SADDLE-SORE Peter Galloway came out of the desert with a huge smile of satisfaction creasing his bronzed face. A job well done!
The computer consultant has been putting pedal power to good use, earning much-needed cash for the National Deaf Children's Society.
And, after 250 miles of trouble-free cycling across the swirling sands of Jordan, 58-year-old Peter is planning to do it all again...through the rugged mountains of Cuba.
The adventure began with a magazine advertisement last April.
"They were looking for volunteers for the sponsored ride across Jordan," said Peter, of Old Hall Mill Lane, Atherton. "I immediately decided it was a worthwhile enterprise."
He began training on his 25-year-old Raleigh tourer, backed by advice and equipment from Leigh cycle specialists Ratcliffe's.
"I would regularly travel the 40 miles to and from work," he said. "Then, at weekends, I would go out on 100-mile trips."
The training paid handsome dividends when he joined some 85 cyclists in Amman at the start of their intrepid trek across the desert.
"Happily, I left my tourer at home," said Peter. "The society provided us with rugged, 18-gear mountain bikes."
The adventurers journeyed towards Iraq, stopping at Azraq before heading south towards Mount Nebo before completing their five-day 410k journey across rough roads, tracks and sand in Aqaba.
"I was lucky," said Peter. "No punctures, no falls, no aches, no pains.
"And I raised £2,405."
Now Peter - who insists he is "just a weekend biker" - is back on his faithful, old tourer preparing to go to Cuba in October for a second sponsored ride into the unknown.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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