Gears give up but hardy cyclist finishes 860-mile epic ride

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The 24-year-old civil engineer said: "It was very emotional when I reached John O'Groats but when the gearing mechanism snapped it was an absolute nightmare.

"I had to do a bit of roadside DIY and used brute force to bend them back into shape but I lost use of 10 out of 18 gears." To make things worse, some spokes then snapped on his £1,200 bike.

Fuelled by 19,000 calories a day from energy bars and drinks, Mr Pickles, from Crystal Palace, completed the journey with virtually no sleep.

He said: "I had to have a couple of half-hour power naps because at one point I realised my mind had drifted off and when I came to I was in the middle of the road."

The "absolutely miserable" part of the 860-mile journey was the notorious 1,400ft Shap Fell in Cumbria, completed at 4am in the driving rain.

Mr Pickles raised £4,900 for Camden-based charity Kids in Need of Education.