FOUR cyclists are aiming to raise more than £1,000 in a sponsored 114-mile bike ride.They are collecting money for two-year-old Miles Alder who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

FOUR cyclists are aiming to raise more than £1,000 in a sponsored 114-mile bike ride.

They are collecting money for two-year-old Miles Alder who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

This is a rare progressive wasting disease that eats away at the muscles and means Miles is likely to be confined to a wheelchair in the future.

Four riders, aged between 30 and 50, will ride from Ipswich to Lowestoft and back again in the same day.

The challenge will start at 7am on Monday, September 15 and they hope to return to Ipswich by 5pm that day.

Paul Bartlett, one of the riders, is looking forward to the event. He said: "We all are really up for it and we are hoping we can raise more than a thousand pounds."

Mr Bartlett and the other riders, Colin Shanks, Julian Farrow and Andy Chapman, all work in the Evening Star print department.

The men work alongside Miles' father Darren Alder who thanked his workmates for their efforts.

Mr Bartlett said: "I have seen Miles and he is a lovely little boy. If it goes well this year we are hoping to do something next year, maybe a bike ride to Norwich."

The event will be tough for the four men as they have only been riding for four months. As preparation for the event they are riding 30 miles twice a week as training.

Anyone who wishes to contribute to the fundraising is asked to send cheques made payable to the Miles Alder Charity to Paul Bartlett, 16 Belstead Avenue, Ipswich, IP2 8NP.