CHARITY bike riders from Ellesmere Port raised more than £5,000 by cycling 190 miles from London to Paris.
Dave Cowell, 49, set about organising the gruelling trip when he discovered his sight was deteriorating rapidly due to a rare condition.
His friend Jeff Higginson bravely stepped up to help Dave achieve his mission and jumped in the saddle on Friday, June 22, for the challenging four-day trip.
The pair set off from the UK capital and the following Monday arrived at the French capital.
Dave said the ride had been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He said: “We loved it but I probably wouldn’t do it again. It was great to meet nice people and we did it for a good cause.
“It was very physically challenging.
“You talk to other people on the trip that are worse off than you, that have had sadder things happen to them.
“I’d recommend it to anybody to do it once in their life. We really enjoyed it.”
Father-of-four Dave, of Pooltown Road, has lost 60% of his sight in the past year.
He was forced out of his career as a trucker by his illness and could go blind at any time after developing myopic retinal degeneration.
The pair had less than two weeks to get used to riding their new vehicle, which was specially made in Yorkshire.
Dave had originally planned to follow behind his friend on a normal bike, but was warned to use a tandem with Jeff for his own safety.
The pair have already raised more than £5,060 for the RNIB, more than doubling their £2,500 target.
Dave and Jeff can still be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/david-cowell0.
