April 18, 2013 9.22 am This story is over 130 months old

Lincoln duo go the extra mile cycling for charity

Challenging task: A Lincoln engineer and his colleague will cycle to a number of RAF bases in the UK, including three in Lincolnshire, to raise money for charity.

A Lincoln engineer and his colleague will be biking from RAF Lossiemouth in north Scotland to RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall for charities close the the duo’s heart.

Marc Nicholson, from Lincoln, and Gary Gibb, from Hamilton, are both Precision Approach Radar Engineers for Exelis Defence Ltd, and intend to bike to a number of RAF bases in the country in just nine days.

They will undertake their Tour De PAR for The National Autistic Society (NAS), Cancer Research UK, and Help For Heroes.

Marc and Gary will visit any airfield base that has a PAR-200: a Precision Approach Radar which helps aircraft land in poor conditions.

The duo's cycle route over the nine days.

The duo’s cycle route over the nine days.

There are currently 21 UK bases with these facilities on site, spanning 1,400 miles for the two cyclists.

The charities were chosen due to the pairs life experiences — both have served in the RAF for 21 years collectively, both have lost close family due to cancer, and Marc’s son was diagnosed with autism in 2010.

The Tour De PAR will begin on April 26, at 8am, at RAF Lossiemouth. Both will take it in turns to cycle 40 miles each.

In Lincolnshire alone, they will visit RAF Cranwell, RAF Waddington, and RAF Coningsby. Marc and Gary will also visit Exelis Defence Ltd Head Office at Basingstoke.

The team have a Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest developments in of their goal to raise £100,000.

You can also support Marc and Gary’s efforts by visiting their Just Giving page, where you can either support the whole effort or an individual charity.