Cwmbran teen set for epic UK cycle tour for cancer cause (From Free Press Series)

Cwmbran teen set for epic UK cycle tour for cancer cause

9:00am Saturday 26th June 2010 in News

A CWMBRAN teenager will spend his gap year cycling the length and breadth of the UK in an effort to raise more than £5,000 for charity.

Keen cyclist Adam Blackwood, 18, will spend the next 12 months cycling a tour of the UK in 10 stages, taking in 615 miles.

The Fairwater High School pupil estimates the challenge will see him in the saddle for 65 hours, as he tries to fit rides in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales around work placements, before heading to university in September 2011.

He has been training three or four times a week, and hopes it will leave him prepared enough to complete the challenge and raise £5,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Mr Blackwood - who is currently taking his A levels in biology, chemistry and maths - said he chose the charity because he would like to work in biomedical science after university.

"Most people have a friend or family member who has had cancer," said Mr Blackwood. "Maybe in the future the work of charities like Cancer Research can do something to stop that, and I would like to do something in biomedical science, so I could end up actually dealing with that too."

Mr Blackwood will kick off his tour in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in August before finishing in Wiltshire a year later.

To sponsor him, visit www.justgiving.com/thecyclingtour