Couple plan to get married during end-to-end cycle

John O’Groats to Land’s End with a twist usually implies a route that diverts from the traditional course.

But for two Devon cyclists it involves getting married en route, reports the Torquay Herald Express.

Lee Atkinson and Anna Reffell first met eight years ago at the Teign Valley Pedal Bashers cycling club and their love has blossomed.

So it is fitting, of course, to tie the knot during the country’s longest and most popular cycling challenge, with the soon-to-be-married couple hoping to complete the tour in 24 days by cycling between 60 and 70 miles each day.

>>> Stop-motion animation of John O’Groats to Land’s End ride (video)

They are leaving the most northerly point of the UK on June 5 and eight days later they will swap the lycra for wedding attire and get married in Gretna Green in front of close family before resuming their ride the following day.

The couple have requested no wedding presents, instead wanting donations to Cancer Research UK through their charity page.

Reffell said: “It was through our interest in cycling that we fell in love and when Lee proposed it seemed only natural for our wedding plans to involve a cycling theme.

“I had always wanted to complete the End to End epic cycling challenge. To combine this with our wedding day was, for us, the ideal wedding day.”

And to think that LEJOG tandem record-breakers Charlie Mitchell and Dominic Irvine thought that their ride was exciting.