He plans to cycle more than 300 miles through the steamy heat of Vietnam and Cambodia to raise cash for St Clare's Hospice in his home town of Jarrow.

Along the way, computer expert Mr Coady, 60, who left Tyneside nearly 40 years ago and now runs his own business in Haslemere, Surrey, with his brother Eric, 52, will pass ancient temples and pagodas, dense undergrowth, lush valleys and paddy fields.

It is, he says, a "fascinating journey" which he has completed twice before for other charities, but this time it is personal.

Mr Coady was midway through the second six-day ride in February last year when he got word that his cancer victim sister Maria Deans, 56, of Bedale Close, Simonside, South Shields, was being admitted to the hospice.

He telephoned her to say he was returning to Britain immediately, but she wanted him to fulfil his pledge to donors who had backed him and insisted: "You just keep on pedalling."

That, says Mr Coady, was typical of Mrs Deans, married to well-known ex-boxer and coach Frankie Deans.

He told the Gazette: "She was a lovely, outgoing lady with a gorgeous sense of humour and who always considered other people."

He and his brother travelled north to join Frankie and Maria's daughters, Julie Armstrong, 34, and Louis Boscott, 32, in a bedside vigil until she died two weeks later.

She had worked for many years in the Social Security office in Jarrow and was well known locally, but her family were "overwhelmed" by the number of mourners who crowded the crematorium for her funeral service.

Ex-Jarrow High School pupil Mr Coady, whose family home was in Beaumont Terrace, said: "I have never seen such a large turnout, which obviously reflected people's affection for her."

He added: "I can't speak too highly of the dedicated care my sister received at the hospice. Not only that, but the kindness and thoughtfulness shown to those visiting her was simply wonderful."

In thanks, he and his son Matthew, 11, took part in the annual fund-raising Banks of the Tyne cycle ride in August, and now he will embark on the far more strenuous ride that begins in Ho Chi Minh City on January 24.

Anyone wishing to support Mr Coady's ride can do so by sending it to fundraising manager Marie Watson at the hospice in Primrose Terrace, Jarrow NE32 5HA, or going online to www.justgiving.com, where a page in his name has been set up.