'Crazy' fundraiser cycling to Alps on Chopper bike

A personal trainer is aiming to ride a Raleigh Chopper bicycle 900 miles (1,450km) from Hull Marina to the highest ski resort in Europe to raise awareness of motor neurone disease (MND).

Mike Humphreys, from Hedon in East Yorkshire, recently ran 30 marathons across Europe in 30 days, raising £30,000 for charity.

He said his latest challenge was inspired by TV personality Paddy McGuinness' recent exploits on a Raleigh Chopper for Children in Need.

The 33-year-old said he hoped to pass the £50,000 fundraising mark.

Mr Humphreys said he wanted to raise as much awareness of MND as possible after losing friend Carl Giblin to the condition in 2013 and another friend, Craig Eskrett, being diagnosed in 2023.

The best way to achieve this was by doing "crazy things", he said.

After completing the marathon challenge in November, Mr Humphreys told BBC Radio Humberside he wanted "to do something kind of extreme".

So, after deciding on a trip to Val Thorens in the French Alps, which sits at an altitude of 7,546ft (2,300m), he asked his followers on social media to vote on options for how he would get there.

"Just for a joke I put the Chopper in and it turns out it won," he said.

It was only after getting his hands on a Chopper, he realised how tough the challenge was going to be.

"There's three gears, but there's not much in them, and it's definitely not designed for climbing hills," he said.

Mr Humphreys said he had not done a great deal of training as he had been busy visiting schools to talk about his previous challenge.

"I'm just going to go for max effort every day and try and get as many miles as possible," he said.

"I'm hoping to do 100 miles every day, but it's going to be a tough one."

Mr Humphreys is due to set off on Sunday and will ride from Hull to Calais on his own with a tent strapped to his back, before getting a support driver in France.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.