Our amazing Cherry Trees cyclists are celebrating after completing the ride of their lives - all the way to the Eiffel Tower!

Along the way they faced a range of challenges, including very little sleep, very hot weather, and physical and mental exhaustion.

They reached the end with 27 minutes to spare – completing their epic feat in 23 hours and 33 minutes.

So far, their sponsorship total has hit more than £19,282 to help support our Cherry Trees children and families.

The riders set off from the Cherry Trees house at 16:00 on Thursday 19 June and tackled the first part of the journey through the Surrey and Sussex countryside, arriving at Newhaven Ferry Port in time to board the 23:00 ferry to Dieppe.

After a few hours of rest on board, they hit the roads in France at 04:45 UK time (05:45 French time) to take on the final long stretch to Paris. The total route was 279km.

The team – who received a special good luck video message from cycling legend Sir Mark Cavendish - were joined on the route by our support minibus.

The bus team carried supplies to help the riders along the way, including suncream, bicycle repair kits and lots of snacks.

Along the way the team coped with:

• 2 punctures
• 1 broken chain
• 1 broken cleat
• an average of just two hours’ sleep per person on the ferry

Among the snacks and copious amounts of water they needed to keep refuelled and hydrated, they consumed:

• 40 flapjacks
• 26 croissants
• 24 pains au chocolat
• 24 bananas
• 12 tangerines

 

It is the first time Cherry Trees has taken on such an ambitious challenge, and we hope we can build on the success of this first ride with future cycling events.

Merci beaucoup to all our wonderful riders, the support crew, and everyone who sponsored and cheered the team on!