Debbie Elborn has cycled among cows and camels in rural India and is now gearing up for her next challenge - pedalling along the banks of the Grand Union canal.

Debbie (pictured) and her friend Suzanne Webster from Kings Langley will be biking closer to home - along the banks of the Grand Union Canal.

Debbie and Suzanne, both 43 and from Belham Road, were two of 93 women pedalling 425km across India at the end of November, to raise money for the Women for Women appeal, which helps scientists conduct research into conditions affecting fertility and still births.

The pair raised £6,000 - more than double their target - and flew to Delhi, where they took in the sights before embarking on their five-day adventure, tackling hilly terrain and mud-laden paths, often having to navigate out of the way of cows or camels in the 25C heat.

Debbie said: "It was absolutely brilliant. It was a real experience. We both trained really hard for a year so the cycling side of it we found easy and very manageable.

"There was a lot of farmland and secondary roads. They weren't easy conditions and it was very challenging. It was a very different experience."

Debbie and Suzanne trained for their adventure by taking part in circuit training, spinning classes and taking their bikes out on the road as often as possible.

Debbie said: "It all helped. We were prepared and cycled at the front so we could have longer rests.

"Some people hadn't trained well but we were used to cycling together so we managed very easily.

"It was a really good experience, being out there with all those women. Everyone got on well and we were always going to a new area - every day was a new adventure.

"It was very exciting. Now we're desperately thinking of doing it again in Cuba next year."

Now the pair will be dusting off their saddles to ride 150 miles along the Grand Union Canal, to raise money for a cancer charity after a friend's daughter died of Leukaemia two weeks before they travelled to India.

They will be joined by ten friends for the three-day ride from London to Leicester. The event in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust starts on April 14.

Debbie said: "We did a lot of training down the canal and I just asked a few other people to get involved.

"It seemed like a really good thing to do to help someone out. I have two children and I could be in that situation.

"We have had a really good response and our neighbours are all involved. Now we just want to raise as much money as possible."

For more information about the Teenage Cancer Trust, visit www.teenagecancertrust.co.uk.