Norfolk moped riders complete Land’s End challenge

The bikers, all in their 40s, successfully arrived in Spooner Row, near Wymondham, on Friday night having ridden from Land's End over six days on the 50cc mopeds they owned as teenagers.

They received an emotional welcome from 70 family members and friends at The Boar pub after completing the arduous journey, which had taken them through Torquay, Poole, Hastings and Southend.

Although yet to be finally counted, the challenge - dubbed the Wrong Way Down with the slogan 'Nine Middle-Aged Guys, Nine Vintage Mopeds, One Mid-Life Crisis' - is expected to have raised thousands for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

It follows the successful completion a similar trip last year from John O'Groats which netted more than �6,000 for Wymondham-based cancer charity Star Throwers.

Ian Limmer, from Wymondham, who had ridden a 1974 Puch MV50 he had bought off eBay, said the group experienced three to four breakdowns every day - with the first taking place less than a mile into the challenge.

'That's all part of it. If we had done it on big motorcycles, which we all have, then it would not have been half as fun. They were lovely old mopeds that really should have been in the scrapyard. We certainly got a lot out of them. I thoroughly enjoyed it,' he said.

The group also had to cope with the steep slopes of Cornwall and Devon, which slowed many of the bikes almost to a standstill, and hot temperatures one day and wet conditions the next as the British weather chopped and changed throughout the week.

But their efforts received much support from people they met on their travels who eagerly sponsored the challenge. They collected �100 during one night in Poole.

Ian said: 'We had charity boxes on the back of our bikes and when we came up to a traffic light people were reaching out and dropping coins in.'

For more information and to donate, visit www.wrongwaydown.biz