Firefighters Andy Titmuss, Lee Forster and Dave Porter, who are all based at Stanground fire station, should reach John O'Groats tomorrow after an arduous fortnight in the saddle, grinding out about 1,000 miles.

By the middle of this week, they were bang on schedule and had knocked off 760 miles on a route which had taken them from Land's End in Cornwall to Loch Fyne in Scotland.

Dave told The Evening Telegraph he was on the shoreline, "watching the rain on the window with a hot cup of coffee and a roaring log fire".

He said the trip had been "great fun" so far, even if it had got off to an embarrassing start when he made an unplanned departure from the road.

Dave said: "We have biked 760 miles reasonably unscathed. I crashed on the first day into a ditch, but barring a few scratches, all is OK.

"Lee and Andy are fine, although we are all finding it very tough to keep the miles and enthusiasm up, especially in the rain.

"In Cornwall and Devon the first two days were very hilly and we all suffered. You go up a hill at 4mph, then down the other side at 40mph."

The trio are raising cash for The Firefighters Charity, The British Heart Foundation, and The Parkinson's Disease Society.

Their trek has so far taken them across the rolling uplands of the West Country, including Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor, through Somerset and Cheddar Gorge, around Bristol and then into Wales, where it rained after seven days of sun.

They then headed into Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, to be greeted by "howling wind and sandblasting rain".

After passing through Cumbria, they crossed the border into Scotland on Monday, nine days after setting out, and put their feet up at Loch Fyne on Tuesday after a taxing, rain-sodden nine-hour leg between Motherwell and Inveraray.

Dave said: "The bed and breakfasts have been superb, and the food and beer a very welcome sight at the end of the gruelling days.

"Sometimes it has been very hard, with steep hills going on and on and aching legs in need of some respite, but there is none.

"After we finish in John O'Groats this Saturday afternoon, you may just hear the cry of relief and my bike being tossed into the sea."

n To sponsor the men, visit www .justgiving.com/andytitmuss, www. justgiving.com/daveporter, and www.justgiving.com/leeforstercycles