A Monmouthshire dental expert has completed a 100-mile cycle ride to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society and Salvation Army.

Dr Nigel Jones is one of the UK’s leading experts on dental implants and sponsors double Olympic silver medallist Becky James.

The 58-year-old, who lives and works in Abergavenny, says sponsoring the 24-year-old inspired him to take part in the challenge as well as the two causes he was raising funds for.

“I lost my mother Jacqueline and mother-in-law Noreen to Alzheimer’s,” said Dr Jones.

“So the Alzheimer’s Society is an important charity close to our hearts.

“The Salvation Army is a local church, with which we are associated. It does a lot of good work, so we wanted to do something for them.

“I’d been inspired by Becky James and her heroics on the track, but also a couple of other people I know who had gone into cycling. I noticed they had lost a lot of weight.”

He added, “I like a challenge. Dentistry takes up a lot of my life but I don’t want it to take up all of my life so I thought I could do with having a new challenge and getting a lot fitter.”

The dental implantologist’s 100-mile route took him from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, through the Surrey countryside and back into London to the finish line on The Mall.

Despite the daunting course ahead of him, Dr Jones admitted his preparation was not ideal to begin with.

“I only did just under three months of training for the ride, despite deciding to do it some three to four months before that,” said Dr Jones.

“The first training ride I went out on was around 15 miles and it was at that point that I knew I had a lot of work to do to get ready.

“I gradually built up to rides of about 70 miles by the time the challenge came around.”

Dr Jones completed the challenge raising £950 for the Alzheimer’s Society and £750 for the Salvation Army.

“It was a great experience and I would like to thank everybody who inspired and supported me,” said Dr Jones.