'A ludicrous challenge' – BBC Radio 1 presenter to ride 1,000km on a tandem for charity

BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James will cycle 1,000km (630 miles) – most of the length of the UK – on a tandem as part of a charity challenge for Red Nose Day next month.

James will start in Weymouth on the south coast on 13 March, and expects to spend eight hours a day in the saddle over eight days. He plans to finish the ride in Edinburgh on 20 March, the date of Red Nose Day, the annual fundraising event run by Comic Relief.

Speaking to the Press Association, James, who turned 40 in December, described himself as “mad” for taking on the ride.

“I do think it will be a ludicrous challenge, and one that I don’t know whether or not I can do. But I’m going to try it,” he said.

“A little bit of pain is worth the overall goal of raising loads of money for Comic Relief.”

The radio DJ has previously completed two challenges for the charity; in 2016, he did five triathlons in five days, and then in 2018, he cycled between, and hiked up, the three highest mountains of the UK – Snowdon, Scaffell Pike and Ben Nevis. This second outing raised over £1 million for Sport Relief, another arm of Comic Relief.

James's latest tandem challenge has been dubbed ‘Radio 1’s Longest Ride’.

“I said I’d never, ever do it again, so why am I sitting here in lycra?” he said in a video shared on Instagram on Thursday morning. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m taking on a new challenge for Comic Relief, 10 years on from the first one.”

James added that he chose a tandem because he “thought that was sort of funny – now I’m sort of regretting that a bit”. He will ride both alone and joined by “surprise guests”, the Comic Relief website says, likely to include other presenters and celebrities.

“I’m doing something funny for money, something that’s going to be painful for me, enjoyable for you to watch me go through,” James said.

The radio DJ told the Mirror that his wife, author Bella Mackie, thinks he’s a “maniac” for taking on the ride.

In 2024, TV and radio personality Paddy McGuinness rode almost 500km (300 miles) on a Raleigh Chopper, and raised £7.5 million for Children in Need.

Donations to James’s tandem challenge can be made on Comic Relief’s website.