Pedalling for pounds

His journey begins at Vancouver in British Columbia on 24 July and ends at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 29 August.

Dale can’t wait. “We go back as a family to Canada every five years but I didn’t want to sit around chatting all summer. I wanted to do something – so here it is!”

Dale’s a keen cyclist although, with an average daily distance of 120 miles a day (at a speed of 15 miles per hour), this will certainly push him to the limit.

“I rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats about three years ago, loved the experience and wanted a bigger challenge,” he says.

“I have clearly got a bigger challenge as the practice ride of 123 miles recently proved, and from which I am still recovering!”

He’s also laying down the gauntlet for his 18 year-old son, Josh. “After the Land’s End trip, which took us nine and a half days, Josh said he could do it in four or five days easily. He hasn’t yet, but I know this Canada trip will be far beyond his reach!”

Dale requests prayer for safety, adding “pray too that I get good accommodation all across Canada. It is a big country and I do not yet have a place to stay in every town I want to stop at”.

Dale is cycling to raise money for both BMS and the British Heart Foundation.

After previously working for World Vision in Canada for four years, Dale has a passion for Christian mission.

He adds, “With BMS’ connections to Didcot Baptist Church, of which I am a member, and its headquarters also in the town, it just seemed an obvious choice”.

Students at Kennet School in Thatcham, Berkshire, where Dale teaches religious studies, are right behind ‘Mr Sutcliffe’, even creating a fundraising poster (pictured right).