Tributes to charity cyclist

TRIBUTES have been paid to a “loveable” 46-year-old who collapsed and died during a charity cycle ride.Christopher Frost seemed well when he paused at the Greyhound public house in Chevington to speak with friends at the halfway point of their 25-mile ride last Sunday.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a “loveable” 46-year-old who collapsed and died during a charity cycle ride.

Christopher Frost seemed well when he paused at the Greyhound public house in Chevington to speak with friends at the halfway point of their 25-mile ride last Sunday.

Moments later he fell from his bike on Hargrave Road in Chevington. Despite the desperate efforts of fellow riders and paramedics, he died of a heart attack at the scene

The Bury St Edmunds electrician had been raising money for St Nicholas Hospice and the West Suffolk Hospital baby unit in Bury in an annual event organised by the Glad Abbott pub in Bury.

Mark Baldwin, a lifelong friend who was in the riders' support vehicle behind unmarried Mr Frost, said the pub's regulars were devastated.

He said: “He was such a lovable bloke. He took part in the charity ride every year.

“We had just been speaking in the pub and he seemed fine. He was going up the hill and then he just flopped down - it was like he had just been shot.

“It wasn't as if we were racing. It was a leisurely ride to raise money for charity. He had all his friends around him - at least he was not on his own.”

Mr Frost's sister Teresa Fenner said: “We are devastated - it just doesn't seem real. He was a wonderful brother, son and uncle. He was a lovely chap - a private and a very giving person.”