TEN employees from Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems in Bowerhill took on a 900 mile cycle to Monte Carlo earlier this month.
The cycle “Monte Carlo or Bust”, was in aid of Cancer Research UK and has raised £37,198. Donations remain open and the team still hope to reach their £50,000 goal.
The riders set off from the factory in Bowerhill at 10.30am on Thursday 28th August. They tackled a ten day ride through France to Monaco in daily legs of between 40 and 106 miles, including a 2,000m climb on the seventh day.
Geoff Hunt, 58, did the trip on a mountain bike. He said, “It was a lot of hard work but my body held out and we all managed to complete the ride. We got really lucky with the weather and there was a great atmosphere and a lot of banter between the riders. It’s also fantastic to raise so much money for such a great cause. I have nothing similar planned but would jump at the chance to do it again.”
All expenses on the trip were covered by Knorr-Bremse through the Well @ Work scheme, which encourages employees’ healthy lifestyles and charity fundraising. The sponsorship allows all money raised to go directly to Cancer Research UK.
Marketing and Communications manager Nick Brailey said, “We hadn’t organised anything this challenging before, or with such a big fundraising goal. Of the ten employees I think three or four were real hardcore cyclists, but a few were amateurs who trained specially for the ride. It’s an amazing feat; it takes a special kind of person to be able to do that.”
The company provided a support team to follow and assist the group with food and medical attention, as well as organising accommodation for the ten days
Knorr-Bremse is a manufacturer of braking systems for rail vehicles, and has its UK headquarters in Bowerhill.
