Wheel of fortune
Granddad cycles 22k miles in 5yrs after lottery win
WHEN Gary Henry won £4.5million on the National Lottery he went from hot dogs to hard slogs.
He ran a burger van with his then wife Ann before they scooped the jackpot 15 years ago.
Since then, Gary has been on his travels, which has included a huge amount of time riding his bike.
The grandad, 62, has clocked up over 22,000 miles cycling in the UK and abroad in the past five years alone.
As well as travelling the world, Gary has spent £550,000 on a luxury property and donated £23,000 for a football pitch dedicated to late mum Gladys.
Gary celebrated the recent anniversary of his Lotto win by buying the
“Rolls-Royce of bicycles” – an £8,500 electric S-Works Creo SL.
He said: “The last 15 years have absolutely flown by. I can still remember the phone call to the National Lottery and it all felt like a dream.
“I’ve always loved cycling, discovering new routes and taking in the fresh air, and have had the S-Works on my radar for a while.
“I promised myself I would buy this bike as a little celebration.
“It’s got electric gears and you can do 80-plus miles on a full charge.
“It assists you on big hills. There’s no better feeling than waking up and heading out on the road.” The dad-ofthree, from Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, plans to clock up even more miles in 2024, starting by riding along the picturesque Yorkshire coast.
He said: “I’m extremely lucky to live in such a beautiful area, so I’m never short of new routes to try or fresh scenery to take in.” Gary and his ex Ann won the cash in September 2008.
The Mirror previously told how the jackpot was predicted by a mysterious silver-haired woman. She made her forecast after Ann brought her in out
It all felt like a dream... the last 15 years have absolutely flown by
GARY HENRY ON WINNING MASSIVE LOTTERY PRIZE
of the pouring rain and gave her a free egg sandwich and a cuppa from the burger van.
The grateful woman said Ann was in line for a Lotto windfall and would get a cheque with “a four and a few zeros”.
Ann laughed off the prediction, and she was laughing even louder when the prediction came true as Gary’s numbers came up.