A RETIRED police officer is to cycle across the US in memory of his father.

Wayne Poulton, 56, of Abergavenny will travel 3,836 miles from San Francisco to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, visitng landmarks slong the way like the Golden Gate Bridge, Salt Lake City, the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains, the Indianapolis 500 circuit, Dodge City and the Utah salt flats where landspeed world records were set.

Mr Poulton, who previously worked for the Gwent Police traffic department and retired in 2005, will be raising money for the British Heart Foundation.

The trip is being held in the memory of Mr Poulton's father, Des, who died of heart disease in 1990.

"He died young at just 65," he said. "Hopefully if we can raise money for research into heart disease won't be such a big killer and people will be able to live longer."

He said he first got the idea to do this about five or six years ago.

"This isn't my first long distance ride. I went on a ride between Land's End and John O'Groats in 2000, when I also raised money for the British Heart Foundation.

"I wanted to go last year but I put it on hold while my son was getting married. It's only now everything has come together for the trip."

Mr Poulton has been keeping a blog of his training for the event. He plans to keep it up to date with photos and stories from his coast-to-coast route.

"I ride between 700 and 750 miles a month," he said. "Myself and my wife Diane ride all over to Caerleon, the Brecon Beacons and even Hay-on-Wye.

"She likes to come long distance riding as well, but she didn't quite want to go all that distance!"

Through sponsorship Mr Poulton aims to raise a pound for every mile he rides on the trip, which begins on June 1 and ends on July 22.

Itinerary
  • San Francisco, CA, to Salt Lake City, UT
    11 days, 835 miles
  • Salt Lake City, UT, to Pueblo, CO
    8 days, 594 miles
  • Pueblo, CO, to St Joseph, MO
    8 days, 686 miles
  • St Joseph. MO, to Indianapolis, IN
    7 days, 620 miles
  • Indianapolis, IN to Erie, PA
    5 days, 469 miles
  • Erie, PA, to Portsmouth, NH
    8 days, 632 miles
  • 3,836 miles in total.