Originally from North Manchester, Karl has been a keen cyclist from an early age following in his Dad’s pedal strokes who rode and raced for Middleton CC. His Dad’s love of cycling rubbed off onto Karl, who was gifted his first road bike in his early teens along with his brother. Cycling has always been part of Karl’s life, alongside many other team sports, but in his late teens he joined what was then known as the Territorial Army (TA), which somewhat reduced the amount of cycling Karl did during his 18 years military service, but he participate in some occasional racing with the Army Cycling Union (ACU). For several years Karl also participated in Mountain Biking mainly with friends, although he has become more involved in road riding again since his early 40’s.
After moving to Preston, Karl mainly rode solo until he approached Ribble Valley CRC after seeing rides promoted through British Cycling’s “Lets Ride” programme, and joined the Wednesday Night “Ice Cream” rides in 2018. As he enjoyed them so much, he then joined the club and started to participate in the Sunday Club Rides, progressing from C Rides to B Rides. Since joining Ribble Valley Karl has now taken ownership of managing and leading the Wednesday Night Social Ride, the Zwift rides during the winter periods, as well as becoming a ride leader on Sunday club rides.
Karl also has a passion for riding for charities in memory of his Mum. These are normally Charity Sportives, where Karl does at least one annual long distance sportive for either Cancer Research or Breast Cancer Now. He has raised thousands of pounds for charity, participating in events such as the Prudential 100 and the London Revolution.
His ambition is to attempt the Ride Across Britain event in 2023