A GRUELLING cycle challenge saw a man go the length of the British Isles to honour his late father and visit the city close to his family’s heart.

Matt Greenwood used pedal power to make his way from John O’Groats, in Scotland, to Lands’ End in Cornwall to celebrate the life of his dad, Bob, who died in November 2011 at the age of 65 after a battle with Parkinson’s.

Mr Greenwood senior completed the same 941-mile cycle ride 26 years ago and went the distance again on a motorbike in 1998.

And Mr Greenwood received a rather special greeting when he reached St George’s Church, in Bar-bourne, with members of his family who still live in the area, and in Perdiswell, tur-ned out in force.

Matt, who now works for the Ontario Soccer Assoc-iation, said: “The ride provided some real sentimental moments where I knew Dad was riding with me and pushing me along. “I know he’d be proud of the achievement and I’m happy to say I've followed in his footsteps – or bike tracks.”

Starting on Friday, July 26, Mr Greenwood junior completed the distance within his target of 10 days and he has raised more than £2,950 of his target of £3,135.26 for Park-inson’s UK.

Each day he aimed to ride between 6.30am and 2pm but he did encounter some dangerous riding conditions with torrential rain being a feature on seven of the days.

He added: “I should have known what was ahead of me, when I was only 20 minutes down the road from John O’Groats I had to shelter by a farm house because of a huge thunderstorm over- head.”

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition which occurs when people don’t have enough of a chemical called dopamine because specific nerve cells inside their brain have died.

The three main symptoms of Parkinson's are tremor, muscle stiffness and slowness of movement, with an estimated 7.4 million people worldwide having the condition. The support and research charity is leading the work to find a cure.

To make a donation, go to justgiving.com/Matt-Greenwood3.