It was an uphill struggle for three friends when they decided to raise money for charity.
Dale Nunn and Ed Campbell, both from Haverhill, and Glenn Bevan, from Sturmer, completed an 11-day cycle ride to raise £1,500 for St Nicholas Hospice Care.
Their 925-mile journey took them from Land’s End to John O’Groats. They managed to complete the trip without one puncture between them.
The fundraisers said the hardest part of their ride was getting to one of their overnight bed and breakfast stops, between Falkirk and Dalwhinnie in Scotland. The building was 1,500ft above sea level and part of Dale’s bike had broken at this point.
Glenn, a fitness instructor at Haverhill Leisure Centre, said: “The overall experience was amazing.
“Cornwall was unbelievably hard. We cycled 95 miles the first day and the hills were relentless all day long – all of which were longer and steeper than anything we had seen in training, but we all completed the first day feeling strong.”
Glenn said he did have to ride 300 miles of the journey with a bowed wheel, but said they had good weather for most of the trip with not too much wind and only one big downpour.
Glenn described the final stretch of their journey, saying: “There were a couple of absolute beasts of hills on the last day, but our bodies had just got used to anything we came up against.”
The St Nicholas Hospice, in Bury St Edmunds, helps support people with life threatening illnesses and their families. Around 2,000 people a year are helped by the charity, which relies on donations and fundraising.