A TRIO of friends from Sidmouth about to embark on the cycling adventure of a lifetime are appealing for sponsors.

Tom Salthill, 74, Michael Wright, 49 and Terry Grover, 69, plan to pedal more than 2,000 miles around edge of New Zealand’s South Island.

The route will see them ride through towns and cities, along remote coastlines and in the shadow of a majestic mountain range.

The intrepid threesome are taking on the epic task to raise money for Sidmouth Victoria Hospital Comforts Fund, which faces a funding challenge to net more than £250,000 to complete a major refurbishment that is under way.

Tom tackled the same route on foot in 1992 to raise money for a hospital in Croydon and said he was looking forward to taking it on again.

“We’ve been training for the last few months and we’ve already bought the bikes which we’ll pick up when we get there,” he said.

“We’re hoping to cover about 80 miles each day, and it should be easy to navigate – we just need to keep the sea on our left!”

Each man will carry 20 pounds of kit on their backs, including tents, bike spares and fishing rods in case they run low on food.

The group are hoping to raise as much as possible towards the refurbishment work at Sidmouth Hospital.

Anyone wishing to sponsor the group or contribute towards the work can take donations directly to the hospital reception or post them C/O Mr G Vincent, Chairman, 86 Morden Road, Sidmouth, EX10 9NA.