Charlie Bell-Davies got his first bike without stabilisers for his third birthday in April, and already he’s a cycling superstar!

Charlie, from Betws-yn-Rhos in North Wales, stunned his parents Emma and Rob by taking to his birthday present like a duck to water.

“He first got on the bike at 4pm on the afternoon of his birthday, and by 9am the next morning he was riding around, able to balance, stop and start,” said Emma. “We were thinking, no three-year-old should be this good on a bike.”

Throughout lockdown Charlie would go out with the family, practising his cycling, and once he got going he didn’t want to stop.

Emma said: “We of course go with Charlie everywhere he is riding, and I was looking at the Strava maps after and thinking, this is amazing. I decided we could do some good and raise some money for charity. Initially we just thought about doing 10K, but the way Charlie rides we are going to do 20K over a couple of weekends.”

Raising money

Charlie has already raised more than £270 and has ridden 5 kilometers of his challenge along the Llanddulas coastline and around his village.

“As Charlie is a child, we thought it would be good to raise money for a local children’s charity which does some amazing work for families in our area, so that is why we chose Tŷ Gobaith ,” said Emma.

Tŷ Gobaith Fundraiser Sarah Ritchie was surprised when she heard about Charlie’s challenge.

“You don’t often hear about three-year-olds taking on cycling challenges for charity,” she said.

“But Charlie clearly has a talent and we are really grateful to him and his family for choosing to support us in these difficult times.”

If you would like to donate to Charlie’s fund or to see his progress then please visit justgiving.com/fundraising/charlies10kbikechallenge

Photo by Tony Fanning Photography