A CARDIOLOGIST is gearing up for a hearty challenge which will see him and a friend cycle more than 200 miles on bamboo bikes, stopping in Brecon for a beer on the way.

Heart surgeon Adrian Raybould and his friend Dan ???? are planning a trial cycle to the home town of the Bamboo Bike pioneer James Marr and stop off at the town’s brewery to pick up a bottle of Bamboo beer, before digging deep and riding from one national garden to another.

The pair from Llanddeusant built the bike from scratch and the boys plan to cycle their new toys more than 200 miles from The National Botanic Garden of Wales to The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew on June 1 and 2, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

Dr Raybould said after caring for Dan’s father following a heart attack last year, the pair wanted to do their bit to raise funds for research which can lead to the life saving treatments which are benefiting scores of Adrian’s patients daily.

"Having just completed the bikes," said the heart surgeon. "We thought a trial run to the Brewery in Brecon, which brews Bamboo Beer, was a fitting way to test the bikes.

"The plan is to ride them from The National Botanic Gardens of Wales to The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew over two days. The foundation has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives."

Brecon Beacons-born James Marr has spearheaded the bamboo bike, spending years honing the techniques in Glasbury-on-Wye before moving to London to set up a workshop and a teaching area to show people how they can build their own.

Heart specialist Dr Raybould said the pair thought dropping by Brecon brewery, riding the bamboo bikes to pick up a Bamboo Beer was a fun way of raising awareness of heart disease.

He doesn’t want to bamboozle supporters with the facts and figures but is eager that people area aware that heart disease is the UKs single biggest killer, with one person dying on average every three minutes. The doctor who is based at Glangwili but also works at Morriston Hospital is passionate about support the 50-year-old foundation which has helped halve death rates from heart disease in half a century.

Dr Raybould said: "It’s only thanks to support from people like us that they can create new treatments and discover new cures.

"£25 could pay for an hour of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target."

To support the guys you can donate via https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bamboobikechallenge