Leamington trio take on triplet toil for Gilly Mundy’s cause

Lisa Beck, her 11-year-old daughter Lia Hayles and her partner Bhupinder Mann wanted to do what they could to support the Buwan Koti International Trust (BKIT), which was set up by former Campion School pupil Gilly Mundy, who died suddenly aged 36 in 2007. The charity supports a community school in the Haryana state in India.

The threesome signed up for this year’s annual BKIT Fun Ride on July 14 - a 30-mile circular route from Leamington’s Pump Room Gardens around south Warwickshire - but they chose to do it in a more quirky way than everyone else.

Lisa said: “None of us have cycled on a triplet bike before. It’s quite quirky.”

Because the family have found it so difficult to source a triplet bicycle, they will only be able to practise riding one when they pick up the only triplet they could find in Blackpool just two days before the race.

Lisa said: “We have been practising on a tandem bike, so hopefully that will help. The triplet has three sets of pedals and we all have to pedal in coordination. It has one massive chain that goes across all of the pedals. We have to tell each other if we are stopping or slowing down.”

Her daughter Lia, a nationally-competing gymnast, is game for the challenge despite currently suffering from tendonitis. She was also born without a right hand.

Lisa said: “She is a little star - nothing holds her back.”

The family have also been training at Urban Sports Fitness gym in Leamington, which has agreed to sponsor them.

Anyone else who would like to take part in the cycle can register online. Places cost £10 plus a 90p booking fee. www.buwankothi.org.uk/donating-to-bkit/cycling-for-bkit