A CYCLING duo who braved thunderstorms and torrential rain to travel the width of France have raised more than £2,500 for charity.
Mickey Helps and Paul Hoskins, of Epsom and Banstead, finished the 620-mile journey from Montpellier to Dieppe in five days.
Setting off on May 22, the fundraising pair expected this to be the most gruelling challenge yet, as they were carrying sleeping, eating and cycling kit with them.
Mr Helps and Mr Hoskins have known each other for many decades, and were best man for each other's weddings.
This was the fifth of their Codgers World Tour series, having already cycled the length of the UK in eight days, London to Paris in a day, the width of the UK in two days and the length of Ireland in three days.
This time, they were raising money to help people with cystic fibrosis, inspired by Annie Burkill, daughter of Gary and Jo Burkill, of Banstead, who was diagnosed with the life-limiting disease when she was born in 2011.
Mr Helps said: "We want to do everything we can to support and speed up new and improved treatments for everyone with cystic fibrosis. We want to help Annie live a long life."
Their training had not been without incident, as the pair found themselves getting lost more frequently as the distance of their rides increased.
"We were once cycling a new route to Brighton and ended up in Eastbourne," Mr Helps said.
On their return home last week, he told the Mirror: "It was particularly difficult as we were camping and travelling with all our own kit on the bike so when it started to rain we couldn't stop as we needed to cover a large amount of mileage every day to meet our target. It meant wearing cold and wet kit all day became part of the challenge – albeit an unpleasant part."
To sponsor the pair, visit www.thehelps.co.uk
