A RETIRED teacher has cycled from Bordeaux to Barcelona to raise money in memory of her doctor husband.

Jan Titchmarsh, 72, from Helmsley, has raised £5,045 for Yorkshire Cancer Research in honour of husband, Michael,who died of cancer at the age of 73 in March last year.

Jan, who worked for the Foreign Office before marrying and becoming a part-time language teacher, said: "My husband had a wonderful quality of life as a GP in Helmsley. His main priority was his patients, to whom he gave 101 per cent of his time and energy.

"I decided to do the Bordeaux to Barcelona ride on a whim with a friend. Once we had paid up front, the pressure was on."

She spent three months of solitary training cycling around the North Yorkshire countryside, clocking up a total of 1,600 miles.

During her challenge, which was organised by Bike Adventures, she climbed a total of 15,000 metres – the equivalent of one and a half Mount Everests – and even completed a 10km ascent that is used by professionals training for the Tour de France.

She said: "It was tough, but we knew it would be. It was hot some days, some days it was wet, but the bonhomie and the excellent organisation of the fully supported ride made up for the exhaustion.”

Jan has been a member of Yorkshire Cancer Research’s voluntary fundraising committee in Helmsley since the early 1970s, helping to raise more than £10,000 for the charity every year.