A HITCHIN woman is cycling more than 4,000 miles around the UK coast to reduce her carbon footprint while raising money for charity.

Anna Hughes, who lived in Franklin Gardens before relocating to London, began her journey from Tower Bridge to cycle the mammoth 4,500 mile route.

She set off on the challenge, which is expected to take 10 weeks, at the beginning of the month.

Speaking from Yorkshire on Tuesday, the 28-year-old charity worker told The Comet that she had cycled around 600 miles already.

“I love my bike and wanted to combine a holiday in the UK with doing something good for the environment,” she said.

“I’ve been to parts of the coast before and think it’s beautiful. I’m an environmentalist and I feel frustrated when people think they have to leave the UK to have a great holiday.

“I’m mainly doing it by myself, although so far I’ve not been by myself at all. We’re on track at the moment to complete it in two-and-a-half months. So far, it’s been quite easy.

“The coast has been reasonably flat and we’ve been quite lucky with the weather. It’s rained a couple of times, but there have been no major dramas.

“We did 120 miles the other day which was a bit much, but generally we’re looking at 60 miles a day.”

Anna, who works for transport charity Sustrans, is splitting the money that she raises between them and environmental charity Transition Network.

During her trip, she’s staying with friends and family of colleagues where possible to try and keep costs down.

“I’ve been really lucky with people offering me up accommodation. Because it’s a national charity I’m doing this for, I asked staff if they knew people who lived in the areas I’d be passing,” added Anna.

“We’re usually setting off at around 9am in the morning, although we had a later start today. But we did start at 8am the other day, so it varies a bit.”

To follow Anna’s blog, visit www.eatsleepcycle-anna.blogspot.com and to donate, visit www.charitygiving.co.uk/eatsleepcycle