Hailsham man will cycle more than 3,000 miles across Europe

Benito Panice is cycling from Calais to Athens which equates to 5,000km (3,106 miles).

He said: “I love a good challenge and I have wanted to tour the world since I was younger so I basically put the two together and thought of a plan to kill two birds with one stone.”

The journey starts on September 9 and he’s hoping it will take 45 days by being on the saddle for six hours a day.

Benito will be completely alone and self-sufficient.

He said: “I’ve chosen this charity because my niece was born with an umbilical hernia and was looked after by Great Ormand Street when she was born.

"She was in an incubator for a few days and luckily it wasn't anything life threatening however knowing that there are innocent children out there who have never experienced the great wonders of life fighting for their lives is a horrible thought and I will happily do anything I can to help this as much as possible.

“Also no one deserves to suffer, but the thought of a purely innocent child who hasn’t even experienced their life passing, or suffering is a truly disturbing thought. If I can make a small change to a child’s life in these stages then a small piece of my mind will have closure.”

In terms of training, Benito said he’s only been cycling for a year and is ‘scared’ for the challenge ahead of him.

He said: “People think cycling is an easy sport but let me assure you doing anything for seven hours a day for roughly 45 days straight with your heart rate around 130 BPM is mentally and physically draining.”

The route will stick to roads, but this includes riding through the Alps and Benito will face an elevation of more than 34,000 metres which is the height of three Mount Everests.

Benito’s daily routine:

Wake up 8am-9am > Eat > Cycle for 3-3.5 hours > Rest > Eat > Cycle for 3-3.5 hours > Finish around 4pm-5pm > Relax in the evening

Follow Benito’s journey here

Benito’s fundraising page

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