Saddle sore Sandbach Round Tablers braved a 520-mile journey to raise more than £7,000 for Sandbach & District Talking Newspaper.

The trek ended on Sunday, 6th July, at Sandbach Town Hall with a champagne reception to celebrate their achievement & was followed by a family BBQ put on by Ladies Circle.

The 21 Tablers left Sandbach in the early hours of Thursday. 3rd July, cycling their bikes & tandems to Holyhead. Then it was over on the ferry to Dublin followed by a ride to North Belfast where they took the ferry to Stranraer before the journey south to Penrith & then back to Sandbach.

That's five countries in four days, over 520 miles.

They completed the challenge on time after enduring all kinds of weather with the exception of snow.

Sandbach Round Table Chairman & cycle challenge organiser Tabler Peter Henderson said: "The team had been training hard to prepare the for the cycle challenge; however, it was a bit more difficult than we anticipated. We were cycling for over nine hours every day. Nobody was in real pain but there were sore legs & 'derrieres' each night."

He added: "Being a member of the Round Table is fantastic! You not only raise money for local charities but you have fun doing it at the same time & that is what Table is all about."

Press & publicity spokesman Tabler Andy Saint added "Members of the public can assist us in raising a large amount of money for this event by making donations to: www.justgiving.com/sandbachrt"

He added: "The logistics of such an event are huge. However, the Table is extremely grateful to the massive assistance of JD Cycles in Ilkley who supplied the Tandems, Aldi (UK) Ltd & its local store who have provided all the cycling kit, Foilco for supplying the diesel for the support vehicles, Sovereign Air Conditioning for supplying one of the support vehicles & finally Waitrose, Sainsbury & Asda for supplying some high energy provisions."

The team on its return with, seated left, Chairman Peter Henderson holding the Penrith Round Table plaque.

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