There's nothing quite like it, John Surowiec tells Joanna Davis, as he urges bike riders of all abilities to join in with a fun day of cycling

The exhilarating feeling of whooshing though the open countryside on a bike is what John Surowiec loves most about cycling.

The former deputy director of education at Dorset County Council, 66, took up cycling as a full time hobby after taking early retirement and says he has no regrets.

John said: "The exhilaration of cycling is what I love the most. You can see things you wouldn't normally see from a car. You can see over hedges into cottage gardens. There's a real feeling of escapism."

Portesham resident John, as chairman of West Dorset Cycling UK, is inviting cyclists of mixed abilities to join him on 46 mile road cycling event The Great Dorset Bike Ride tomorrow.

The ride heads out from Dorchester on a relatively flat route through east Dorset, passing by Corfe Castle to Arne as a halfway point and returns to Dorchester.

John said: "People can go round as fast as they like or take all day and can enjoy Dorset villages and the countryside dominated by Corfe Castle.

"The only real big hill is at Creech but there will be a refreshment stop nearby. The route is on the website and people can download it if they use maps on their phone or we'll have paper copies on the day."

West Dorset Cycling UK recently took over the organisation of the Great Dorset Bike Ride, which was once put together by Dorchester Cycles, a shop in Great Western Avenue.

Money will be raised tomorrow for the MS Society in memory of the late Peter Robinson, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, who used to run Dorchester Cycles with his wife Anne.

The other charities to benefit will be the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, which provided care for Peter when he was diagnosed with cancer and Cycling UK.

John said: "Sadly Peter died and Anne carried on with the shop but then closed it down. With the shop no longer running the Great Dorset Bike Ride a whole bunch of people turned up one year to take part even though no-one was officially there.

"Our club decided to pick it up and we turned to the Mud, Sweat and Gears shop, which is sponsoring it. We thought we would charge £5 entry and give the money to charity."

John and his friend Richard Sloan have just returned from a cycling trip which took them from Greece to Croatia through Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia. It was the latest in a long list of cycling adventures John has been on since he retired.

It all began with John seeking information about his late father.

"I did a big ride from Portesham to Poland. My father was from Poland and fought in the Polish army. I decided that since he died and I didn't know much about his time in the army I would follow his route after the D-Day landings in 1944 to where he ended up in north Germany."

The 1,800 mile journey in 2010 saw John following the tank tracks of the Polish 10 Mounted Rifles Regiment in the Second World War from northern France to Wilhelmshaven where the tanks ended their fighting. John then cycled on to his dad's former home in south east Poland.

"I thought 'why end here? I should carry on," John said.

In 2011 John cycled through Greece and the Balkans, travelling down through Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. He then cycled a bit more of Greece and across to Italy, leaving a bike in the Pyrenees with relatives and later returning to pick up his European travels.

A country John would recommend for cyclists is Albania. "A lot of people said when I was travelling there that I would get robbed because it's a dodgy country but when I cycled through it five years ago I thought 'this would be a nice place to come back to'. I went back there this year and found the country has changed a lot. I would recommend to anyone to go there."

John and West Dorset Cycling UK are starting a regular group cycle ride every Saturday morning from July 7 at 10am taking riders from the Kingston Maurward animal park cafe near Dorchester to West Holme.

"Anyone is invited to come and join us and find out about doing longer routes and cycling weekends away. 25 miles might seem a long way but it's a route without any big hills," he said.

For anyone who wants to start off cycling John would recommend buying a hybrid bike priced at around £350 to £400, but said budding cyclists can always find quality second hand bikes on auction website eBay.

Get involved in Great Dorset Bike Ride

Cyclists can register for the 46 mile Great Dorset Bike Ride, which begins tomorrow from Top O'Town, Dorchester, at 10am, on the day or in advance at Mud, Sweat n Gears in Great Western Road, Dorchester.

Entry is £5. West Dorset Cycling UK and Mud Sweat n Gears will sign the route, log cyclists' progress and provide drinks at the top of Creech Hill. The course finish closes at 5pm and riders will be issued with a certificate. Route maps are provided.

For more information see akweb.org.uk/gdbr/index.html