Paris to Hayling Charity Cycle founder to launch book on 'life-changing' and longest-running ride

Peter McQuade’s story began 36 years ago, when he decided to embark on a solo cycle ride from Paris to Hayling Island aged 31, to raise money for cot death research following the sudden and tragic death of the baby daughter of two close friends.

‘There was no cycling tradition in the country back then and I didn’t even have a bike, so it seemed rather eccentric,’ he says.

Despite this minor setback, after buying a bike for what he thought was a one-time fundraiser and completing the cycle, Peter thought that was the end of it.

‘I put the bike away, didn’t think anything more of it, someone jokingly said in the pub the following year, “you thought of doing that ride again?” and I said, “I’ll do it if you do it”.

‘We got 18 that second year, then it was 40, then it was 90, then it took off.

‘And it’s still going.’

Peter, now 67 and President of the ride, has since completed the Paris to Hayling Charity Cycle Ride all 35 years it has been held – with only a small Covid-imposed gap in 2020 and 2021 – and was even appointed an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours in 2015.

‘We’re certain it's the longest running charity cycle in this country, and possibly in the world, I haven’t found one longer,’ says Peter.

‘I didn’t even imagine I’d be doing it. I certainly couldn’t imagine getting an MBE, let alone getting an MBE and beforehand chatting to [Chris Froome] who’d won the Tour de France twice.’

If that wasn’t enough, Peter has now written his first book - Raw Hides and Sore Heads - an autobiography or, as he likes to think of it, the story of those who took part in the ride, and he was just present.

‘On one level this is a story about a long-distance charity bike ride, but it’s more than that. It’s the story of the bike ride and the characters in it, it’s not my story.

‘It’s about the friendships made and why so many participants have said “It’s changed my life”.’

The book, which has been at least ten years in the making and will be launched later this month on November 18, details the various anecdotes of the thousands of riders who have taken part over the years, raising a collective total of over £1.8m for at least 500 charities.

‘It’s taken a long time, the talk about 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration that I've heard said about book writing before is absolutely true.

‘Overall, it’s not an easy process, but I feel I had to write it. It would be wrong if I hadn’t got it down,’ says Peter.

In keeping with the ethos of the ride, Peter, who now lives in Brighton after living on Hayling Island for most of his life, is splitting part of the proceeds of his book between two charities - international development organisation WeSeeHope and local campaign, Hayling Helps Ukraine.

‘The people who have read it so far seemed to have liked it, someone actually called it absorbing, although I’m not sure if they were using it to mop up coffee or wine at the time,’ laughs Peter.

Among countless tales he can remember over the course of 35 annual rides, out of which Peter says 18 different marriages have been born, including that of Mary Burras who met her husband on year 24 and whose twin sister’s death led to the initial ride.

‘As her mother has said, “It’s so nice to think that something so good has come out of a tragedy”.

‘This is that story,’ adds Peter.

Awash with colourful characters, camaraderie and not to mention the latter end of the books namesake, the last night parties which left riders with more than just sore quads, Peter shares a taster of a few of his favourites featured in the work.

‘We had a cyclist with an artificial leg, he had a day leg and an evening leg, and one of them got mislaid,’ says Peter.

‘Luckily it got found in time without him even knowing!’

And the riders who accidentally got involved in a police siege…

‘In year two, our first mass ride, we’ve unloaded the bikes from the van in a street in Paris, and we heard this click of rifles.

‘It turned out to be the rear entrance to the Iranian Embassy, they were doing a stake out of someone hiding inside and so we were confronted by these policemen,’ adds Peter.

He recounts one of his favourite stories, the hungry riders who stumbled into a civic ceremony in a small Normandy village on the French national holiday, Bastille Day, while in search of food.

‘We’re cycling through northern France and it’s sometimes difficult to get food that day, unlike public holidays here where everything opens, everything closes in France around lunch time,’ he says.

‘There was a group of cyclists who saw this sign which looked like a restaurant, they wandered through the door and realised they’d walked into a civic reception because it was the 14 of July. They were about to turn around when the mayor said “No, come on in!”

‘They finished up being their guests of honour, and stayed for four hours. They had the assembly singing God Save the Queen and were invited to stay the night,’ he adds.

These accounts, Peter says, are just a drop in the ocean of the many examples shared in the book, which even he had to limit to the 30th year of the Hayling Cycle Ride as otherwise, he professes, he may have never stopped writing.

Peter says that while he has enjoyed a wide-ranging career which has taken him around the world, the cycle ride remained a constant which has ‘undoubtedly changed [his] life.’

‘It’s been part of my life for every summer since 86, it was quite weird during the two years we had to stop because of Covid,’ he says.

‘It's been a fantastic experience, I’m very lucky.’

Peter’s own son Chris was the youngest cyclist to ever take part in the ride at 14 and also contributed to a legacy of cycling at his former school, near Petersfield, after encouraging his teacher and head of the cycling club to join in on the ride organised by his father.

‘They’ve produced two semi-pro cyclists, and have got a major cycling tradition, all as a result of their participation in the Paris to Hayling Cycle Ride,’ adds Peter.

While he awaits year 36, Peter instead gears up for the release of his book, a charity venture of its own.

‘Two charities will benefit,’ he adds.

‘In 2013, I persuaded some colleagues from the company I was working for then, Qlik, to cycle round the projects in Malawi that WeSeeHope was supporting.’

However, despite his long-running affiliation with the sport, Peter maintains that while a keen cyclist, he is not in any way a professional one, but he has enjoyed watching its rise in popularity in England and across the world.

‘Cycling just wasn’t a sport that the Brits did, it was a utility thing only, you’d bike to the shops or to school maybe. We certainly weren’t in any great shape for competitive cycling,’ he says.

‘The one thing I would point out is when I started the ride, I was probably a better cyclist than Bradley Wiggins - but then he was only five,’ laughs Peter.