A MONMOUTHSHIRE dental expert has completed a 100-mile charity cycle ride after being inspired by local Olympian Becky James’ silver medal success in Rio.

Dr Nigel Jones, from Abergavenny, has raised more than £1,700 to be split across two charities, the Alzheimer’s Society and Salvation Army.

The dental implantologist’s 100-mile route took him from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, through the Surrey countryside and back into London to the finish line on The Mall.

Dr Jones, 58, said: “I’d been inspired by Becky James and her heroics on the track, but also a couple of other people I know who had gone into cycling. I noticed they had lost a lot of weight.

“I like a challenge. Dentistry takes up a lot of my life but I don’t want it to take up all of it, so I thought I could do with having a new challenge and getting a lot fitter.”

Out of the funds raised from completing the challenge, Dr Jones is giving £950 to the Alzheimer’s Society and £750 for the Salvation Army.

He said: “I lost my mother Jacqueline and mother-in-law Noreen to Alzheimer’s so the society is close to my heart. The Salvation Army is a local church that does a lot of good work so we wanted to do something for them.

Despite the daunting course ahead of him, Dr Jones preparation for Prudential RideLondon-Surrey was not ideal as he struggled to begin with.

He added: “I only did just under three months of training despite deciding to do it some three months before that. The first training ride I went out on was 15 miles and it was at that point that I knew I had a lot of work to do to get ready.

“I gradually built up to rides of about 70 miles by the time the challenge came around. It was a great experience and I’m so grateful to everybody that supported me.”