A ST IVES man who started a 1,000-mile bike ride as a single man, ended it married and having raised more than £1,700 for charity.

Glen Harris, 40, cycled from Land’s End to John O’ Groats during the July heatwave, raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of a friend.

But rather than just concentrating on the road, Glen was joined nine days into the trip – on July 16 – by his fiancée Lesley Harris, 43, who drove the same route in her car, with friends, to get married at a registry office in Gretna Green.

Mr Harris admitted he had been planning to propose when they made it to John O’ Groats but he couldn’t wait that long and the pair, who have known each other for just over a year, decided they would get married on the way.

Mrs Harris said: “It was great. Everything went really well. After the wedding we had a lovely dinner and a rest and then the journey carried on.”

Despite saying that his legs ached for three weeks after the ride, Mr Harris still found the strength to carry his new wife over the threshold when they returned home to Dryden Close, St Ives.

The 12-day ride was in memory of Julian Davies, Mr Harris’s good friend who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer two years ago.

And it was the memory of his friend that helped Mr Harris climb the hills in the scorching July heat.

Mr Harris said: “It was very, very hard. It must have been about 30 degrees for much of the trip. I had to drink about eight litres of water a day and take on about 2,000 calories.

“When I was climbing the huge hills in Cornwall and Scotland, thinking of my friend certainly did help. I was quite emotional when we finished and there were a few tears shed and a bottle of Champagne opened.”

INFORMATION: If you would like to donate to Mr Harris’s cause, go to www.justgiving.com/herecomesharris