A BROUGHTON Gifford man has cycled the length of Britain, from John O'Groats to Land's End, to raise cash for charity.

Simon Lomas, 23, and his friend Andrew Jordon from London, cycled almost 1,000 miles in just under 12 days to raise funds for the Arthur Rank Hospice charity.

“The worst part was crossing the Cairngorms”, said Simon.

“Cycling with all our camping equipment in pouring rain and driving south westerly winds, we really understood why people usually cycle from south to north. That was our lowest point on the journey.”

Once in England the weather improved and they made better progress through Carlisle, Preston and Northwich down to Leominster, where they were joined by Simon’s parents who provided support for the rest of the journey.

“After Leominster we no longer had to carry all our camping equipment so our average speed increased from 18 km/h to 22 km/h. This meant that we were really able to cover some good distances.

"Our longest day was cycling into Bridgwater where we covered 104 miles in about 7.5 hours.”

Simon and Andrew arrived in Land’s End on August 12, 12 days after leaving John O’Groats and two days ahead of schedule.

“It was a great feeling to finally arrive and know that we didn’t have to do any more cycling!” said Simon.

You can donate to Simon’s and Andrew’s charitable causes through the following link:

https://www.justgiving.com/Simon-Lomas1/