Many of the group bought new bikes for the event through a Cycle to Work scheme run by the AD Group.
Among the good causes are the Christie Hospital in Manchester and the Wigan and Leigh Hospice.
The team were Craig Aspinall, Peter Bamber, Dave Colquhoun, Simon Jenkins, David Melvin, Andy Saile and Steve Orr. Of the seven, only Peter Bamber was already an experienced cyclist.
Said Steve, RemGuard’s technical support engineer who persuaded everyone to take part: “This was really the first time I have been on a bike for over 20 years and, aside from Peter, most of the team was in a similar situation but we were determined to put the effort in to support such worthy causes.”
They started their training programme two months ago with old battered and borrowed bikes, beginning with six to seven miles, then every week increasing it.
“The most we ever managed was about 43 miles,” said Steve.
He said the new bikes through the Cycle to Work scheme “really helped”.
It took them six hours to reach Blackpool Promenade once all the stops and puncture repairs were added-in.
Now they are aiming to enter a 100 miles challenge.
Nigel Petrie, Chairman of the AD Group which includes CCTV monitoring specialist, RemGuard, said they were “extremely supportive” of employees who take part in fundraising events and it was encouraging to see many of the team using bikes from the Cycle to Work scheme.
