Duo take on 160-mile panto horse tandem ride

Lee Bilbrough and Jonathan Binney are raising money for the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope

Two friends are due to set off on a coast-to-coast tandem ride dressed as a panto horse to raise funds for charity.

Jonathan Binney and Lee Bilbrough, from Oakworth, near Keighley, plan to cycle more than 160 miles (257 km) from Blackpool to Scarborough, in aid of the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.

The two hope to reach the hospice in Oxenhope by Saturday evening, then travel through Bingley, Shipley, Leeds, Tadcaster, York and Malton, on Sunday, before reaching Scarborough at about 17:00 BST.

Mr Bilbrough, said: "I'm at the back, Jonathan is at the front. So he has good visibility [and] all I can see is the ground, so I'm completely in his hands".

Back and front: Lee Bilbrough and Jonathan Binney

The pair said the challenge would start with "the back wheel in the sea at Blackpool and finish with our front wheel in the sea in Scarborough".

Mr Bilbrough said the "big obstacle" would be the heat.

"It gets really warm in the costume so we're hoping for a cooler weekend this weekend," he said.

Asked where the idea for the challenge came from he said: "We'd done running races in the costume, park runs and fell races.

"Then one evening the question was asked 'I wonder if a pony can ride a bike?'

"So, before we knew it, we'd bought a tandem, and it turns out a pony can ride a bike."

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