 The REME cyclists at their base in Banja Luka A team of Army mechanics is hoping to raise over £12,000 for charity by cycling all the way from their base in Yugoslavia to their battalion HQ in Bordon, Hampshire.
The team of seven from 4 Battalion Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers will leave their base in Banja Luka on Friday 4 November and are expected to reach their home over a week later.
During the nine days they will notch up an impressive 2,228km as their mammoth challenge takes them through Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France before they reach the shores of England.
Sergeant Geoff Harrison, the team leader for the exercise, said:
"It will be hard going but it will give us the opportunity to explore several new countries and their life styles.
" Importantly, for the charities, it will hopefully raise their profile and give us the opportunity to contribute to their cause.
"All of the charities we are hoping to raise funds for are important to us. I nominated the Still Birth and Neo-natal Death Society and the Barnsley Hospital Rainbow room charities because my girlfriend and I know a couple who had a stillborn child. Macmillan Cancer relief was nominated by Lance Corporal Lee Gale because his father died at cancer."
The team hopes to cross the finish line at their base at around 11.30am on Sunday 13 November when they will be greeted by friends, families and work colleagues.
The expedition, dubbed Exercise Cycle Samaritan, marks the end of the troops six month deployment to Banja Luka, where they have been helping to keep the vehicles of the European multinational force on the roads
The British Army has been working alongside their counterparts from 33 countries which include Finland, Germany, Latvia, Norway and even Chile.
The 7,000 troops of EUFOR have been helping to keep the peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the country rebuilds itself.
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