A HARTFORD mother of three has completed a 352-mile bike ride from London to Paris in just four days.

Claire O’Brien, 45, from The Crescent, took on the challenge of raising £2,000 for Leukaemia Research.

Claire has been diagnosed with the rare blood disorder thrombocythaemia and visits the haematology and oncology department at The Countess of Chester Hospital on a regular basis.

She decided this would be her inspiration and it gave her the drive to raise money in aid of helping people with leukaemia.

The bike ride raised 86 per cent of her target and she hopes to raise the rest over the next few weeks.

Six friends took part in the ride, including Claire’s sister Rachel Long and Laura Williams.

The ride was not an organised event. They just had themselves, their passports and their bikes and set off on their adventure in search of Paris.

Claire said: “It was really fantastic and when we got to Paris we met up with an organised event and were invited to join them to cycle around the Arc de Triomphe.

“There were people around us cheering and the traffic stopped to let us go round, it was such a big high.

“The first day I think I overdid it or under fuelled and after 50 miles I was in pain.

“I didn’t know when I was going to finish, I was just cycling into the unknown, but my friends were very supportive.

“Things just got better each day from the first.”

After they had finished the ride under the Eiffel Tower, Claire added: “I finally did get that glass of champagne I promised myself.”

If you would like to donate money to help Claire reach her target visit justgiving.com/ claireobrien2.