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Richard Blythe, Ranjit Gill and Peter Monks having a well earned rest!
A group of eight property professionals from Birmingham have successfully raised more than £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
The cyclists set off from Birmingham on 23 May and rode on through Oxfordshire, London and Dover. Once they reached French soil the dedicated team went on to cycle through Calais, Arras, Compiegne reaching Paris on 28 May.
The cyclists used specially commissioned Peugeot bicycles manufactured in Romilly-Sur-Seine, France where they have been making bikes since 1949. The bikes were made with light-weight hydro-formed aluminium frames, carbon fibre forks, clipless racing pedals and a Shimano 27-speed gear system. This bike previews the more professional, bespoke cycles presently in production with Peugeot, which will be available in the UK from September.
Peter Monks, Senior Surveyor with BNP Paribas Real Estate said: 'It’s such a satisfying feeling to finish on schedule, but the real joy was raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. It really did help having veteran cyclists in the team to give the other riders confidence when needed. We were lucky though, with glorious sunshine most days which was thoroughly enjoyable, and the best part was knowing we had already hit our target of money to raise.
'The route from Calais to Arras was particularly tough – the one time it rained constantly, the lower temperatures, our mobile phones failed, we had punctures and sore bums, but it was all worth it when we got to the Eiffel Tower; we almost didn’t mind being charged 10 Euros for a pint!'
Andrew Didlick, director of communications at Peugeot, commented: 'Peugeot is presently celebrating its 200th anniversary and is synonymous with victories on the Tour de France. It’s great that these enthusiastic cyclists chose and trusted the established manufacturer of cycles in the world for their charity ride to Paris for such a worthy cause. Well done to all the cyclists who took part.'
The cyclists participating were Peter Monks (07766 504989), Tim Suffield, Ranjit Gill, Mark Fitzpatrick, Matthew Walton, Justin Kenworthy, Richard Blythe and Martin Whitmore.