Dr Roe, of Burton Lazars, will be setting off on a gruelling bike ride from John O'Groats to Lands End on Sunday along with brother-in-law Alan Whitmee (51) and Alan's wife, Valerie, who hopes to complete as much of the route as she can. The support car will be driven by Dr Roe's wife, Yvonne.

For the last 25 or so years Dr Roe has worked with people with disabilities and now he's looking to raise as much money as he can for Steps - a conductive education school for children with cerebral palsy and other conditions based in Leicestershire.

Dr Roe, who works with disabled people as a rehabilitation psychologist, has been cycling more than 100 miles a week for the past year in preparation of his latest challenge.

He said: "I work from home these days and I'm also president-elect of the Rotary Club of Melton Mowbray. Myself and Alan cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats 18 years ago when my wife was going to Romania to work at an orphanage. When I hit 70 and now Alan is over 50 we said let's give ourselves another challenge."

He added: "John O'Groats to Lands End is supposed to be a harder route because you've got the prevailing winds against you. We're hoping to do an average of about 70-75 miles a day. If we manage that it will take us 13 days of actual cycling.

"The last time I did it in nine days. This time I'm looking forward to the challenge but I'm also looking forward to finishing. It will be interesting to see how well I do compared to last time."

Friends and family will be able to monitor the team' progress by logging on to the blog www.stepsbikeride.blogspot.com

Dr Roe added: "One of the reasons I wanted to do this was to help people with disabilities. Our rotary club also has a strong link with Rosemary Conley.

"She is the patron of Steps and has come to speak to the club on two occasions. She is sponsoring me on the ride as well."

Anyone who would like to make a donation ca visit www.stepscentre.org