Here's a sight you thought you'd never see: confirmed petrolhead Jeremy Clarkson on a bicycle, well, okay a hand cranked recumbent trike, but it's close enough.

Perhaps he should try doing it more often (although we've heard more than one story about motormouth being spotted on a bike) – if his comments on Twitter are to believed it seems the star isn't in such great shape – although he actually looks fitter than usual to us. He posted the above snap of himself at the wheel of a recumbent trike  on Twitter, writing: "They're riding from Paris to London. I had a heart attack after 17 yards."

On the plus side, he does seem to have changed his tune, from having once claimed cyclists 'deserve' abuse from motorists, taken together with his comment last year that he would live in Copenhagen "in a heartbeat" due to the lack of cars cluttering up the place. Maybe he's mellowing. Maybe.

Clarkson's handcycling adventure took place at Tedworth House Recovery Centre in Wiltshire where he joined two disabled soldiers, Staff Sergeant Steve Arnold and Corporal Josh Boggi, to see how they were preparing to cycle from London to Paris to raise money for the  Help For Heroes. charity as part of their Hero Rides on the 2nd of June.