A WIDOWER is embarking on an epic challenge to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice in memory of his late wife.

Peter Davies, 56, will be cycling 745 miles across the Himalayas in September, from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal, via Everest Base Camp. The gruelling journey will be difficult, not only because of the distance and the fact that much of the ride will be uphill, but also because Peter will have to adapt to cycling at high altitudes, which increases the heart rate and makes breathing more difficult.

Peter is taking on the challenge in memory of his wife Barbara, who passed away from liver cancer at the hospice a year ago.

East Lancashire Hospice costs £3 million per year to run, and he is hoping to raise at least £8,000 in sponsorship - enough to run the hospice for just one day.

Peter, of Pine Close, Rishton, has always wanted to cycle the route, but the ride takes three weeks, and he had not wanted to leave his wife for so long while she was alive.

He said: “Barbara was disagnosed in March 2012 and passed away four months later.

“Her mother died of exactly the same thing in October 2011, and Barbara was diagnosed only six months after her mother died.

“Within a year both her and her mother had died of exactly the same thing. In memory of Barbara, and in support of the East Lancs Hospice, I am aiming to raise the money to run the hospice for just one day.

“It’s such a wonderful place. If anybody has ever had anyone die in hospital it’s a completely different experience.

“The hospice is just so much nicer.

“The cycle is something that I’d always wanted to do and something that I’d talked to my wife about on several occasions. Riding the Himalayas is the challenge of a lifetime, but nothing to the challenge faced by friends and relatives whose loved ones are not going to recover.”

To sponsor Peter visit: http://www.justgiving.com/peter-davies12. None of the money raised will go towards the cost of the trip — all donations will go straight to the hospice.