A GRIEVING student has completed a gruelling 850-mile cycle ride in memory of his boyfriend who died last year.

Ross Biddle, from Didcot, took on the epic challenge after his partner James Trickey died at the age of 22, when his bike collided with a car two days before Christmas 2014.

Last month Mr Biddle embarked on an 850-mile cycle challenge from Mr Trickey’s grave in Taynton, Gloucestershire, to Inverness.

The trip took him 25 days, with three rest days, and saw him raise about £900 for poverty charity Concern Universal.

He completed the ride with Ian Mather, a friend of Mr Trickey.

Mr Biddle, 19, who completed his A-Levels at City of Oxford College in Oxpens Road, this year, said: “The weather was awful, Scotland had its worst summer for rain.

“It was a really tough challenge but Ian and I kept each other sane.

“The best bit was when we got to Loch Torridon – the scenery was incredible.

“The worst bit was when we were just getting into the Highlands.

“The weather was so awful and cold – I just wanted to go to bed.”

After arriving at Inverness, he caught the train home and arrived back in Oxfordshire last Thursday [August 13], to find out he had achieved three A*s in his A-Levels.

He is going on to study biology at Bristol University.

He said he first discovered a passion for cycling thanks to his partner Mr Trickey: “I didn’t even have a bike until I met James, but he gave me the cycling bug. He was a very experienced cyclist.

"He cycled from Gloucestershire to the top of Scotland and back alone at 18 years old.

"He also cycled from Cheltenham to Brindisi in the south of Italy, alone again, and raised lots of money for the Stroke Association.”