TWO friends from Melksham are taking on a 1,000 mile bike ride to Monaco in order to raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Colleagues at Avonside Engineering Glen Blacker, 47, who has only been training for one year and Ben Whitehouse, 32, set-off across the channel in hopes of raising £500 each for the charity.

Before leaving for their expedition through France both men spoke to the Wiltshire Times.

Director of Avonside Engineering, Mr Blacker, of Snowberry Lane, said: “It is to raise funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance as it is such a worthwhile cause and it is something that may affect everyone.

“I may have only been cycling for about a year but I have kept myself reasonably fit so it is not as if I am starting from zero.

“It just seemed like a good idea at the time to do something a bit different and raise money for the service as it costs an unbelievable amount to keep it going.

“Parts of me still think it is a great idea and then there are other parts of me that think maybe it really is not but in the end I am sure it will be great fun.”

The daring duo set-off last Tuesday, May 31 to traverse the bumpy road to Monaco and will be doing around 100 miles a day before they reach their goal.

They were previously going with another friend who had to pull out at the last minute.

Mr Whitehouse, who has worked for the engineering company for 13 years, said: “We expect some injuries but when you are cycling that is it you just have to ride through the pain.

“It should be good. Really this is the first big bike ride like this that I have ever done. We were meant to be doing it with someone else but he had to pull out so it left just two of us.

“It is not a big deal but there is just a little bit more added pressure. We are going down to Poole and then getting the ferry to Cherbourg in northern France.

“We will then go down the west coast of France hopefully to Bordeaux and then head east across to Monaco.

“There are B&Bs along the way and we will be sleeping at various spots throughout the journey. It is all planned but the 100 miles a day is still incredibly daunting.”