STERLING Stourbridge RFC's Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell faced one of his toughest ever fixtures when he took part in the London to Paris cycle ride to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia.

Mitchell coerced two of his players, Damian Webb and Aaron Harlow, together with the club's Watt bike coach and sports masseur Andy Tompkins to accompany him for the 400 mile trip which was scheduled to be completed in four days.

But Mitchell, who is no stranger to charity cycle rides and his companions didn't bargain for the bad weather they encountered which plagued them throughout the event.

Mitchell revealed: "On day two of the ride, the organisers called us all together and suggested we call it off as the weather was so bad, but the majority wanted to keep going.

"Conditions were the worst I've ever cycled in and there had been one or two accidents to riders.

"When we arrived in Paris, the expectation was for everyone to hang around - but the weather was so bad, that people were ducking into cafes to try and escape.

"I hadn't thought about bad weather in September and hadn't brought anything to change into. I had only the lycra that I cycled in, which was an unfortunate sight for everyone else.

"But the comradeship between all the cyclists was something special."

The intrepid quartet have raised over £3,800 from their endeavours but Mitchell added: "It would be nice to beat the £4,000 mark.

"I appreciate there is constant pressure on people to dip their hands into their pockets for charitable causes - however cancer is a condition that invades all of our lives, directly and indirectly .

"Leukaemia in particular has touched the families of many members of our club in recent years."

Anyone who would like to donate can by going to: www.justgiving.comNeil-MitchellCL?utm