Tom Allen and thre pals ride to Paris (Image: handout)
Four Britons were cheered through France to the Eiffel Tower after cycling 451km on a unique quad-tandem bike … to raise cash for a cystic fibrosis charity.
Student Tom Allen, 21, vowed to raise awareness of the cruel genetic disease after his girlfriend at Swansea University Lizzie Sheahan, 21, revealed she was born with it.
Rugby pals Louis Fletcher, 21; Rory Case, 22, and Nathan Brooks, 21, joined him on a four-man tandem bike Louis’s dad helped build to ride 451km from London to Paris’s Eiffel Tower to raise over £4,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
And they told the Daily Express how, after arriving in Calais, they were cheered all the way to Paris by bemused and delighted French onlookers – many rushing over with snacks or for selfies.
Tom and friends make their way to France (Image: handout)
Exhausted Tom – who completed the four day trek on September 21st – explained: “Once Lizzie told me about her CF and how badly it has affected her life I knew I had to do something.
“I hadn’t really heard of CF before and neither had many of my friends so we thought why not raise awareness of it while also raising some much-needed funds for the charity too.
“We wanted to do a challenge that we would all look back on in 10 years times and say ‘we’re really proud of that – that’s something we will never forget’.
“And when Louis told us 10 years ago his dad Ant and some firefighter colleagues built and rode a bike from Liverpool to London for charity and they still had the tandem – we decided ‘let’s use that’!
“It was exhausting but a magical experience – we had people rush over to us at traffic lights asking for selfies, cheering and some French locals would dash over with food and drinks. It was amazing.”
Enjoying a well-earned pit stop (Image: handout)
Wheely bad news (Image: handout)
Law student Lizzie – who has featured many times in the Daily Express’s cystic fibrosis health campaigns – met Tom at Swansea University and the pair have been dating over a year.
When she told geography student Tom about her CF, he was surprised not many friends either knew much about the condition, which affects over 10,000 Britons.
Agreeing to fundraise for the CF charity, Louis mentioned his dad Ant’s old tandem which was found, renovated and the four friends started training.
With Ant, 59, in a support van to help with bike spares, sourcing and cooking meals, drinks and snacks the four finally departed London’s Tower Bridge for Dover on September 18th.
Tom explained: “That first day was the worst as we had the hilly South Downs to ride over plus tyre problems. We tackled a total of 1,000-metres of elevation in that one day, riding 131km.
“We’re about as far removed from cyclists as you can get and we had all done some individual cycling to get our endurance up but there is no accounting for the real thing.
“We set off at 7am but only got to Dover at 8.52pm, just eight minutes before the ferry sailed!”
Louis, Rory, Nathan and Tom before setting off (Image: handout)
While on the ferry they carried out overnight repairs on the tandem’s rear wheel – with all the lads six foot or taller their combined weight of half a tonne was too much for the bike wheels and spokes to bear.
From Calais the next morning they rode the 95km to Arras down a pleasant canal path while chatting to locals en route.
Louis told us: “The support from strangers was fantastic and surprised us to be honest. Admittedly we must have looked a sight with four rugby lads in bright, yellow tops on a four-man tandem bike!
“We heard lots of cheers and applause and we tried to thank them in French and it really gave us a boost.”
On day three they powered 141km from Arras to Compiegne which Louis described as a “lovely ride” then day four was an easier 84km to Paris’s Eiffel Tower.
When they arrived Lizzie, her mum Catherine and many friends and family were all there to greet their heroes as they travelled exhausted and sore across the finish line.
Lizzie hugs boyfriend Tom at the finish line (Image: handout)
Tom added: “The first thing Lizzie said was that I ponged! But then she said how proud she was of all of us and we had some tears. We then celebrated with some Champagne and food by the Arc de Triomphe.
“I can’t thank the three lads and Ant enough for what they did for the charity, Lizzie and other people out there with CF. It’s now something we will always be able to share forever.”
While Rory remarked: “Lots of people cycle London to Paris, but I don’t think many would do it on a four person tandem bike! For our future selves to look back and know we’ve done something like this feels really exciting.”
And proud Lizzie said: “To think they’d put themselves in such an intense situation, I was like, ‘are you sure you want to do that?’ But it’s amazing the awareness they are spreading. It’s really nice to see.
“The CF Trust has always been a part of my life and has been pivotal for me and my family. The support we’ve had, and so many other families with CF have had, has been amazing.”
* To donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for Tom’s challenge visit