A GRUELLING cycle ride was completed against all the odds by Chris Peck, who is not letting his cancer diagnosis stop him doing what he loves.

His determination to complete the Seven Hills Challenge recently led him to being given the Legends' Award by organisers.

Out of the 150 people who rode from Freshwater Bay to the IW Airport, Wight Mountain and GP Sports chose Chris as the ride's first legend.

They said: "We can no longer run the event as a race but riders are keen to get their best time possible. As there is no official prize for winning, we created an award to acknowledge an outstanding rider.

"This first year it went to Chris Peck as he is currently battling bowel cancer. We were surprised to see him enter, let alone finish this gruelling event.

"Chris has been undergoing treatment and rode in the challenge after five weeks of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

"We asked Chris what made him want to take part in it, to which he replied 'I always do, I didn’t want to miss out.'

"He rode the 26 miles with his friend, Dom Ward, who kept him at a steady pace, as he knew Chris would ride harder than he probably should."

Chris, 47, of Carisbrooke, is currently waiting to have an operation to remove the tumour, after being diagnosed in July 2018.

He said: "Cycling is my thing and I have done this challenge quite a few times before. The main challenge this time was to finish it.

"It was hard-going and it was difficult to see everyone passing me but I had to let them go, and I eventually reached the finish in three hours, 15 minutes.

"I wanted to show that you can still do stuff, even when you've been diagnosed with something that can kill you. It's not the end of the world and you can keep positive."

Chris, who owns haulage firm Pecks Ltd, also completed the entire Walk the Wight this year.