Richard Hill cycles for charity

Ex-Lions, England and Saracens star Richard Hill is beginning to rediscover the passion which made him such a menace on the rugby field with the help of a custom made bike.

It is a slow road to fitness after major knee surgery as he trains for The Lexus Great British Bike Ride, but Hill’s desire for competition soon reared its head again when he came up against some fellow cyclists: “Cycling was all new to me, and I was overtaken by an elderly couple when out on the road.

“But it was when I got over taken by some more, that the competitive edge came back and I followed their route to see if I could keep up with them.


“I have just had a specialised bike delivered. It has the framework of a normal bike but it makes the most of the movement that I have and looks after the quality of the knee – so it helps generally with efficiency and comfort.

“I have had to be careful with my rehab, but this is a great opportunity to raise money for some worthy causes and look after my own health.”

Hill is set to embark on a 313-mile cycle ride to raise money for a number of charities.

The journey will begin on September 1 from Land’s End and take in some of southern England’s most beautiful countryside before ending at Twickenham three days later during the Guinness Premiership’s double header on September 4.

Hill said: “Last summer I had a major knee operation which I didn’t really want to have in my thirties, let alone in my forties or at any time.”

Hill is hoping to be joined on the four day journey by 300 other riders at a time, either for the whole trip or just one of the stages. Each night they will stay at a different local rugby club where a tented village, food and showers will await them before arriving at HQ during the Guinness Premiership double header on September 4.

“There are going to be activities planned in the evenings at the clubs we stop off at,” the flanker who retired in 2008 added. “But I can’t imagine it will be a case of putting the bikes away and rolling into bed each night.”

The main charities who will benefit from the ride are the RFU Injured Players Foundation, the RPA Benevolent Fund and Help for Heroes, but Hill was keen to stress his keenness for people to raise money for additional charities once they have obtained the necessary £300 of sponsorship per entrant (or £150 if only completing one stage).

And as for his beloved Saracens, Hill hopes that when he cycles into Twickenham on September 4 it will be his old club who are the team everyone is trying to snatch the Premiership title off: “We are in a strong position and we would love to get one of the home semi-finals.

“We had a kicking and territorial game which worked extremely well in the first half of the season but in the last couple of weeks we have had some really good performances and scored lots of tries.

“In this position anything can happen in knock-out rugby and we will have to take our chances.”

More information on The Lexus Great British Bike Ride which will take place from September 1 can be found online at http://www.greatbritishbikeride.com/.