Former Ironman triathlete Jim Butterfield embarks on another marathon task next month when he attempts to ride from the west to the east coast of America in just 32 days.

Butterfield, who will be accompanied by training partner Steve Petty for half of the 3,370 mile journey and more than 40 riders from around the globe for the entire route, hopes to raise $50,000 for local cancer charity PALS.

The ride, which will take Butterfield through 13 states from Irvine, California, to Boston, Massachusetts, will mean averaging 100 miles a day, in a variety of terrain and conditions.

The longest stretch comes a week after the April 24 start date, as the cyclists move from Gallup, in New Mexico, to Albuquerque -- a distance of 142 miles.

Explaining the inspiration behind the ride, Butterfield said: "I would fly over America and look down and think people used to cover this country in wagons. I thought it would be interesting to try to do it on a bike.

"I also read an article on a guy who had wanted to cycle across the country before he turned 50. I turned 50 last September so I thought now would be a good time to do it.'' Butterfield, father of Bermuda's top young triathlete, Tyler, has been on a training regime comprised of daily 25-mile rides punctuated by midweek bouts of 40 miles and 100 milers on Saturdays and Sundays. Accompanied at different times by Petty and fellow well-known Island cyclist Jeff Payne, he upped his coverage to 200 on one day last weekend -- in practical terms three times round the Island.

"One hundred miles on a bike is something that many cyclists aspire to; this is going to be that every day,'' he added.

"My initial concern was whether this was do-able and after the first 100-miler I called up the organiser, Douglas Torosian, and asked him if it was. He's already done it about 12 times.'' Due to work commitments Petty, a regular triathlon competitor at home and abroad, will join Butterfield in Topeka, Kansas, on the ride's single rest day on May 10.

The pair will then pedal through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York to their final destination in Boston where they are scheduled to arrive on Friday, May 26.

Butterfield, who competed in the rowing competition at the Munich Olympics in 1972, said it would be a routine of "ride, eat and sleep.'' "My wife and I rode about 60-80 miles a day a couple of years ago in the Rockies and it was a bit like that. You find you don't have much time at the end of the day for anything else.'' Jim Butterfield: will attempt to cycle from the west coast of the US to the east in just 32 days.