The charity, Hannah's Holiday Home, enables families of children with life-threatening diseases to enjoy quality time together.

Dave Cornish, Colin Marshall, Gordon Scott, Sean Potts, Quentin Wallace-Jones, Peter Holt and Stuart Martin managed to raise £1,000 by their efforts.

Peter, one of the charity's committee members, and friend Gordon are already seasoned cyclists and have raised money for The Rowans Hospice, the Air Ambulance service and Wessex Heartbeat in the past.

Peter said: 'The cycle ride was Gordon's idea and the seven people who took part managed to cover the 63 miles in five-and-a-half hours.

'We had a couple of novice long-distance cyclists with us so decided we would all stay together as a group to give them encouragement, and it was very warm so we made lots of short stops..

Peter and Gordon had worked on the route over several weekends, choosing to cycle across country to avoid busy routes and stick to country roads wherever possible. They left Horndean for Bishop's Waltham, went across country to Twyford, then travelled through the New Forest to St Leonard's Hotel, near Romsey.

Pam Westbrook, who set up the charity in memory of her young daughter Hannah, and friend Jane Lefeuvre followed in a van and car as drinks, puncture and spare tyre back-up.

Pam said: 'We were shattered just driving the course so they must have been exhausted.

'The cycle ride was organised professionally, right down to the last detail.

'The boys were fantastic and the amount they raised was staggering.'

Despite the aches and pains endured, the group gained a great sense of achievement and would like to make it an annual event and hopefully attract more entrants.

Peter said: 'Two of the group had only bought bikes recently and did five or six miles a day as part of their preparation for the daunting task ahead of them.'

At their destination, they were met by wives and partners for a meal and an overnight stay before travelling back in the comfort of their cars.