A former cancer patient who cycled through her chemotherapy has set out on a fundraising ride to Ireland.

Carole Edrich, of Selsdon Road, Wanstead, set off on Saturday on the 500-mile route from her home to Trim in Ireland where she hopes to attend a friend’s wedding on Wednesday next week.

She previously raised �3,000 by cycling around Wanstead while undergoing chemotherapy for her breast cancer in 2009. She wrote about her journey on the networking website Twitter along the way.

Tour de France fan Ms Edrich said: “I couldn’t do a real stage of the Tour de France, but I thought ‘I’ve had chemo and I am fat, how can I lose my weight and raise money for charity at the same time?’

“I have a friend getting married in Trim so I thought this would be better than getting a Ryanair flight.”

Ms Edrich aims to cycle about 50 miles each day to get to the wedding and will take the ferry from Pembrokeshire to Dublin en route.

Her target is to raise �1,000 for the charity Cyclists Fighting Cancer, which provides bicycles and tricycles for children having cancer treatment.

Ms Edrich says the gentle exercise she did while riding her bike during the exhausting chemotherapy process helped her to beat her cancer and recover quicker.

Last week she was given another all-clear from the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

She added: “Exercise helps to process the toxins that you get from the chemotherapy, and cycling is one of the best ways to get that exercise.”

But the cyclist warned that too much exercise while undergoing chemotherapy can be dangerous, and warned people not to let themselves get out of breath.

Though Ms Edrich never doubted she would beat her cancer, she isn’t quite certain about completing the trip.

Asked if she was confident, she said: “Well, there’s always the train.”

Follow Carole Edrich’s adventure on www.twitter.com by watching @CyclistOnChemo. To sponsor Ms Edrich go to www.justgiving.com/CyclistOnChemo or text IRLC99 plus the amount to 70070.