A BIKE shop owner who sadly lost his father last year following his 12-year battle with cancer will begin a huge 1,100 mile cycling challenge on Monday to raise money for charity.

Darren Hart, who owns The Little Bike Shop at South Petherwin, and his good friend Dan Payne from Treviscoe will be climbing in excess of 40,000 feet when they cycle John O’Groats to Land’s End on as many of the National Cycle Network routes as possible, starting on Monday, August 6.

It is a challenge Darren has wanted to do for a long time, and he will be raising money in the process in memory of his father, Peter Lewis Hart.

Darren said: “It’s something that I have always wanted to do but unfortunately life gets in the way. Dad fought cancer for 12 years — your life is put on hold somewhat.

“After losing dad last year, after 12 years of more lows than highs shall we say, I wanted to do something really positive in dad’s memory. He lived in the Midlands and he was the kind of gentleman who would happily help friends and neighbours. I thought this final gesture would be a nice tribute.

“It’s a sad part of life. As a family it’s such a rollercoaster.”

The two charities the fundraising challenge is supporting are the Loros Hospice in Leicester — which looked after Peter — and Cornwall Air Ambulance, and on the JustGiving link (www.justgiving.com/teams/thelittlebikeshop), people have the choice to donate to either charity, or both.

Darren added: “I know how important the air ambulance is to Cornwall. We have lived here as a family for 12 years and always supported the air ambulance. We’ve seen it in action on a few occasions — it’s landed in South Petherwin three times in the 12 years we’ve lived here.

“If dad can be a part of keeping that flying or raising funds towards a new helicopter, that’s great.

“Getting involved in doing this, it helps you through the grieving process as well.”

Darren admitted he is both a bit nervous and excited, adding: “If you do it solo it would be extremely difficult. [Dan’s] a good, strong cyclist. We are in no hurry, we’ll just take each day as it comes.

“We are going to be riding as much of the National Cycle routes as possible. We want to avoid as many of the major roads as possible. It will take a little bit longer and should be about 1,100 miles.

“I cycle every week. I’m not competitive or anything like that, it’s purely for enjoyment and trying to keep myself fit and healthy — I am a diabetic sufferer as well and cycling definitely helps control sugar levels.

“I ride all round Devon and Cornwall and last weekend we rode all over Dartmoor as part of our training. It’s something I really enjoy doing — good for the mind and body.”

The ride will take them through Scotland, England — dipping into Wales — Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. They will go on the old A30 and pass through South Petherwin and Minions, and would be happy for anybody locally to tag along with them for part of it or the rest of the way to Land’s End. They are due to arrive at Lands’ End on Saturday, August 18.

They would love to raise £3,000 in total for the two causes.

Darren and Dan plan to document their adventures on social media. You can follow them on www.facebook.com/thelittlebikeshopuk/

Darren said: “We appreciate every penny that is donated from the bottom of our hearts.”