Damon Peacock

[hellymedic]

I am very, very sad to read this.

Poor, poor Heather! I can't imagine how dreadful this must be for her!

Damon & Heather were a great team, riding, controlling and filming on LEL.

We will miss him.

A lot.

[chrisbainbridge]

How awful. My condolences.

[24hourmaths]

Damon's videos on the 24 Hour are the reference point for anyone who wants to have a go at such a ridiculous event. They are the product of undiluted passion, enthusiasm and no little skill as a film maker. From a personal note, he has created a catalogue of wonderful memories for me and I was proud to shake his hand at John O'Groats.

I am stunned, shocked and immensely saddened. He was a wonderful, generous man.

[αdαmsκι]

Oh God. Poor Heather. Condolences.

[Joolz]

This is very sad news and thoughts are with Heather.  I first met Damon and Heather on the Chapman 2007 and PBP the same year. I really can’t express my sadness as mentally health conditions are really not noticed like physical conditions

[PAC]

That’s terribly sad news. I’m not sure I ever met Damon, but I know he was very well respected here.

[RichForrest]

Sad news, was only thinking about him this week when we drove down Teesdale towards Barnard Castle.
Condolences to Heather and the family.

[sg37409]

Tragic news.  Was lucky enough to meet him a few times on various audaxes.  Sincere condolences to Heather. 

[Sergeant Pluck]

How sad to read this.

We never met but I found his posts here and his wide-ranging YouTube channel of great interest. A man of depth and breadth.

[Graeme]

I'm so sorry to hear this news. Rest in peace now Damon, and peace be with your family and with Heather. With love, Graeme.

[Canardly]

Hugely sad and shocked to hear this. I will miss Damon's adventures,  insight and recording of events, a very, very, talented man. One of cycling's lights has gone out. Condolences.

[perpetual dan]

That’s sad news. I was missing his presence here just the other day. Condolences to his friends and family.

[rachel t]

Such sad news, I had met Damon a few times at LEL controllers meetings along side Heather also during the 2 LELs I volunteered at before becoming a controller, when he was filming. My thoughts are with Heather & friends & family

[geraldc]

Sad news.

I remember having a chat with him on while he sat on a pub bench filming with his feet up in the drizzling rain during LEL 2009.

Next time I'm out on my bike and see a hedge, I'll no doubt think about Damon and hedge laying.

[madcow]

Meeting Damon anywhere on the PBP route was guaranteed to lift my mood.
 We shared an interest in hill farming and sheep and would always exchange a few words.
His videos captured the audax style and did it with his unique laid back , laconic commentary.
 He'd been there and got the jersey , so he knew.
So sorry for Heather , a wonderful couple .

[cygnet]

Very sad to hear this,

I initially met Damon before my first 24hr with camera in hand, although I'd seen some of his films/documentaries of our sport previously.

Particularly sticking in my mind this evening, is the "chance" encounter in a small village outside of Dieppe, on the way home from PBP. I'd pulled up at a tabac for rehydration just minutes before he did similar on his motorbike, probably more dehydrated than me!

So sorry for Heather.

[salar55]

Terrible news.  Knew Damon and Heather from the Newtonmore w/ends and Bonar Bridge /Portmahomack long runs.

[FifeingEejit]

Such awful news

Was thinking back to him recording Andy Clarkson's Laurence of Arabia Aquaba rendition on PBP '19  and then buggering off into the sunset on a clunker past a mass of knackered cyclists making their way back to Ramboulliet, just last night when I was out in the gloamin.

Watching his videos from what Salar55 may call the good old days was and I hope will continue to be a pleasure.

Thoughts with Heather, friends and family.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[aidan.f]

As others have put it very sad news. His multi talented influence  was remarkable, this morning out riding commented to Dean that a section of  newly rebuilt dry stone wall looked to me as if it would meet with his approval.

[LateStarter]

I never had the privilege of meeting him but his 2012 video "Dancing on the Pedals" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDF6occDm-I was what caught my attention and resulted in my Audax journey starting in 2013, I have spend days watching his many videos but I have returned to that one many times for inspiration when low. Happy riding Damon, thanks for the inspiration, hope you can "get some miles in".

I had a friend who took her life last year, a warm, friendly, always interested in other people type of person, no-one, not even her closest friends suspected she was actually so depressed, we just didn't know and the loss is great as is that of Damon. It's often hard but sometimes we have to ask of friends, "are you OK?".

[Phixie]

What ghastly and shocking news.  I never met him but was always impressed by his videos which will form part of his legacies. Many condolences to Heather and others close to him.

[felstedrider]

Very sorry to hear this.

Met Damon at numerous PBPs riding and, later on, at controls.  I was also only thinking about him this week as I thought about the Mersey Roads.  I last saw him at that event 2 years ago, reminding him that on the 2007 PBP he had filmed me with a baby photo attached to my stem.  I then introduced him to the same child, now a teenager.

[JonB]

So sorry to hear this news. I chatted to him a few times on the Mille Pennines and I remember that he'd set out to film the 3-4 days on the event but after day 1 it became clear that Andy needed help in the control and Damon put the filming to one side and spent the weekend cooking, serving food and supporting riders. Depression is such a horrible disease.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Sad news. Never met him in person but seen a few of his films.

[Lightning Phil]

So sad to learn. Condolences to Heather and his family and friends. I last spoke with Damon and Heather after registering in Rambouillet at the start of PBP 19. Over last few years  I saw him at various of the larger audaxes filming and interviewing away as tired riders climbed off bikes.

As others have said. You just don’t know with depression. I had a climbing partner who took their life, 3 weeks after we returned from a climbing trip to the Swiss alps, back in 2004.  His spirit soared when he was in the mountains up some impossibly high granite pillar above a glacier with us, but his family said he struggled when back home.