added.

The family, Ms Oakley-Stafford, her sister Emma, 35, and their stepmother Jo, upped their fundraising goal for Cancer Research UK from a “humble” £2,000 to £20,000 and had raised more £16,500 at the time of writing.

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