In November 2009, myself and three university friends John, Dan and Alex are embarking on a formidable (some might say gratuitous!) cycle trek across Central America.

The cycling will take just under two weeks to complete, with a boat trip across Lake Nicaragua thrown in to avoid a soul-destroying commute down Central American Highway 1. The route will encompass a variety of challenging terrains including rainforest, dust-track and volcano! The attached photo shows me training hard for the challenge ahead.

Please see our website www.san2san.co.uk for a more detailed description of the route, and links to my friends' JustGiving pages.

I am very cowardly around spiders. While I don't expect to conquer all fears over there, I am hoping that a few insect encounters might provide some therapy, helping me overcome my phobia. I think. Maybe. To be honest, if I didn't see anything eight-legged all trip I'd be over the moon.

We expect this to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but given the politics of border crossings, limited amenities, language barrier, climate and mileage, the trip will be far from a comfortable ride.

I would be very grateful for any sponsorship that you - my family, friends and colleagues - would be able to offer to motivate me on this daunting trip. It goes without saying that Marie Curie Cancer Care are a very worthy cause and would be grateful for all donations great and small!

My target, £1,081, is set deliberately to aim to beat the amount I raised for my London Marathon run in 2007.

Thank you for all your kind support

Pete