FOUR West Somerset cyclists took part in a 24-hour team mountain bike race and raised £8,500 for the Hope For Tomorrow charity – and that smashed their original target of £2,000.

Dick Tucker, Wayne Reeder, Julian Delbridge and Leigh Coles and their families travelled to Newnham Park, near Plymouth, for the weekend race on July 27 to 28.

Wayne, Julian and Leigh were inspired to take part by Dick’s enthusiasm to raise money for Hope for Tomorrow’s Bumble bus, the mobile cancer treatment unit which visits Minehead Hospital weekly,

The group started training at the beginning of the year and it paid off when they came third for their category.

“The idea was to advertise local businesses on our race jerseys and also raise individual sponsorship,” said Dick.

“I became aware of the charity after receiving treatment for cancer three years ago, so it has been a real pleasure to turn this into a real positive.

“When I first spoke to Leigh we thought if we could raise £2000 and if that could help just one person it would be worth it, so to raise such a huge amount has been truly overwhelming.” 

The course was just over eight miles long with about 750ft of elevation per lap and, riding in relay, they completed 32 laps.