SWINDON CANCER APPEAL: MORE than 200 cyclists gathered at Croft Sports Centre yesterday to take part in the seventh Castle Mountain Bike Ride.

Proceeds from the event, sponsored by Skurray's Car Dealership, will help to boost the coffers of the Evening Advertiser's Swindon Mac-millan Cancer Appeal, with at least £2,000 pledged.

The assembled cyclists, a mixture of professional looking cycling enthusiasts and others who just came along for the ride, were set off by Swindon mayor Derek Benfield.

He said: "It is great to see so many people willing to do their bit to help the Swindon Cancer Appeal.

"Swindon people are very good at helping each other and I am pleased to have been invited to start the event."

One of the organisers is Jill Greenaway, vice chairwoman of the Swindon branch of Mac-millan Cancer Relief.

She said: "This is certainly not a race.

"It is a chance for people from all walks to life to come along and have a bit of fun.

"We have a wide range of people taking part, from the really keen cycling crowd to families."

To cater for the different abilities of those taking part, the course was divided into three different length courses, of 10, 15 or 25 miles.

Among those taking part were friends Dee Childs-Mckay, 46, who works at Workbase Recruitment and Elaine Bisset, 43, who works for the manu-facturing firm Torin.

Dee said: "We have taken part in this event for the last few years. We both think that Mac-millan nurses do a brilliant job and it is a wonderful charity to be raising money for.

"Between us, we have raised about £150 in sponsorship money from our colleagues and friends.

"We are both really keen cyclists and have gone on cycling holidays together, so this should not be too bad.

"We're hoping that it will be a lot of fun."

One of the senior entrants was 73-year-old rider George Anderson, who was cycling the route with his son David.

George said: "I shall only be doing the 10-miles because I am not as fit as I used to be.

"I have a personal reason for taking part as a close relative passed away recently and she received some wonderful care from the Macmillan nurses. I am very happy to support this appeal."

A family taking part were Mike and Wendy Thomas and their children Abby, 11, and Paul 13.

Wendy, 38, who works at The Swindon-based Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, said: "We are all keen on sport and we thought that this would be a good chance to do something as a family for a good cause."

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