Man vows to 'ride again' after breaking his back during charity bike ride in Yorkshire

Alex Ingham, 47, was aiming to ride 190km, with 9,000 feet of climbing, on Saturday to raise money for British cancer charities but he crashed just outside Otley and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary after he broke three vertebrae.

The managing director of MI Supplies, who was following the route riders completed in stage one of the 2014 Tour de France, took on the challenge to support a fundraising campaign which his wife Claire, who was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, and her friend have also taken part in.

"It is painful, but I'm monumentally lucky to be fair. It could have been a million times worse," he said.

"I thought I had hit a pothole but wife and my mate I was riding with called Andrew said it was more like this massive concrete divert that I disappeared into and then flipped over my handlebars.

"I split my helmet in two - it's a really good advert for wearing a helmet - and I cracked my head a little bit, but it was mainly my back."

The avid cyclist does not require surgery and expects to be back on his bike after eight to 12 weeks of rest and recovery.

"Hopefully we'll attempt it again, probably in the springtime," he added.

Mr Ingham also praised the efforts of his wife Claire, who has been raising money with her friend Claire Sherwood.

"She started massively raising funds when my mother in law died in 2006," he said. "My wife was eight months pregnant when her mum died, so that obviously was a really tough time.

"She immediately started raising funds and then unfortunately she was diagnosed on her birthday four years ago. But she's all in the clear and everything's okay at the moment."

So far more than £4,000 has been raised by the campaign and the money will be donated to Breast Cancer Now, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Ovarian Cancer Action.