'Tour de Triplet' riders take off on charity ride on 105-year-old bike

A quad of friends have set off today for the charity ride of a lifetime, on an unusual choice of steed.

Olly Lewis, 28, Will Bancroft, 28, Rich Kelly, 28, & Tom Strange, 27, will be cycling in groups of three from Trafalgar Square in London to Les Crosets in Switzerland this August on a triplet bike that's over a century old, in support of the charity Help for Heroes on a ride they have dubbed 'Tour de Triplet'.

Olly wrote on his JustGiving page: "Whilst deciding on our form of transport, Rich proposed doing the cycle on a 105 year old triplet cycle (a 3-man bike) named 'Cerberus', very kindly lent to us by a family friend of Rich's.

“The bike is named Cerberus after the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. It’s 104 years old and is owned by a close family friend who found it in a shop whilst studying at Oxford Uni.

"He restored it and has even taken it to Greece. Cerberus is a real eye catcher, even in early training session’s random passers-by laugh, cheer and honk their horns. She even caught the attention of rock legend Sting, who has had a go.”

"The bike itself has already travelled many thousand miles across Europe and the UK and we are very much looking forward to getting her wheels rolling (look out for us cycling around Richmond Park in preparation!)."

Rich has already used the bike to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats, earning himself a place in the record books as the youngest person to complete the route on a triplet.