When some dive centre staff decided on a 24-hour marathon dive in aid of cancer charities, they elected not to lie around tapping their fingers. Instead they took the physical route - by riding a bike, hard, under water.

The further they rode, the more they would raise, so sand-baggers were out! Richard Boak, Joe Bowen, Adam Heady and Mic Watson, of Scubanet in Aylesbury, Berkshire, took turns to do one-hour stints at the pedals of a bike mounted at the bottom of their 2.5m-deep training tank.

They were backed by four more divers who carried out buddy support, air filling and general topside organisation. Coca Cola heard of the attempt and donated a new mountain bike for the long ride to nowhere.

It all got surprisingly technical. The bike had to be stripped of oil and grease to avoid polluting the tank's water, with replacement silicone grease applied to main sprocket and chain. The bike's digital speedo/milometre was waterproofed and linked to the surface by extension cables, so that the team could see how far they were getting.

Scubapro allayed worries over CO2 build-up by loaning regulators which would cope with the work load. Then, once in the saddle, the divers found they needed to select just the right gear to achieve the best possible distance while not working too hard over an hour.

"The 24-hour run was noon to noon, and by the small hours it had become a real labour of love," team member Joe Bowen told Diver. "The first 30 minutes of your stint seemed like an hour, and the last 15 minutes seemed endless.

"To ward off boredom, we were given underwater MP3 players to use, and one of our safety divers laminated copies of FHM and Loaded magazines!"

As Diver went to press, the team had raised a decidedly useful £2500, with money still coming in.The funds are going to Bob Champion Cancer Research and to the Florence Nightingale Hospice. The hospice cared for Scubanet manager Lucy Long's father during a cancer-related illness. Some 29 scuba companies and local businesses backed the event.

Scubanet - 01296 425886, www.scubanet.net

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