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Wed 12 Aug, 10:13 am UTC

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Man pushes Raleigh Chopper to the top of Wales’s highest peak

By BikeRadar

Dean Brindley from Cheshire has described how he pushed a 37lb Raleigh Chopper bike to the top of Wales’s highest mountain for charity.

The advertising agency copywriter said the trip up Snowdon “was like heaving a shopping trolley up a never-ending staircase”.

Dean said: “To celebrate 30 years of Stephen Talbot Advertising, we decided to organise a number of crazy activities and in doing so raise money for St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice.

“My challenge was to get my 30-year-old Raleigh Chopper bike to the 3,560ft summit of Snowdon without hitching a lift on the mountain train.”

Starting at the Pen-y-Pass cafe car park, Dean pushed along the Miner’s Track to the summit.

“Apart from the initial mile to Llyn Llydaw, the whole route was really, really hard work,” he said. “The scree slope above Lyn Glaslyn was a particularly tricky scramble and the zig-zags were just one big hard slog.”

Once he’d reached the top, Dean grabbed a quick snack at the café before beginning to make his way back down.

Instead of an epic downhill, he faced even more pushing due to the steep gradient and the number of people walking up, and the final six-mile slog up the Llanberis Pass was particularly hard work.

Onlookers had photos taken with him, and a French couple apparently suggested that the British prime minister should give him a medal for his efforts.

“I was really shattered at the end,” Dean said. “But it was a tremendous experience and it’s good to know I’d raised money for a worthwhile cause.”

User Comments

There are 8 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 comments

  • Does *pushing* a bike count as news worthy for a cycling web site? Especially one with the tagline, "The World is for Riding."

  • I'm impressed that he managed to get his Chopper out on the top of Snowdon - the last time I tried that I got arrested!

  • Hey - I like the article, I get bored of articles of the the latest carbon fibre chainset, or the fact that 'Team Roadie' may be recruiting some Spaniard, or the constant iterations of the best multi-tool to buy. Good human interest story and an unashamed plug for his employer ;)

  • Hey hot rod and ajmteo, chill out and go read something else!

  • THose pics just look funny! But no, I'd much rather read normal stories like the TDF one about how some rider dropped his saddle a whole 1mm before a stage! I mean, can you believe that!??! A WHOLE MILLIMETRE!!!

  • I really wanted one of those bikes when I was in primary school - it was an object of lust for a 7 y/o. Never got one. Great story - brought back lots of memories.

  • ride the chopper up snowdon and ride back down, then i'll be impressed

  • Thanks for the comments. I can understand the purists finding my story a bit of a drag. But to me, cycling isn't just about riding on the road. It's about exploring and taking a bike with you. Sometimes you push, sometimes you pull you may have to carry but you get on and ride as often as you can. Just because it's a bit of a steep mountain there's no reason not to go on a bike. I did the Chopper thing to get the most exposure for the charity and to see if it could be done. It was a personal challenge and I took a great British bike with me. One extra thing.. the chopper has a stand which makes it great for posing fit one to your bike, it's worth the extra weigh for those glamour shots.

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