AN intrepid team of teachers hit the road on their own tour of the north to raise over £1,000 for a cancer charity.
The six cyclists from Trinity Academy, in Thorne, completed a 123-mile ride in just one day, linking the academy with one of their sister schools in the Emmanuel Schools Foundation.
Organised by design and technology teacher John Potts, the team of PE teacher Rob Witty, vice principal David Bedford, director of key stage four Dave Potts, design and technology technician Neil Harvey and head of modern foreign languages Andrew Ramsden drove to Emmanuel College, in Gateshead, and then got on their bikes to cycle back to South Yorkshire.
In an academy team effort, head of PE Katie O'Brien helped by driving the support vehicle for the riders, who resembled a professional peloton in their Cancer Research UK jerseys.
Dave said: "We're all cyclists and we just started riding together on a Friday night after school as a social thing to wind down after a busy week."
John added: "It was either Dave or Andy's idea to do the ride and when we all agreed we thought it was about 80 miles. It was only later when I worked out the route that we discovered it was actually 123 miles, but we'd committed by then."
Initially they aimed to raise £500 for Cancer Research UK but reached the total so quickly, thanks to sponsorship from colleagues, family and students, that they revised the target. The total has already exceeded £1,000 with donations still coming in.
John added: "The cause means something to everyone. It was great to see how the students responded because we think they just see us as teachers without a life outside school. They were genuinely interested to hear what we were doing and have supported us really well."
The team left Gateshead at 9am and stopped every 20 miles or so with a longer break in Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, arriving back in Thorne at 7.30pm.
Executive principal Jonathan Winch joined them on their departure from Emmanuel College and David Page, principal of Trinity Academy, cycled the final leg from Wistow.
John added: "Everyone managed to complete it despite some self-doubt leading up to the ride. The weather was absolutely fantastic and we stayed at a manageable pace throughout so that everyone was comfortable. The only mechanical failure was Dave picking up a puncture riding from his house to the academy, about half a mile away."