A KEEN amateur cyclist originally from Huddersfield has helped raise more than £20,000 for orphans of the HIV/Aids crisis in South Africa.
Derek Boocock was in a team of nine men and one woman who completed the Land's End to John o' Groats - known as the LeJog - challenge in just five days.
Having pedalled nearly 200 miles a day, Derek, 49, said he was glad it was all over - but it had been a "fantastic" ride.
"It's the hardest challenge I have yet undertaken, but the most rewarding and worthwhile," said Derek, who was born and brought up in Huddersfield and lived in Rawthorpe for many years.
Most riders take nearly two weeks to cycle LeJog, but Derek and his team did it at more than twice the normal speed, to reflect the urgency of the HIV/Aids crisis in South Africa.
The riders - worried that Aids is creating a new generation of orphans in South Africa - decided to test their stamina to the limit to help six projects in townships near Johannesburg.
They dubbed their journey The Race Against Time.
Derek is a cancer survivor who now lives with wife Caroline in Tong, near Bradford, and works in IT support.
The charity behind the challenge, the Bishop Simeon Trust, pays for education and HIV/Aids projects in some of the poorest townships and rural areas of South Africa.
There are more than 5m HIV positive people in South Africa and about one in five of the adult population faces illness and death from the disease.
Derek has taken part in rides on stages of the route of Tour de France and the Paris- Roubaix race, the Coast to Coast ride and a 700-mile Leeds/Paris/Leeds event.
He has also taken part in many other fundraising events and sporting challenges.
Anyone wanting to help his fundraising can phone the charity on 0845 430 1214 or give online by visiting www.justgiving.com/derekb
