NO ONE can accuse Adrian May of being a couch potato.

The father-of-one has just completed the London Marathon and he is now hopping on his bike to cycle to Paris for charity.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Bishopstone, will be sharing his thoughts and feelings about the challenge with Advertiser readers on our website.

"For the last couple of years I have tried to do some type of physical challenge to raise money for charity," said Adrian, who works for BP.

"I tend to raise money for Bliss, which is a premature baby charity.

"My wife Gill and I have had experience with premature babies a couple of years ago.

"Our daughters were born at 26 weeks, but sadly they died two weeks later. It has given me a focus ."

After taking part in marathons for the last few years Adrian decided it was time for a change.

"I thought I'm getting too old to be doing this," he said.

"I heard that Bliss was involved in the cycle ride to Paris and I thought I would give it a go.

"My son Tom and I go out for bike rides but until I started training for this the longest ride I'd ever done was about three miles."

Not content with cycling nearly 300 miles from London to Paris, Adrian decided to make it an even bigger challenge by adding another 80 miles.

"I thought that if I could raise a bit more for the charity by cycling from Bishopstone to London then I would do it," he said.

"During my training I've headed out towards Reading trying to find the best route.

"It is amazing, you see so much more of our fantastic countryside when you are out on a bike than you ever would driving in your car."

Once in London Adrian will join a bigger group, taking the ferry to Calais before cycling through Abbeville, Beavais and finishing up in Paris on Saturday morning, under the Arc de Triomphe.

And he can't wait to set off tomorrow. "I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "I like France and know a little bit about the northern area."

So far, Adrian's fundraising total for the bike ride is £1,800 but he is hoping to raise as much as possible.

And BP run a fundraising-matching scheme, so the money Adrian collects could double.

It means that in the last five years he will have raised £20,000 for charity. To sponsor Adrian log on to www.justgiving.com/adrian-cycle To read his Adver blog log onto www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/blogs/cyclingbliss/