GROUP of Black Country friends are set to get on their bikes for a monumental 1,100-mile charity ride from Barcelona to Birmingham.

The team, comprising 46-year-old estate agent Andy Cole from Stourbridge, engineer Tom Bulteel, aged 29, from Moesley, Royal Army Medical Corps doctor Dave Cooper from Harborne, Cradley Heath fireman Andy Pincher, aged 30, and Stourbridge IT consultant Tim Bailey, aged 30, will take on the epic cycle challenge in memory of Tom’s dad and to help raise money for Brain Tumour UK.

The ten-day ride will see the cycling novices covering 110-miles a day and the long and winding route will take them through picturesque places including Andorra - the highest point in the Pyrenees mountains.

Andy, a partner at Wakeman Estate Agents, Kingswinford, said: “There are various points that we are worried about and that’s one of them as it’s going to be very steep and windy and hot as well.

“But it’s going to be a once in a lifetime adventure and a challenge for sure, as none of us have done anything like this before.”

The ambitious team have set themselves the goal of raising £10,000 to help their chosen charity continue its work trying to raise the survival rates and standard of life for people diagnosed with brain tumours.

Tom, a geo technical engineer for Amey, said the fundraiser would be a tribute to his dad John Bulteel - a teacher at Old Swinford Hospital School - who died a few years ago just months after being diagnosed with the condition.

He said: “More devastating than the thought that we may lose someone we love was watching the speed at which the brain tumour affected the things that meant so much to him.

“A passionate teacher, tennis and hockey player - he very quickly lost his speech and the use of the right side of his body, which he never regained.

“Hopefully the brilliant work and research done by Brain Tumour UK will lead to improved prognoses and standard of life for those diagnosed with brain tumours.”

The team will kick off their challenge on August 14 and they hope to be back in Birmingham on August 24.

To sponsor their efforts visit webpage www.justgiving.com/Barca2Brum or text bTUK 99 £(amount) to 70070.

Or to follow their progress check out www.Barca2Brum.org or Facebook group www.facebook.com/Barca2brum