A CHARITY cycle, circumnavigating the globe across four continents, has come to a poignant and bittersweet end for cyclist Tim Bridgman, who has completed the North2North cycle following the death of his wife Sharon.

Tim and Sharon had a personal dream, to cycle the world crossing four great land masses. They would start in Norway, travel south through Europe and Africa, then from the tip of South America head north again, crossing Central America and the USA, aiming to re-enter the Arctic Circle at Alaska.

This North2North epic, as they named it, would mean a 37,000 mile cycle through 32 countries, every mile covered to benefit ShelterBox, the international disaster relief agency based in Cornwall, only 80 miles from their home near Okehampton.

But the Bridgmans’ dream turned in to a nightmare as they neared the Chilean border on Bolivia’s barren Uyuni salt flats. Sharon was in a fatal collision with the only vehicle they had seen that day in April 2014. Due to the remoteness of where the accident happened, it took emergency services five hours to reach them.

Tim said: ‘The accident reminds you that you can lose all that in an instant. Mentally I needed to go back and finish what we started. After Sharon’s death I went back home and wasn’t prepared to be back there without her. I had left my bike in Bolivia because I knew that I would be back.’

Now, having completed the remaining 15,000 miles on his own, Tim has crossed the finishing line last week at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.

It was a bittersweet moment. He said: ‘Sharon had every bit of strength I did and she should have been there too. I took a bottle of bubbly, but didn’t feel like jumping with joy.’

Nancy Dodge, a ShelterBox ambassador in Alaska, joined Tim for the last leg, helping to sort permissions to cross the oil fields. Together they put up a ShelterBox tent on the shores of Prudhoe Bay, certainly the most northerly site ever used in the charity’s 16 year history.

Tim received a congratulatory phone call from ShelterBox CEO Chris Warham. It was reported that he and Sharon have managed to raise an astonishing £48,000 for the charity’s disaster relief work. Tim is being joined in Alaska by friends from Devon, and will take a holiday with them before returning home.

Tim said: ‘What compelled us around ShelterBox was that it didn’t matter who you were, where you came from, the organisation helps people who have lost everything in an instant. So many charities waste money and resources, and you never really know where the donations are going. But with ShelterBox, you see so many people around the world who have lost everything in a crisis, benefiting from the work of the organisation.’