WHEN it comes to cycling, Hereford hairdresser Ian Beswick has been on the fringes.

Now he’s cut straight to the chase – a 500km ride from London to Paris to raise funds for charity.

The new boss of the Peter Prosser salon group, now called Avant Garde, jumped in at the deep end.

He joined a team largely made up of cyclists from the world of hairdressing and so far their pedal power has raised over £66,000 for the BloodWise charity, formerly Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research..

Says Ian: “So as a complete cycling virgin having never ridden a road bike, I decided to join the London to Paris Bike Ride as you do.” His on-line log records how the four-day ride between the two capital cities proved to be the “hardest physical challenge of my life so far”.

He continues: “Alex from the Warndon Avant Garde saloon also agreed to join me on the bike ride.

“Both of us were completely new to cycling, having never ridden a bike until buying them locally in April,” says Ian.

He explains how he was inspired by a group which took part in the ride last year from his “beloved” hairdressing industry, and signed up to join the Pscyclepaths team. “I knew I had to commit to this fantastic event and help support such an amazing charity,” he said.

Day two of the challenge was the toughest, the route from Calais to Abbeville included a total climb of 1,179 metres. This section is notorious for cyclists - the longest day and historically the wettest, not to mention the highest incidence of punctures.

“If the pain of this ride and all the training beforehand helps raise valuable funds to support research into improving how we treat blood cancers, and helps reduce the pain anyone suffering with it by the slightest amount, it will be fantastic.”

Ian points out that his part in the challenging ride was completely self-funded and that all money raised would go straight to the charity.

Anyone wanting to help Ian Beswick’s fundraiser can go to www.justgiving.com/bez-london2paris