Mr Graham's body was found on Lonscale Fell in the Skiddaw range. Photo: Gareth Jones CC-BY-SA-2.0

Mr Graham's body was found on Lonscale Fell in the Skiddaw range. Photo: Gareth Jones CC-BY-SA-2.0

The widow of the mountain biker whose body was found on Skiddaw on Monday has paid a glowing tribute to an accomplished adventurer.

John Graham, 59, was reported missing on Sunday evening when he failed to return home from a biking trip.

Cumbria Constabulary said efforts were made throughout the night to locate his vehicle to establish the area he was in and at 4.50am the following day Keswick Mountain Recuse Team found the body of the Silloth man on Lonscale Fell.

His widow Helen Graham said: “Everyone who knew John will be grieving. He was unique; once met, never forgotten.

“A warm, genuine, inspiring and generous man. We had wonderful plans for our adventurous future as John prepared to retire, and though seldom sitting still, we were so contended and utterly happy after almost 40 years together.

“He filled every moment with something worthwhile, but not in agitation or restlessness.

“He could find the funny side of most things and enthuse those around him to be the best they could be.”

Mrs Graham thanked the volunteers and friends who searched for her husband. She said: “The family are devastated, but wish to express their extreme gratitude for the tireless efforts of Cumbria police, the combined mountain rescue teams and John’s amazing friends who all helped to find him and bring him home.”

She said Mr Graham was an accomplished outdoor enthusiast. “The world was there to be explored, from his earlier days in Bradford, in St Bede’s Scouts, canoeing in the First Division Slaloms, and playing rugby at Bradford Salem,” Mrs Graham said. “He stayed with rugby and played a rather brutal flanker into his 50s before sliding into the refereeing side of things in Cumbria.

“Moving to the Lake District in 1990, he was quickly a local character around Hackthorpe, and despite the massive burden of responsibilities he soon bore as a headteacher at the West Cumbria Pupil Referral Unit, he remained an ace dad to Claire and Ruth.

“Much of his recreation featured two wheels of one shape or another, and in place of the underground exploration that had taken him to New Zealand, Switzerland and Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales in the past, he transferred his attentions to the high fells.

“He maintained his Mountain Leadership and diverse outdoor pursuits qualifications for over 30 years, and knew especially the western fells with a respectful but affectionate familiarity.

“As a family we spent most weekends in rivers, on lakes or up hills close to home, but accepting that John was in a different league of adventurer, it was no hardship to wave him off whenever he could, on a more extreme challenge with his brother Anthony, or similarly athletic friends.

“He cherished his close connections with all his brothers, his mum and dad and wider family and we had some powerfully enduring friendships.

“God created something very special in John and the world seems a slightly lesser place without him.

“I’m aware another family lost a loved one, walking on a different upland area, and my heart goes out to them too.

“His warm smile, idiotic sense of mischief, great fried breakfasts, strange ability to break things and loud vocal renderings of early rock classics will stay with us forever.

“As his beloved girls said, he was just the best.”

Mr Graham’s body was found after a 2½-hour search, by a Sarda dog attached to Patterdale MRT, 60m down a steep rocky gully close to Lonscale Fell.

A Keswick Mountain Rescue Team spokesperson said: “He had obviously fallen a long way and had suffered multiple fatal injuries.

“His bike was found fairly close to a rocky path section on Lonscale Fell which is notoriously slippery when wet, which has led to previous accidents.

“The team had to set up a lowering system to recover his body 400m down to the track below, at which point he could be handed over to the relevant authorities.”

The 5½-hour rescue operation involved 12 Keswick MRT members.

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