On Sunday, Neil Jordan will head out on a multisport journey with a difference. Lands End to John O’Groats with everything else in between, using a mixture of cycling, kayaking and good old shanks’ pony. It might have been done before, but has it ever included canoeing the Caledonian Canal, hiking the West Highland Way and Penine Way, climbing the three highest peaks in the UK and braving Neptune’s wrath as he kayaks the south coast of Cornwall, all in aid of the Sobell House Hospice Charity and Cancer Research UK.

The journey is expected to take the best part of three months, during which Neil will make his way south cycling to Inverness, kayaking the Caledonian Canal, climbing Ben Nevis, walking the West Highland Way, the Penine Way and climbing Scafell Pike, then cycling on to Wales where he will climb Snowdon, before canoeing the Severn and finally completing the mammoth challenge with either a final kayak or hike along the Cornish coast to his destination at Lands End.

Along the way he will be joined intermittently by friends and family including his sons, Richard and Stuart. Neil says, “My wonderful wife Linda finally lost her long fight against cancer on 23rd June 2007. Soon after her Thanksgiving Service I spent four days walking the coastal footpath from St Ives to Penzance. I needed time on my own to start to come to terms with Linda’s death, and it was on this walk that the idea for the Ride-Stride-Glide started to form in my mind."

"Throughout our 32 years of happy marriage we had always enjoyed walking, and in the last two years we had taken up going for rides on a tandem. In 2006 I finally persuaded Linda to try canoeing, which she thoroughly enjoyed. I was however told that if she ever fell into the river this would be grounds for divorce! We made short journeys in both England and Canada. It therefore seemed appropriate that, to raise funds for the Sobell House Hospice Charity and Cancer Research UK, I should make a journey, dedicated to Linda, combining walking, cycling, canoeing and sea-kayaking."

"I believe that Linda would approve of what I am taking on and I hope that the monies raised will help Cancer Research UK in their work of finding a cure for cancer and Sobell House to continue to offer the care, comfort and support to others, that Linda and the family valued so much in her final days.”

Sobell House fundraiser Kevin Game said, “This is a huge challenge but a great one too. It’s really exciting not only for Neil to complete the Lands End to John O’Groats journey which is a challenge in itself, but also for him to polish off most of the other toughest challenges in the UK. By the end of it he will have seen the very best that Britain has to offer and have raised a huge amount of money to help us continue the invaluable work of Sobell House in our community.”

You can see how Neil's challenge is progressing and see his timetable by visiting www.ridestrideglide.wordpress.com or call him on 07813 704798.