EIGHT brave members Wellington Wheelers CC took on the challenge of the Exmouth Exodus bike ride on Saturday.

The Exodus is an overnight ride from Bath to Exmouth – a distance of just over 100 miles.

With a truly awful weather forecast for the night, and hurricane Bertha due to strike in the early hours, all riders knew they were in for a challenge.

Nonetheless, they loaded their bikes onto a trailer and two members drove them to Bath in a minibus.

The cyclists left Bath at 9pm with bike lights blazing, along with a few hundred other cyclists.

The rain began around the 30 mile mark, just as the Wellington Wheelers descended into Cheddar Gorge and a welcome tea stop followed just after.

Another 30 miles dropping down on to the Somerset Levels took them to Fivehead where they were grateful for hot soup and more tea and cake.

Hurricane Bertha had truly arrived by this point and the riders were battered with high winds and torrential rain, but through determination they pedalled on – up over Blagdon Hill – and reached Exmouth at around 8am Sunday morning.

In total the whole ride took about eight hours of cycling time.