300-mile ride for charity...

TWO Southampton men have been chosen to take part in the world's most exclusive bike ride. Jago Lawless and Mike Cross are among just 200 cyclists from throughout Britain selected for a 300-mile ride from London to Paris.

The friends are going to have to work hard to get in shape for the gruelling event.

Fitness specialists at the David Lloyd gym will measure the results of their training programme - and create a unique study into how regular cycling may be able to achieve dramatic and long-lasting improvements in health and fitness.

The Pedal to Paris event culminates in a sprint finish along the Champs Elysee, to the finishing line at the Arc de Triomphe.

"The only time the Champs Elysee is closed to traffic is for the world's most prestigious cycle race, the Tour de France," said Jago.

"But just like Lance Armstrong, who has won the Tour de France for the last six years, Mike and I will be given a full police motorbike escort all the way to the finish."

The ride, in aid of the Royal British Legion, takes place in September and will kick-start its annual Poppy Appeal by raising £150,000.

"The French are mad keen on cycling," said the Legion's organiser, Nick Hamner. "So Jago, Mike and the other riders are guaranteed to finish in front of thousands of cheering Parisians, with headlights flashing and car horns blasting."

Jago, 35, is the ship design manager at BMT Nigel Gee Associates in Southampton and lives at Hollydene Villas, Hythe. Mike, 36, is a project engineer for Cognis Performance Chemicals in Hythe, and lives in Lawnswood Close, Dibden Purlieu.

The four-day event, from September 8 to 11, is going to be tough.

"There's a hill just outside Dover at the end of the first day which we'd be hard pushed to race up right now," admits Mike.

To get themselves in shape, the two have recruited Southampton's Peter Hargroves as their coach.

Peter - who took his first race medal in 1976 and who has won the Masters Team Cyclo-cross national championships in five of the last six years - has laid down a six-month training regime. It is costing both men more than £1,500 just to take part - each having to pay a £450 entry fee, with the rest being spent on acquiring new bikes.

Both will be taking advantage of the government scheme to encourage many more to become cyclists - by cutting up to 50% of the cost of buying bikes, via income tax refunds.

"We've formed Team Hargroves and are feeling all very competitive," says Jago. "But, just sometimes, it's not all about winning. It's about giving something back."

The two expect to raise several thousand pounds for the Royal British Legion.

"It is a fantastic organisation," says Mike, "whose role, in providing ongoing support for hundreds of thousands of Britain's ex-servicemen and women, is ever more important because of the recent conflicts."

In the first two weeks of gentle training, Jago and Mike have shed several pounds in weight.

"It's more fun, and much more effective, than any diet," says Mike.

Just how much their lifestyles - and body shapes - change will be reported exclusively in Living as we follow their progress on a monthly basis.

Peter Hargroves has got them cycling 15 miles three evenings a week, with a 30-miler at the weekend.

"That's well within the capability of any reasonably fit person," says Peter.

"I will increase their training gradually but, sensibly, through to September.

"By the time they take part in Pedal to Paris, they should be able to do 80 miles in five hours, for three days."

Hargroves - who owns the Hargroves Cycles shops in Southampton, Winchester and Chichester - has noted a huge surge in the popularity of cycling.

"Britain is now ranked fourth in the world in track racing and we are seeing no end of 14-year-olds coming through to seriously take up the event."

But he insists that anybody taking up cycling can achieve long-lasting and permanent health benefits.

"A fat cyclist is a contradiction," he says. "You can enjoy cycling. And be on the best diet ever. Which I expect Jago and Mike to prove by the time they hit the streets of Paris.

"They will test and verify any changes in our fitness and physical characteristics," says Mike.

Using the most modern facilities and testing equipment at David Lloyd fitness centre, body statistics such as height, weight and percentage body fat index will all be compared at regular intervals.

But the findings of the study reported in the Daily Echo will also include improvements of both Jago's and Mike's VO2 max capacities - which measures the maximum volume of oxygen that the muscles can consume during intense exercise.

"This is a benchmark test used by the world's top endurance athletes," says Jago, "as an indication of their ability to perform at the top of their game.

"Generally, the fitter you are, the higher your VO2 max. We expect our VO2 results to prove that regular cycling has significantly improved our health and well-being.

"Just imagine what it would mean in terms of the nation's health, and a reduced burden on the NHS, if more people took up cycling.

"I cycle ten miles to and from work in Southampton and I usually beat the motorists that are stuck in the rush-hour traffic.

"There are huge environmental and social benefits to be made: less congestion on the road, less pollution through a cut-back in greenhouse gases.

"It's a fact the more people take up cycling, the better place the world is to live in."