Antony Butcher: Ilkley cyclist eyes 4,000-mile pan-USA charity challenge

A cyclist from West Yorkshire is to pedal across the breadth of the USA to raise funds for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Antony Butcher, 32, from Ilkley, whose mother suffers from MS, said his 4,000-mile journey would start on Saturday.

Mr Butcher's aim was to raise £20,000 by cycling from New York through 18 states to San Francisco, he said.

While he could not "fix mum" by raising cash, he said he hoped to help make a future "where we can stop MS".

Mr Butcher, who works in student support at the University of Leeds, took on his first bike-based challenge at the age of 17, when he raised £3,000 for the MS Society by cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats.

He said with his pan-USA challenge, he planned to ride up to 70 miles most days, starting his journey in New York's Times Square.

Mr Butcher said he would climb a total height of about 120,000 feet (36,600m) during his USA odyssey.

The cyclist, who has been raising money for MS for almost 20 years, said his mum told him she was proud he had "taken that pain we've experienced and done something positive with it".

He said: "Over the last 15 years, I've seen her mobility stripped; seen the day she stopped walking independently; the day she started living in a wheelchair; the day she moved into residential care.

"I can't fix mum, but by raising money I can help be a part of making a future where other people don't have to go through the pain we've gone through."

Mr Butcher said he aimed to finish his bike ride on 13 July, when he hoped to be reunited with his wife in San Francisco.

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