MORE than 4000 leva was raised in the One Life charitys second Annual Bike Ride.
The funds will go towards buying new mattresses for the childrens ward at the National Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Sofia.
The bike ride, which drew more than 50 participants, including several children, this year followed a route from Borovets to Sofia, a distance of about 85km.
Participants included teams from The Sofia Echo, AstraZeneca, the British embassy, CableTEL, and Velomania, as well as many individual riders.
Despite the constant rain, spirits were not dampened, and riders showed cheery grins as they kept up the pace, whether uphill or downhill.
After an amiable sendoff by the mayor of Samokov at the starting line in Borovets, riders got the chance to dry off and warm up in front of the open fire at the summit of the hill at Yarema, before starting the long downhill to Sofia via Zheleznitsa, Bistritsa and Simeonovo.
The police who escorted us the whole way did so with good humour, said one rider. We even had an English-speaking policeman!
The race was followed by a splendid feast for the riders and supporters at the Radisson SAS Grand Hotel in Sofia.
In the welcoming warmth of the Flannagans pub at the Radisson, riders recounted their tales from the day, enjoying the lavish buffet and the drinks, football on TV, in the company of family and friends who turned out to help celebrate the achievement.
Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, overheads were kept to a minimum. ETAP Adress provided a free bus, Allied Pickfords transported the bikes for free, ONDA coffee break provided sandwiches in the village of Kovachevtsi, and Radisson SAS provided the whole evening for free.
Previous funds raised by the charity have helped pay for repainting of the ward at the childrens hospital. The roof will be repaired by Esi Co Ltd., who will donate the labour and materials needed.
