Six-man bike on the road to raise money for charity

A six-man bike has been presented to Great Dunmow Round Table for charity fund-raising.

Six Man Bike - Credit: Archant

The group raised £56,000 last year for Blesma (The British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association) when 20 people cycled to Ypes.

The bike was built in 1976 by members of the Goodmayes and Letchworth Round Table to ride to Hamburg to raise money for charity and many of the team who rode to Hamburg went to Dunmow on Wednesday (August 26) for the handover.

Over the years, the bike has raised about £500,000 for good causes. It has been used on television advertisements, appeared on Blue Peter and in an episode of Birds of a Feather.

Jon Percy from Dunmow Round Table said: “We have had the bike unofficially for a couple of weeks to give us a chance to learn to ride it. We have had some evening training sessions in and around Dunmow and certainly people stopped to look.”

He said the trick was to get someone to give the bike a push to start and then for everyone to pedal in sync. It was also a good idea for everyone to lean together going round corners and on roundabouts.

He added: “We intend to make the most of it and have it on the road as much as possible. We’re planning to cycle it to events round the country and enter competitions so it should be a regular feature on the roads around Dunmow.”