|
Aidan Leheup Always a keen road racer, time trialist and cyclo-crosser, in recent years Aidan turned his talents to mountain biking, particularly mountain bike orienteering - most notably the prestigious Polaris Challenge.  Aidan (right) and Alan pulling away from the pack! There are three Polaris competitions each year, in spring, summer and autumn. The spring and autumn rides are the most grueling. Often in very difficult weather conditions, the teams of two have to ride all day Saturday; camp overnight with the kit carried on their bikes and then ride again all day Sunday. Aidan competed in every Polaris from 1994 to 2003 originally with Alan Sheldon and more recently with Steve Heading, and has a record second to none.
As overall winners of the '99 Polaris series, Aidan and Alan were sent to Australia (expenses paid by Polaris) to represent the UK in March 2000 at the Australian Championships. In two hard days (11/12 March 2000) in the Blue Mountains at "Sunny Corner" (It poured with rain the first day and was unusually cool) Aidan and Alan stormed to a 70 point WIN. Despite two punctures they finished the first day with a giant 50 point lead and the next day managed to survive a very near death, high speed downhill encounter with a 'Large Red' kangeroo - to gain a further 20 points. Becoming British and Australian champions! 2001 was a sorry year for Aidan with the three events being scuppered by Foot and Mouth, a broken sternum acquired in the Red Bull 24 race and finally a Plague of Punctures. The only consolation being that he did get a free ride in a helicopter when the Air Ambulance picked him up at the Red Bull! 2002 saw a welcome return to normal form, and riding Whyte PRST-1 full suspension bikes Aidan and Steve bagged the 2002 series with a 1st and 2nd places. After 2003 Aidan retired from competitive riding, but Steve is still going strong and getting excellent results, riding the latest Whyte E5. Aidan's Polaris record:
In February 2004, needing a new challenge, Aidan entered the notorious Iditasport Impossible Trans-Alaskan endurance race and bagged 9th position in this international event. Fairly routine problems like Polar Bears, exposure, frostbite, rogue ice flows and temperatures of -50 barely slowed him down at all.... 
Comment by observer "Aiden Leheup making final preparations just before the start. I bet he could fight a Polar Bear with one finger." Note ice on beard! Aidan also likes rock-climbing, walking and mountaineering and is widely travelled having cycled in India and climbed mountains in Nepal, Kenya and Australia. But with his busy cycling schedule he finds little time for any of his other hobbies at the moment! Little known fact - Aidan's brother-in-law is Chris Juden who deals with technical matters for the CTC (The Cyclists Touring Club) and writes highly detailed reviews of bikes (including mountain bikes) and equipment for their magazine. Tom Windsor
Tom and his friends painstakingly researched the routes for the book, coming up with an excellent variety of rides covering both North and South Derbyshire, varying in difficulty from family riding on the High Peak and Tissington Trail to the infamous 'Glossop Circle' ; a punishingly rough and hilly ride of 38 miles. Tarmac riding has been kept to a minimum and very importantly all the routes are completely legal, so you can ride them confident that you are not trespassing or breaking any access laws. Tom's other interests apart from cycling are conservation work, camping and walking. His conservationist leanings show themselves in his tendency to hoard old cycle parts! Never happy throwing things away he would rather hang onto them 'just in case'. As the rest of us stumble upon small caches of second hand parts we eagerly await Tom's next holiday so we can craftily throw a few things out! Rob Scott Richard Thoday David Holden Though he seems to spend all his spare time on his mountain bike he also lists his hobbies as tennis, music and 'socialising'
(Which can cover a multitude of sins!) Andrew Fearn  |
