SADDLE-SORE Vince Hankinson this week reflected on his wheels of fortune.

And, after two weeks of pedal power and more than 600 miles of the titanic trek from Land's End to John O'Groats, he proudly pronounced: "That was a doddle! Not even a puncture!"

He and girl friend Helen Smith completed their strength-sapping cycling adventure with £1,500 raised for the Atherton RU club building fund - and with a vow to do it again.

"We would like to do the coast-to-coast sometime in the summer," said Vince, 31. "That's from Workington and across to Northumberland."

Vince is full of enthusiasm for another enterprise. "I'm fine. I found it pretty easy," he said. "But I do a lot of cycling, around 30 miles a day to Manchester and back, while Helen found it considerably tougher."

The trip from Land's End took 14 days. "We were lucky," added Vince. "The weather was good all the way apart from a day or so on Dartmoor, when we had hailstone the size of peas, and some rain and wind in Scotland.

"Most of the time we had good sunshine.

"Our trip, cycling about seven hours a day, took us through Cornwall, Somerset, slightly into Wales at Monmouth, up through Shropshire and Cheshire.

"We called home for about three hours for a wash and a drink, then off through the Lake District to the Scottish Borders and via Loch Lomond and Loch Ness.

"The top end of Scotland was quite flat and quite fast and we arrived peacefully at John O'Groats. No brass bands. No photographers. We just came home."

The lack of breakdowns surprised Vince.

"I expected a few punctures," he said. "But I didn't even have to pump up the tyres - not even once!

"The only hitches were a brake cable, which snapped in Carlisle, and a broken chain in Scotland.

"I can't wait for the next adventure."

However, Helen, 27, can wait!

The pair were given plenty of support from local companies, including Lifting Gear Hire, Royal Bank of Scotland, Monks World Travel, Atherton Liberal Club and the Happy Days Car Shop.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.