Friends cycle from Great Sankey to Paris raising hundreds for charity

Lewis Wilson and John Roberts first met as students at Great Sankey High School and went on to form a firm friendship.

The 22-year-olds decided to set themselves the mammoth task of cycling from Great Sankey to the Eiffel Tower and help raise money for Alzheimer’s.

“We both wanted to do this adventure, regardless of the fundraising,” said Lewis.

“It just made sense to make a difference somehow. It’s a worthy cause we both wanted to promote, and we think it was a good way to do that.

“The initial plan was to cycle from the Eiffel Tower to the Colosseum, but we wanted to scale it back a little and make it more achievable as neither of us have vast experience.”

The pair set off from Great Sankey towards the end of August (Image: Supplied)

The pair set off towards the end of August and cycled 40 to 50 miles a day to complete the trek in just nine days.

“I thought it was always achievable once the first day was done, we knew what the task ahead of us was,” said Lewis.

“It was exhausting both physically and mentally, but we just had get on with it and to push through it.”

Lewis and John are no strangers to a challenge, as they have previously climbed Snowdon four times in one weekend and hiked across the country.

The challenge took the pair nine days to complete (Image: Supplied)

They managed to raise an impressive £900 for Alzheimer’s Research UK, which will go towards researching a cure for dementia.

“It feels incredible, and I just hope that the money that we’ve raised somehow makes a difference to someone’s life,” said Lewis.

“I hope that if we have the time in the future that there’s another challenge ahead.”