ON THEIR BIKES FOR ALEX
THE family and friends of a popular mountain biker are planning a charity bike ride from Glossop to Bristol.
Alex Kaiser, 28, from Glossop, went missing after a practice session ahead of a Welsh Downhill Mountain Biking Association competition last month.
His body was found by police in his van at a car park near the competition venue in Rheola in South Wales. It is believed he died from a heart disorder.
He was due to marry his fiancée Sarah Hoare on July 7.
In a heartfelt interview, Sarah, 29, says he was a cut above the rest.
She said: “He was a most fantastic fiancé, son, brother, uncle and friend, who embraced life and threw himself into all its challenges.
“Alex wasn’t scared to try new things and approached life in a positive way and with a ‘can-do’ attitude.
“We had six years together and he made me the happiest woman alive.”
Alex was an ambitious engineer, who had moved down south to Bristol seven years ago and had made it his home.
Rugby
Friends say he worked and played hard, was a keen mountain biker and loved playing rugby.
They believe Alex suffered from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart muscle disease which makes the heart vulnerable to fatal heart rhythms.
The disorder, which can be brought on by strenuous exercise, is an enlargement and abnormality of the heart muscle that can cause the abnormal rhythm.
To raise awareness of the condition, 50 friends and loved ones aim to cycle the 200 miles from Glossop to Nempnett Thrubwell near Bristol.
Miss Hoare, a recruitment advisor added: “Alex would be laughing at me now because I always nagged him about the number of bikes he used to keep in the flat - now I’ve got about five in my hallway.
“Bikes were one of his passions so he would be right behind this challenge.
“I thought doing this kind of cycle ride from the place where he was born to where we were due to get married would be a really befitting way to remember such a fantastic man.
“It will be fun, yet hard both physically and emotionally,” she added.
Funds raised will go towards the Cardiomyopathy Association and Cardiac Risk in the Young.
The riders plan to set off from Glossop on July 5 and arrive in Bristol for a memorial service at the farm where the couple were due to be married.
To sponsor the riders visit www.thekaiserchallenge.com.
