FOUR ladies are saddling up to ride nearly 200 miles for two worthy charities.

The ‘Game Birds’ — Tori Cunningham from Brentor, Fiona Huntington-Whiteley from Quither, Penny Kitson from Botus Fleming and Sara-Jane Cumming from Coryton — will spend two days on their bikes in a bid to raise funds for Farms for City Children and Buttercross Health Centre.

When Fiona and Tori’s mothers both died last year, the ladies wanted to do something in their memory. Farms for City Children was a favourite charity of Tori’s mother Jean Puxley and Fiona’s mother Rhona Jackson was exceptionally well cared for by Buttercross Health Centre at Somerton during her illness so the ladies decided that these causes would be a good choice to raise money for. Always looking for an excuse to get on their favourite form of transport, the ladies thought it would be a brilliant idea to get back on their bikes.

Fiona, Tori and Penny will be pedalling from the Farms for City Children headquarters at Nethercott, Iddisleigh, on Saturday (October 1), ably supported by Sarah-Jane who actively dislikes her bike so will act as back up, supplying fuel, plasters, pain relief, liquids and bags of encouragement. They will cycle through Devon lanes, up hills and down dales to Somerton, near Yeovil.

After a restorative night in Somerton, the girls will enthusiastically leap back onto their bikes and head back to Brentor.

Sarah-Jane said: ‘All the girls have been training hard since the beginning of the year, not allowing small things like work or holidays get in the way; even so, this bike ride is a huge undertaking and no one is underestimating its difficulty. The route takes the cyclists through tiny Devon lanes, large towns and along busy roads, up many long and steep hills, along canals and through pretty villages. It’s going to be a tough and challenging two days for them, covering, in total, 170-miles and climbing 6,297 feet.

‘Although we’ve all, including me, done a couple of Action for Charity challenges in Wales in the past, which involved biking, climbing Pen y Fan and canoeing all in one day, this will probably be the hardest because of being constantly on a bike for two days. We’ve also had to organise it ourselves.’

Anyone who would like to support the Game Birds and help raise money for the two causes, can donate by emailing Sarah-Jane at [email protected]