Two couples from Lifton have raised a fantastic £1,300 for their village community centre after successfully completing the London-Essex 100 bike ride.

Vin and Kevin Marshall and Emma and Pete James travelled to the capital for their epic challenge on Sunday, May 29, raising £1,327 for Lifton Community Centre. The weather was ideal for cycling and it was a real pleasure to cycle in picturesque countryside, on closed roads and in the company of 20,000 cyclists. Their route took them from the Victoria Embankment, near Westminster Bridge, out past the Olympic Park at Stratford to Epping Forest and out into Essex before looping back to London to finish on Tower Bridge.

What was a challenge for all of them was a particularly fantastic achievement for Emma, who had not ever ridden more than 20 miles when she started training the beginning of the year. She said afterwards that it had been ‘a really tiring day but such an achievement to have cycled just over 100 miles, with the support of Vin, Kevin and Pete’.

‘Thank you to Lifton Stores and to ST Lane at Tinhay for having sponsor forms for us and to all the people that have sponsored us,’ she added.

‘We really appreciate it. It made those wet training rides worthwhile. If you still wish to sponsor us, you can do so directly with Vin, Kevin, myself or Pete or online at ridelondon.enthuse.com.’

Pictured are (l to r) Pete and Emma James and Kevin and Vin Marshall with their medals at the finish.