A FUNDRAISER has helped raise more than £85,000 for charity after cycling the length of Great Britain.

Sara Jalicy, along with friends Hattie Mason and Johanna Millar, completed the mammoth journey last month.

The trio were part of a 27-strong squad cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Sara described the 874-mile journey as “really difficult” but added it had gone “really well”.

She told the Courier: “It was pretty much what I expected. The first day of it is down in Cornwall and it is all uphill from there.

“It was a long day in the saddle and when you were finished you were just knackered.

“After that, days two and three were tough but it got a bit easier as the body adapted.” The former Haddington Infant School and Knox Academy pupil started off at England’s most south-westerly point on September 1.

From there, the 27 cyclists pedalled 173 kilometres on the first day before reaching Okehampton.

Then it was on to Bristol (156km), then Bewdley (164km), Oldham (160km) and a final stop south of the Border in Penrith (172km).

The group then crossed the Border into Scotland and stopped at Peebles (168km) before going on to Kinross (117km), Aviemore (177km) and Brora (165km).

Each day involved the group setting off at 8am before finally climbing off the saddle somewhere between 4pm and 7pm each afternoon.

Sara, 30, said it was amazing how quickly the body adapted to the strains of cycling more than 100 kilometres each day.

And she admitted she had seen some incredible sites along the way.

She said: “We took photographs at every momentous stop. We had a photograph at the Border and at the Highlands and we have plenty of photographs next to road signs.

“We saw some really nice areas of the UK, like the Cairngorms and the Peak District.” The final leg of the journey saw the group faced with the shortest stage – a ‘mere’ 99 kilometres from Brora to John O’Groats.

Sara said: “The last day was a bit of a shocker. There were 25-mile-per-hour head winds and torrential rain.

“It took all the energy I had to get it done.” She added: “It was horrendous. You were literally being pushed backwards or off your bike.

“It was a really miserable day but it was still brilliant to get it done.” Together, Sara, along with Hattie and Johanna, had set themselves a target of £7,000 for the trip.

But they smashed that figure before they set off and, by the time they had reached John O’Groats, that figured had grown to almost £10,800.

Sara, who is a partner and head of the residential property department of Anderson Strathern, only recently picked up her bike from the cancer charity after completing the ride.

She added: “I just need a break from cycling!” Fiona Bushby, Marie Curie fundraising manager for the Lothians, said: “A huge thank you to Sara and all the cyclists who put a fantastic amount of effort and enthusiasm into their challenge.

“Fundraisers like Sara are vital in enabling us to provide care to terminally ill people and their families.”