Widower's challenge to ride, slide, glide

4:23pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

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A Wantage man will conquer the UK's toughest terrains in a gruelling physical challenge dedicated to his late wife.

Neil Jordan will hike, cycle, climb and kayak his way to Land's End, in Cornwall, from John O'Groats, in Scotland, during a three-month challenge.

The 57-year-old, of Newbury Street, took early retirement to care for his wife Linda, who lost her battle with cancer last June. She was 56.

He is hoping to raise £30,000 for Oxfordshire's Sobell House Hospice and Cancer Research UK in her memory.

The father-of-two, who sets off on Sunday, May 4, said: "Soon after her thanksgiving service I spent four days walking the coastal footpath from St Ives to Penzance.

"I needed time on my own to start to come to terms with Linda's death and it was on this walk that the idea for the Ride-Stride-Glide started to form in my mind.

"Throughout our 32 years of happy marriage, we'd always enjoyed walking and in the last two years we had taken up going for rides on a tandem.

"In 2006, I finally persuaded Linda to try canoeing, which she thoroughly enjoyed. However, I was told that if she ever fell into the river this would be grounds for divorce.

"It seemed appropriate that to raise funds for the Sobell House Hospice Charity and Cancer Research UK, I should make a journey dedicated to Linda, combining walking, cycling, canoeing and sea-kayaking."

Mr Jordan will cycle to Inverness, kayak the Caledonian Canal, climb Ben Nevis, walk the West Highland Way and Pennine Way and climb Scafell Pike.

His next feat will be to cycle to Wales to climb Snowdon, before canoeing the River Severn and then completing the journey by kayaking along the Cornish coast to Land's End. He said: "I am slightly apprehensive, but there is too much sponsorship money at stake for me to back out now.

"There has been a lot of training involved. People who have done similar things say the first two weeks are the hardest and then you start to enjoy it."

Kevin Game, a fundraiser for Sobell House, said: "This is a huge challenge, but a great one too.

"By the end of it he will have seen the very best that Britain has to offer and have raised a huge amount of money to help us continue to invaluable work of Sobell House in our community."

To date, Mr Jordan has raised £7,000. To sponsor him visit www.ridestrideglide.wordpress.com