A Surbiton resident is cycling to Singapore on a bike named after his late mother, to raise money for the Yorkshire hospital which cared for her before she died.

Dean Haddock, 31, will set off from London at the end of March, on his bike Doris, his mother Sally’s middle name, despite a severe lack of training.

Unperturbed by his lack of preparation, and the fact he has done no training since the summer, he is confident he will make it and is looking forward to the challenge.

He said: “The way I see it is it’s a challenge, it’s going to be hard anyway and I’ll be fit at the end of it.”

Throughout the trip, which he anticipates will take between nine months and a year to complete, he will be totally self-sufficient, sleeping in his tent at the road side, or in woods.

The hills he will cross in Tibet add up to cycling the height of Mount Everest five times, but Mr Haddock, a broadcast operations manager, is determined to do it while he is young.

He said: “One of the roads I will be cycling on in Tibet is closed to foreigners. It’s 2,000km so I will have to sneak through military check points late at night to avoid being turned back. Imagine getting 1,950 km and then being turned back.”

You can sponsor Mr Haddock, and help him reach his £10,000 target, at justgiving.com/london-singapore.