A DEVOTED dad is to pedal furiously on a vintage BMX bike for 54 miles in the name of charity.

Justin Barrow will squeeze his 6ft 2in frame on to a 1980s BMX and journey from London to Brighton to raise cash for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

He will be motivated by the thought of his two-year-old twin boys Alfie and Toby, who were born seven weeks premature.

Creative director Justin, of Preston, Weymouth, said the birth of his sons helped him decide to raise money for a children’s hospital.

He said: “They were healthy premature babies.

“But there were other children in Dorset County Hospital who were a lot worse than our boys.

“Many of them had to go to Bristol and Southampton and I had a lot of compassion for them.

“We were very lucky.”

Dad-of-three Justin said he will be pushing his bike to the limits on September 11, the day of the ride.

He said: “I’m quite renowned for doing crazy things.

“The bike gives it another twist. It’s not designed for long endurance riding – you could easily do it on a road bike but we want to do something that’s different and really challenging.

“My BMX goes back to 1983 – I wish I could have afforded one as a youngster but now I get the chance to ride it properly.

“It will be a bit of a squeeze on there for me but I have been doing a bit of training on my road bike and feel confident I’ll get round.”

Justin will be joining three other cyclists, John Griffin, Mark Price and Robert Bransby, who make up Team Rad.

A documentary is being made about the team’s training and they will be filmed on the day itself.

Justin, who runs a clothing company, thinks he will complete the route in nine hours and 30 minutes.

He said: “The realisation of doing it is quite daunting and because I’m doing it for charity there’s no backing out.

“There’s a hill just before you hit Brighton – it’s really big so getting up there is going to be the toughest challenge.

“I’ve been doing most of my training on my road bike. I’m hoping to hit 60 or 70 miles soon.

“During my training I’m just focusing on raising the money.

“I’m trying to push for corporate sponsorship to raise as much money as I can so I would really like to hear from any companies that wish to sponsor me.”

Justin hopes to raise £5,000 and can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/justinbarrow.

Anyone interested can also contact justin@wearelevel.com