Farmer takes on cycle challenge (From Ledbury Reporter)

Farmer takes on cycle challenge

12:30pm Saturday 30th May 2009 in News

A BROMYARD man who completed his own Tour de France is having another two-wheeled adventure.

Anthony Howlett is used to taking the long road – he’s cycled from Bromyard to Biarritz and covered the length of Britain.

But the 63-year-old wants a hat-trick and will swap Edwyn Ralph for the Emerald Isle in June.

Mr Howlett is planning a 1,000-mile round trip of Ireland over a fortnight, starting on June 13.

He leaves Dublin for Holyhead on June 29, and could cycle through Snowdonia and mid Wales before returning home.

It’s a remarkable feat for the farmer, who only took up cycling on a 16-year-old German racing bike in 2006.

“I’m crippled when I’m doing the milking in the parlour, but put me on a bike and all my pains and troubles go away,” he said.

“I’m not just going for the Guinness – Ireland looks beautiful and it’s one of the few European countries that’s still got its feet in agriculture.

I feel that if I don’t do it now, I won’t be able to in the future.”

The farmer cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats in 2007 and toured France the following summer, reaching the Bay of Biarritz and the Mediterranean.