A POLICE officer is gearing up to complete the second leg of a charity bike ride double in aid of research into a rare cancer.

Rick Lyon will tackle the 100-mile Ride London-Surrey on August 2, having already done the Tour de Yorkshire route in May.

It is all aimed at raising money for Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD), which his cousin Caroline Donnelly, 37, suffers from.

Mr Lyon, who is a roads policing sergeant for West Yorkshire Police based in Bradford, is part of Team GTD, which has so far raised £6,153 towards research, awareness and treatment.

He and eight team members - Russell Donnelly, Jane Ireson, Ted Baker, Rob Jackson, Mark Sellers, James Lumb, Sophie Heason and Rob Webster - did the Tour de Yorkshire. Mr Lyon is doing the London ride on August 2 with friend Martin Blackburn.

"Six and a half hours is the target," said 48-year-old Mr Lyon, who lives in Cookridge. "I am reasonably well prepared for it.

"My training rides have been 30 to 40 miles, and occasionally 60 to 70 miles. But they have been round here in the hills - they don't know they're born down there."

He added: "It will be good. It is a good challenge, a long ride. I hope the weather is reasonable.

"I have trained a lot for it - I started training last winter. It is the culmination."

The Ride London event celebrates the legacy for cycling created by the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. It starts in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, then follows a 100-mile route on closed roads through the capital and into the Surrey countryside, including the famous Box Hill.

Money raised by the GTD Team will go to the University of Sheffield. Team organiser Mr Donnelly said: "The University of Sheffield hold the funds for the northern area's GTD unit based at Weston Park hospital in Sheffield.

"Between them they decide how they want to spend the cash and we have nothing to do with it. We know that some may be used for patient support but as it's a rare form of cancer with limited research funding, it's likely that most will go on research.

"Funding for their research comes mainly from such projects, donations and sponsored events. However, it's up to them how they distribute it."

GTD is a group of rare tumours that involve abnormal growth of cells inside a woman's uterus.

Mr Lyon said: "It is really reactive to chemotherapy if they catch it quick. But if they miss a bit it comes back as quick as it went."

To sponsor Mr Lyon, visit justgiving.com/teamgtdtourdeyorkshire/.