Rachel John, of Tenby, is following her heart by taking part in a tough cycle ride across the Sinai Desert in Egypt to raise funds to fight heart disease.

Rachel, a local teacher, is joining the third Big Heart Bike Ride - a unique cycling challenge to raise funds to help fight heart disease through the work of four UK charities.

Men and women of all ages who are prepared to raise sponsorship, train and get fit are invited to take part. Rachel is taking part in the event to raise awareness for CRY Cardiac Risk in The Young and three other heart charities.

Funds raised by the challenging 420km ride through Egypt's spectacular Sinai Desert will be divided equally between The British Heart Foundation, CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), Echo UK (The Tiny Ticker Charity) and HEART UK.

HEART UK's work ranges from detecting heart problems in babies before they are born and supporting families coping with cardiac disease in young people through to funding preventative work, providing specialist facilities and equipment and funding live-saving research into the causes and treatment of heart disease.

The Big Heart Bike Ride in Sinai takes place from November 7-15 and will be an amazing five-day cycling adventure in 'The Sinai triangle' - twice the size of Belgium and part of the Sahara Belt.

The route will include challenging on and off-road cycling covering between 50 and 120kms a day. The group will cycle past narrow wadis, colourful canyons and rugged granite mountains, camping out under the stars on two nights and finishing on the shores of the Red Sea. Highlights include a visit to the pyramids at Giza and a sunrise climb of Mount Sinai.

This is an extremely challenging event and Rachel is already training hard to ensure she is fit enough to complete the cycle ride and working hard to raise a minimum of £2,500 in sponsorship and donations by August.

To pledge your support for Rachel, please contact her on 07795633178, email rachljohn@yahoo.co.uk">rachljohn@yahoo.co.uk, or join her Facebook group 'Rachie Roo's Big Heart Bike Ride' for further details. Sponsor forms are also located at various outlets within Tenby.

Rachel's first fund-raisers took place on Friday. Congratulations to Maria Taylor, of Tenby, who held a five hour sponsored silence at The Hope and Anchor pub. The event raised £1,156.18 through sponsorship and donations. A big thank you to all those who supported the event and gave so generously.