09 January 2024 , 17:36
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A £4.5m National Lottery winner is now King of the Road after buying his 'dream' bike.
Gary Henry and his former wife, Ann, used to run a burger van before their September 2008 jackpot. Since then, he has travelled the world, spent £550,000 on a luxury property and given £23,000 for a football pitch dedicated to his late mum, Gladys, in his childhood home of South Church, Co Durham.
Gary, 62, celebrated the anniversary of his win with the ‘Rolls Royce of bicycles’ – a £8,500 electric S-Works SL Creo. 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.
Gary and Ann with winner's cheque in 2008 (PA)"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 myself this bike as a little celebration. It has more than lived up to its reputation. It’s got everything, electric gears and you can do at least 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."
Gary, of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, is hoping to explore new routes and clock up more miles in 2024, kicking off by taking in the picturesque Yorkshire coast. In 2009, the Mirror told how the jackpot win had been predicted by a fortune teller. The mysterious silver-haired woman made her prediction after Ann brought her in out of the pouring rain and gave her a free egg sandwich and a cuppa from their van.
Woman was 'adamant' she would win top lottery prize - then pockets $200,000
Gary loves hitting the open road for a bike ride (MDM)The grateful gypsy 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. But on Saturday Gary's usual numbers came up - and the couple scooped £4,493,783.
In the past five years, dad-of-three Gary, who is a grandfather, has clocked up more than 22,000 miles cycling, at home and abroad.
He said: “There’s no better feeling than waking up and heading out on the road on my bike – 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.
"To anyone thinking about cycling, I would say to go for it – you will not regret it.”