I was chatting over a pint to my friend Paul who came up with a crazy idea of cycling one end of the country to the other. Having had a couple of beers at the time cycling the country seemed a perfectly rational thing to do. However upon reflection I realise I'm middle aged, unfit and overweight. Up to this point my cycling consisted of visiting various pubs in the county covering approximately 500 miles a year, not quite the 1000 miles I have to do in just two weeks.

I will get a lot out of this personal challenge and being a dog owner of many years, I would like to take this opportunity to support Leicester and Leicestershire Animal Aid in recognition of the fantastic work they do caring for and re-homing dogs and cats in my local area. 

Paul has recently lost a close rugby friend, Dave Evans and has decided to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer research in memory of him. Paul has set up his own Just Giving page and if you would like to donate to his chosen charity please follow this link www.justgiving.com/LeJog4Dave.

I intend to post regular updates on my blog  http://andy-on-tour-may2012.blogspot.co.uk/ for those of you who may wish to follow our adventure. All donations are greatly appreciated whichever charity you choose and thank you to all those who are supporting us on our journey.