SAM Smith set out to cycle across America...and ended up getting hitched in a Las Vegas chapel.

He set himself the initial challenge of cycling across 12 states from New York to Seattle.

Nearly a year since he started he is still going, but now he has a wife with him.

Sam, 33, of Rosebank Road, West Mersea, met Julie in New York on the second day of his adventure.

They stayed in touch by text and e-mails and got married when Sam arrived in Las Vegas.

His mum, Heather, has followed Sam’s progress on the internet, including the wedding.

Mrs Smith, 59, said: “We watched the wedding on the computer at 2am. It was bizarre.”

Sam, who quit his job at the BBC to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, has cycled 6,000 miles so far.

The former pupil at Mersea Island Primary School and Thomas Lord Audley School, in Colchester, has raised more than £2,000 for his charities, Cancer Research, Dyslexia Action and Cure, an American charity which helps children with cancer.

Julie is accompanying Sam on the next step of his journey.

His mum said: “He cycled from New York to Seattle and then on to the Rockies and San Francisco on his own.

“Now his wife has got a bike and they have carried on together.

“They have gone down the Pacific coastline to San Diego and across the desert to Arizona and are now in Texas.

“He has a GPS spot, so we can track him on the computer and he can press it if he is in danger.

“I am not really into computers, but I am now on Facebook so I can keep an eye on him.

“He has made so many friends on his journey.

“He now has friends from all over the world.”

To follow Sam’s progress visit therandomwayhome.

com where there is also a link for anyone wishing to sponsor him.