Five intrepid cyclists have cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats - a nine day trip of a lifetime!

The group set off on 20th June from Land's End, and reached John O'Groats, nearly 900 miles away just after 5pm on Monday 28th June.

Autism Anglia's IT Manager Dan McCullagh took part in the challenge with his brother James and friends Mark Darnell, Franck Walpole and Matt Walker.

The first day of the trip was the hardest work, with hill after hill to climb in Cornwall.

"We knew it would be tough, but not that tough!" said Dan afterwards.

The high point of the trip for all was day 7, during which they crossed Loch Lomond in the Scottish highlands, and passed through Glencoe, a picturesque valley leading to Fort William.

"We all had a great time," said Dan. "The phrase of the trip was 'Man up!' - directed at anyone in particular who needed encouragement!"

The distance travelled was brought home to all the cyclists when it took them thirteen and a half hours to drive back to Essex.

Anna Rogers, Fundraising Officer for Autism Anglia said "We are all extremely proud of the achievements made by 5 Bikes and Their Riders, and the amount of money they have raised. They made it look so easy!"

The group have so far raised over £3,000 which will go towards kitting out Autism Anglia's adult residential campus at Peldon with much needed IT and gym equipment.

They are still collecting sponsorship so the amount raised could increase even further - please click here if you would like to sponsor the team.

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For more information about challenging yourself for charity, please visit our fundraising page!