A FITNESS guru from Northwich has been practising what he preaches by completing a mammoth 250-mile bike ride in less than 24 hours.

Gearard O’Hara, who owns Cheshire Power Cycling, cycled from Manchester to London overnight between June 8 and 9 to raise money for St Luke’s Hospice.

Ged said: “It was rough, I will not lie, but I did it in 22 hours and 48 minutes.

“It was probably the worst experience of my life.

“When we got to London we were all just stuck on our bikes and couldn’t even fling our legs back over the cross-bar – everyone said ‘never again’.”

The first leg of the challenge saw cyclists head over the Cat and Fiddle to Buxton, completing 2,000 ft of climbing.

By the time the group reached the fifth leg of the challenge, after biking 158 miles, they had another 2,000 ft of climbing to do into High Wycombe.

Ged said: “I knew it was going to be rough but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the mental challenge that was involved in it.

“But there’s no way it’s put me off cycling – and now when I think about doing 100 miles it’s not daunting any more.”

Ged burned 18,000 calories on the challenge, which was fuelled by Jaffa Cakes, energy gels and energy drinks, and completed 125,000 turns of the pedals.

His average speed was 14.8mph.

He has so far raised £1,200 for St Luke’s Hospice.

The super cyclist will also have a stand at the Get On Your Bike event at Oulton Park on Sunday, giving people chance to try their skills on Wattbikes for a donation to charity.