TACKLING one 52-mile cycling challenge wasn't enough for one team of dedicated fundraisers who decided to complete it twice in memory of a toddler who died in June this year.

Oscar Evans, aged two-and-a-half, sadly lost his battle with a rare genetic condition called Menkes Disease on June 1.

His family and friends are now on a fundraising mission to raise £10,000 for Ty Hafan, the family hospice for young lives, in his memory.

Oscar’s father Andrew Evans, of Pontprennau, and his 'Oscar's Army' teams cycled from Cardiff to Brecon on Saturday evening before getting on their bikes again on Sunday to tackle Ty Hafan’s popular Taff Trail cycling challenge before finishing in Bute Park, Cardiff.

They joined 100 teams to complete the full Taff Trail challenge from Brecon and the two women’s teams, Oscar’s Angels, tackled the half Taff with 37 other groups from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff.

Andrew said: “We took part in the Taff Trail challenge last year and raised just short of £5,000. This year, we decided to take part again but with an extra twist.

“We decided to double the challenge and cycle from Cardiff to Brecon the night before, completing a total of 104 miles in two days.

“This year has been far more emotional as we are now raising funds in memory of our gorgeous son Oscar, who devastatingly died in June this year.

“We can’t thank Ty Hafan enough for what they have done for us and we have a target in mind of £10,000 which we would like to raise for Ty Hafan in Oscar’s memory.”

He added: “It is vitally important for people to fundraise for T? Hafan so that they continue to provide amazing care for life-limited children and their families.”

A number of teams took part due to personal connections with the charity, including ‘Team Alice’ and five ‘Amazing Archie’ teams who cycled in memory of two-year-old Archie Watson.

Welsh Paralympic cyclist Mark Colbourne MBE also took on the challenge after officially starting the event in Brecon at 8.30am.

He said: “It was fantastic to see more than 500 cyclists raring to go at the start line. Everybody had great fun and there was lots of laughing and camaraderie along the route which was wonderful.

“Ty Hafan is a fantastic cause doing amazing work for life-limited children and it was great to see so many people supporting and raising money on the day. Well done Ty Hafan for organising such a fantastic fundraising event.”

The event, kindly sponsored by GVA, is expected to raise more than £50,000 for Ty Hafan, which needs to raise £3.7m each year to provide its services.

Ty Hafan would also like to thank Brecon Carreg, Burtons Biscuits, Laguna Health & Spa, 9bar and Steve Gunter Photography for their support.

The charity's next event is its west Wales Rainbow Run in Pendine Sands, Carmarthenshire, on Sunday, September 27.

For more information or to register, please visit www.rainbowrunwales.co.uk