Mike was a wonderful friend to so many; he had a great passion for cycling, travelling, the arts and he was a true connoisseur of real ale. He had an insatiable appetite for adventure with his curiosity, intellect, knowledge and an enviable ability to see the good in everyone. Mike was particularly well known for his dress sense, wearing his infamous “red Crocs” everywhere he went.

Many of us miss our weekly ‘board meetings’ held at The Beerhouse in Market Harborough on a Friday night. Mike would visit Waitrose to survey the ‘sell by date’ offerings to bring to the meeting – his bag of goodies was always a fantastic lucky dip and was fondly known by all as ‘Mike’s tramps trough’ .

Often, people who had only briefly met Mike would say “oh, you mean the man in the red Crocs”, but there was so much more to Mike that just his red Crocs. Above all he will be remembered for always stepping up and always being there for you.

An example of this was during his illness when he supported a small group of us in September 2019 attempting the “Cingles” – which involves 3 consecutive ascents of Mont Ventoux in a single day. From early planning stages of the ride, without hesitation, Mike stepped up to be our support vehicle. Without his assistance we would not have completed this challenge. Turning the corners on the steep ascents and catching sight of those red Crocs was wonderful, and receiving endless supplies of much needed snacks, water, nutrition and bucket loads of encouragement went a very long way to enabling us to all accomplish the very challenging Cingles.

Mike made a huge contribution to cycling locally, raising money for charity and helping to organise and lead many events including back in the day Sky Rides, the Wednesday Summer Cycling groups and considerable contribution to the annual September Audax events, to name a few. Mike was always a massive support.

“He was one of those rare gems who exudes warmth and made all who met him feel positive about life and humanity, an exceptional human being”.