One day after listening to a speech from Richard Parks about his 737 Challenge, David Fitzpatrick, from Magor, became inspired to attempt a challenge of his own making.

Having barely ridden a bicycle in his life, David dreamed up The Red Cycle over a cup of tea last September. Enlisting the help of cycle coach, Jason Smith, from Abergavenny, he embarked on nine months of intensive training transforming from a cycling novice to a lean mean cycling machine.

Starting on September 20, 2013, The Red Cycle is a charity cycle ride around Great Britain covering 1,420 miles over 16 days, and averaging 88 miles per day with the aim of raising £15,000 for charity.

The aim being to raise as much money as possible for the charity, RedRUK, an international disaster relief charity which trains aid workers and provides skilled professionals to humanitarian programmes worldwide, helping to save and rebuild the lives of people affected by natural and man-made disasters.

David and his team, including his son Sam, will be passed through Monmouthshire and Newport yesterday ending the day in Cardiff.

So far the weather has been kind which is just as well because some days they have cycled more than 120 miles.

The most grueling day for them was from Leeds to Newcastle and involved 9692ft of climbing and included a number of 17 per cent gradient hills.

Despite such challenging days, they are on schedule to complete the cycle on October 5, in Kings Cross, London.

For more information on the ride visit www.theredcycle.co.uk