Paddy McGuinness is cycling 300 miles on a Raleigh Chopper for BBC Children in Need

BBC Radio 2 presenter Paddy McGuinness is cycling 300 miles from Wrexham AFC to Glasgow on a Raleigh Chopper.

The Ultra Endurance Cycle Challenge is to raise money and awareness for BBC Children in Need, and you can even check his live progress on the Paddy Tracker!

Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show spoke to Paddy and set him off on his way at around 8am today, and he also appeared live on BBC Breakfast.

Actor Michael Sheen left a voicenote for Paddy, saying: “Hello Paddy, it’s your old mate Michael Sheen here. What a fantastic thing you’re doing here. I want to give you as much support as possible, so as inspiration – I’m going to do a bike ride as well!

“I’m going to go from this wall here, all the way across to that wall over there. If I can do it, *grunts* you can do it, mate!

“Good luck, all the best *grunts*! All the best!”

Before setting off on his challenge, Paddy spoke to Dot Davies and James Williams from BBC Radio Wales about what it was like to train with Sir Chris Hoy.

“It’s like being a football fan and having a kickabout with Messi. If you’re a cyclist you’d give your right arm to train with him. He’s so inspiring he gets me through the days when were out training and he’s just a pleasure to be around.”

He went on to explain why he chose the chopper bike for his challenge. “I could never afford one always wanted one its iconic I love the shape of it. That’s going to be the star of the show, kids are going to love this, and then the mums and dads can sort of have the rose tinted spectacles on and take themselves back to their own childhoods.”