Pals make tracks on charity ride

RUGBY fans who decided to ride from Wales to Scotland on tandem bikes for charity are more than half way through their journey.

The four childhood friends – Ashley Meredith, Scott Sier, Craig Morris and Jonathan Day – from Ystrad Mynach left Cardiff on Monday with hopes of reaching Edinburgh in time for Wales’ Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday.

None of the group were regular cyclists but their challenge was made even harder when they decided to cycle the length and breadth of the country on tandem bikes.

Since leaving the Principality Stadium, the group, aged between 28 and 30, have been tracking their progress on Facebook. On the first day they rode an incredible 80 miles to Ludlow, in Shropshire, before taking a break for the night.

On their second day, they faced their longest leg of the trip between Ludlow and Warrington, in Cheshire, at a staggering 92 miles.

There were set backs early on after one of the bikes was put out of action for two hours due to a puncture, only three miles from the hotel where they set off from.

That was followed by further problems at Shrewsbury after a chain kept falling off. The cherry on the cake was a flooded road which added an extra six miles to their journey, but the boys eventually reached their destination for another overnight break.

On Wednesday, the group set off for Windermere but they are facing the wrath of the weather as Storm Doris rears its ugly head. Simon Pepperell, who is driving the support vehicle, said spirits were high in the camp.

He said: “Considering what happened on Tuesday, spirits are high.

“i though they’d be really low because the bikes were in awful conditions and it hit them hard in the end.

“They got up this morning and they were having a dance, a laugh and a joke and that’s helped them today so they have really hit the miles.”

Simon also thanked everyone who had so far donated to their cause, with all proceeds from the challenge going to Cardiff’s Velindre Cancer Centre.

The lads have already smashed their target of £2,000, having already raised £2,280 in the last three days.

They are now hoping to raise even more over the last few days of the challenge.

After leaving Windermere on Thursday morning, the group will be cycling 70 miles to Lockerbie, and then another 70 miles to Edinburgh on Friday, when they will finish at the Murrayfield Stadium.

Find their cause on JustGiving to donate.