THE first thing most new pensioners think about is a decent rest.

Instead, former college art lecturer Raphael Bate has hopped on his bike to cycle from one end of Britain to the other to raise money for charity.

Yesterday, the 56-year-old passed through Droitwich eight days into his 25-day marathon trip from Land's End to John O'Groats.

Despite confessing to feeling a bit saddle sore and suffering a puncture en route, Mr Bate said he was enjoying the ride, which he is aiming to complete along the new national cycle network.

"I've never done anything like this before," the father-of-three admitted.

"I only did a bit of training and jogging about three weeks before.

"It is a massive operation, but I think of it as a series of long-distance cycle rides."

Father-of-two Mr Bate, who lives in Edinburgh, is covering around 56 miles on his own each day before an estimated arrival in John O'Groats on Monday, September 25.

He wants to raise £5,000 for the Mithra Foundation, which works to bring Indian women and children out of poverty with initiatives like child labour elimination programmes and education, following a visit to Bangalore last year.