Norwich's Gasp up Gas Hill race recalled

Published: 6:00 PM April 12, 2010 Updated: 6:16 PM October 10, 2020

More than 20 years after taking part in Norwich's gruelling Gasp up Gas Hill bike race, Aaron Frisby is back in the saddle.

At the age of 15 he was pictured in the Evening News struggling up the city's steepest hill in the charity event.

And this weekend he headed to the Lake District for his latest challenge - the 75-mile Lakeland Loup Hill Climb over England's steepest road, the one in three gradient Hardknott Pass, in Cumbria.

He competed with two friends, Darren Evans and Rob Hernstron, who are riding for Team Streetlife, which is linked with the Nelson Street cycle shop - and put in some practice at Gas Hill again.

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'I've just returned to cycling after a 20-year sabbatical from riding,' said Mr Frisby, of Laburnham Avenue, Taverham.

'It is the first time I have ridden up the hill since the picture was taken 24 years ago,' he said. 'I was 15 years old at the time and now I'm a much slower 38 year old.'

He is in the middle of the group of three, wearing jeans and a home-knitted Mohair sweater, for the hill climb.

'The picture reminds me of where all this started some 24 years ago, from the steepest hill in Norfolk to the steepest hill in England,' he added.

Now aged 38, Mr Frisby, who is business centre manager for Duff Morgan Citroen in Norwich, is married to Paula. They have a five-year-old son, Liam, and nine-month-old daughter, Erin.

T Do you remember the Gasp up Gas Hill race? Write to eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk