And she was spurred on by the prospect of raising money for prostate cancer research in memory of her friend Mike Hibbs, who died of the disease at the age of 66.

Garage owner Mike was one of the characters of the Peak District, reflected in a congregation of around 1,000 for his funeral at All Saint's Church in Curbar last February.

Dawn, aged 48, knew him and his family through living in the village of Froggatt for 15 years and through his involvement in the Froggatt Show.

Cycling for 24 days across different types of terrain in soaring temperatures is a test for anybody but especially for Dawn, who has been left with severe lymphodema in her left leg as a result of an operation to overcome cancer.

That's where Mike will be helping.

"He used to call me Dawny Babes," she says. "When I'm really struggling up a hill and I'm thinking I can't do this, I'll think of Mike egging me on."

The ride in September starts at the Victoria Falls in Zambia and ends at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, crossing Botswana through the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert and entering Namibia through the vast Namib Desert.

"I'm nervous about it, not least because of my medical problems," says Dawn, who had an operation for cancer of the cervix in 1990 in which the glands in her groin were removed.

It left her with a leg vulnerable to swelling, especially in the heat.

She will have to wear a very thick, full-length support stocking. "As if that isn't enough, I will also be camping, often in remote areas without even the most basic of facilities."

Dawn, who runs a property business in Chesterfield with partner Rod Dalton, heard about the African adventure while cycling the less arduous Garden Route in South Africa last March.

"The guides told us about this trip and I thought it sounded fantastic but way beyond my capabilities. Then I though it would give me something to work for.

"I'm a keen cyclist but there has been nothing to this extent. I am trying to go out four or five times a week. I take myself out to Hathersage and go to Castleton and back, which is boring, but it builds up my stamina."

Dawn is asking for sponsorship in aid of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation through the website justgiving.com/dawnlawrence2.

She says people's support will not only help a very worthy cause, but also give her an added incentive during all the training.

Moreover, it is a way of showing Mike's wife Heather and daughters Melanie and Justine "just how much Mike meant to us" and "the impact he made on all our lives and how sadly he is still missed".


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