David Beswick, who lives in Oakham, will set off from the Polish capital Warsaw on August 14 and hopes to finish his epic ride in St Petersburg, Russia, around a month later.

David (55) will be accompanied by his friend from the north-east, Steve Jones, and proceeds from the effort will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

"I've done a charity ride in Poland before, from Gdansk to Warsaw, but this will be much further," said David, who is retired after running a garage franchise for Honda.

The journey will be split into four legs. The opening section ends in Vilnius, Lithuania.

From there the pair head for the Latvian capital Riga, before setting off for Tallinn in Estonia.

The final leg takes them across the Russian border to the finish in the city formerly known as Leningrad.

David said: "The second section is more undulating and we are expecting that to be the most difficult.

"There is always a strong wind coming off the Baltic so that will be difficult to contend with. They also have these long country roads in that region with very few bends to break it up. We are training hard and we are both looking forward to it."

The charity was chosen because Steve's wife, Marie, died shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

Anyone interested in sponsoring David and Steve is invited to send a cheque to David Beswick, 7 Chaffinch Close, Oakham LE15 6BY.