Boris biker gears up with 881 mile trip for our Dispossessed fund

A London hospital worker is preparing to cycle the length of the UK on a Boris Bike to raise money for the Evening Standard’s Dispossessed Fund.

James Davies will ride up to 55 miles a day for four weeks in buffeting winds and on steep hills as part of the “crackpot” challenge starting this weekend.

The 31-year-old from Camden has arranged the hire of the three-geared bike from Transport for London and has trained by cycling repeatedly around Regent’s Park.

He hopes to raise up to £5,000 for the Dispossessed after reading about its “fantastic” work funding grassroots poverty-fighting charities and social enterprises.

He said: “I always wanted to be the first person to do something, no matter how difficult, easy, ridiculous or sublime, and realising quickly that this was a very common route I decided to spice it up.

“I have always been keen on the idea of reducing traffic in the city and a fan of the cycle hire scheme and when I discussed this with my brother-in-law, the idea was born.”

Davies, a nuclear medicine technologist at University College Hospital in central London, will set off from John O’Groats in Scotland on Sunday morning.

Over the next four weeks he will cycle the 881 mile course at an average rate of 30 miles a day, while resting at hostels, hotels and the homes of friends and family overnight.

He admitted taking on steep hills on one of London’s “iconic” hired bikes with little experience of long distance cycling would be a major challenge.

But he said: “It is a comfortable bike to ride with a nice ride position and large seat, so long distances should be pretty comfortable on them. The trick is to overcome the prevailing winds as the bike is not exactly aerodynamic.”