We, Barney Harle (sighted pilot) and Chris Vaughan (visually impaired stoker) are attempting to ride Coast to Coast on a late 1980's Dawes Tandem in a Dawn to Dusk challenge. We will be attempting to ride 125 miles with 8,300 feet of climbing between 4am and 10pm 8th July 2019. Setting off from Workington we aim to ride to Wearmouth following a route picking up most of the major points of interest incorporated in the original Sustrans Coast2Coast route including the famous climbs of Hartside Heights, Killhope Cross and Crawleyside before finishing on Roker Pier at the mouth of the River Wear. Due to the limitations of using a tandem we have had to plot a very specific route.

We are raising money for Tandem Trekkers a Huddersfield based charity who provide training and riding opportunities for people with varying degrees of visual impairment. The charity owns a fleet of approx 18 tandems ranging from relatively recent Orbits to 40 year old bikes donated to the charity. They run sessions most Saturdays from the start of March to the end of November. Riding sessions range from training and introduction to riding in the safe space of an athletics track through to weekends away incorporating much longer day rides of upto 40 miles. We've even taken groups to Manchester International Velodrome to ride on the famous boards. Most sessions are oversubscribed and the local 20 mile greenway rides regularly attract over a dozen tandem pairings.

As a charity there is no support from local or national government so all costs of providing bikes, transport, maintenance and renting storage space have to be met by the individual members and from fundraising. At present the charity is reasonably well provided for in terms of tandems and equipment but is finding it hard to cover the simple annual running costs of things as basic as renting a secure storage unit where its bikes can be kept and maintained. We are therefore attempting to raise funds to provide cash to keep the charity running.

Every penny donated will be given to the charity as we have kindly been sponsored by Marstons Brewery through Wainwrights Golden Ale - Find Your Mountain Competition to take on this challenge and they along with the participants are covering all expedition costs.