A dozen cyclists from a north village have successfully completed a gruelling three-day charity bike ride over trails more commonly conquered by serious hill-walkers.
The cyclists from Muir of Ord spent two days on the West Highland Way and a third day on the Great Glen Way – and despite the many bumps and bruises all 12 men finished the challenge.
Inspiration for the 187-mile journey came from three local charities – Inverness Multiple Sclerosis therapy centre, Advocacy Highland and Crocus in Inverness.
It is hoped the group will raise £22,000-£24,000 to be split equally between the three.
Cyclist Duncan Chisholm, The Press and Journal’s senior advertising manager, said the hardest part of the journey was tackling the West Highland Way.
He added: “We underestimated the terrain. The Devil’s Staircase at Kinlochleven was especially difficult. We did not know how much we were going to have to carry the bikes, and we spent a good amount of time in the first two days doing so.
“When we were speaking to walkers along the way their reaction was, ‘you are doing what?’ There was a bit of surprise. The terrain was very rocky and there was a number of spills and crashes.
“On day two we had a total ascent of about 7,000ft, and a couple of the the climbs were munros. On day three, on the Great Glen Way, we spent longer in the saddle but the terrain was smooth and on forestry track most of the time. We spent about 37 hours in the saddle over the course of the three days”.
The group set out at about 7am last Wednesday from Milngavie to Tyndrum, then on the second day from Tyndrum to Fort William, finally arriving at Inverness Castle to a crowd of family and friends at 8.20pm.
The other cyclists were: Craig Noble, Billy MacGruer, Gavin Macgruer, Mark Macgruer, Trevor MacFadyen, Dade Simpson, Andrew Gollan, John MacDernott, Tony Kelly, Paul Murray and Dougie Boyle.
A four man support team – Craig Duguid, Ewan MacLean, Davie Paul and Billy Dixon – also drove vans along the way to provide food and assistance to the men.
