An Inverness fundraiser is preparing to go the extra mile for the Highland Hospice by completing the NC500 twice in 24 hours.
George Maciver has been raising cash for the charity for more than a decade.
The 58-year-old pledged to complete a fundraising challenge each year for the Hospice in memory of his brother Shane and best friend Alan Mackenzie, known to many as Pancake, who died from cancer.
In 2019, he completed one lap of the NC500 aboard a 40-year-old Honda moped dressed as a bear.
However, when lockdown hit, fundraising across the country came to a complete standstill.
Now the 58-year-old from Inverness is restarting his engine in a bid to double his efforts to help raise vital funds for a charity close to his heart.
‘I like a challenge’
He said: “When the idea came to me I did Google it, but I have never really heard of anyone doing it twice.
“I like a challenge so I thought I don’t know of anyone doing it and I couldn’t see anything online about anybody doing it so this might be quite a good run to try.”
Mr Maciver will be riding a 22-year-old Suzuki Bandit 600 when he sets off from Inverness on June 7, heading east up the A9 towards Thurso.
He will complete the 500-mile route before returning to North Coast Customs in Inverness for a quick service and refreshments before doing it again in reverse.
He says the biggest challenges will be the volume of traffic and navigating the more challenging parts of the route as daylight fades.
“In June there is a lot of tourists on the road so I have planned an early morning start, maybe 4am, heading up to Thurso and going across the way and coming back down by Applecross,” he said.
“I thought at least on the way back up I will be hitting everything in daylight, certainly up the west coast.
“I think that will be the worst challenge. There’s a lot of deer and a lot of single track.
“Hopefully I will be coming through the worst of that before it gets any darker.”
‘People are so generous’
Mr Maciver has set a fundraising target of £750 and is already halfway there.
The fundraiser, who admitted it had been hard to put his efforts on hold during the pandemic, added: “I am really looking forward to it because a lot of people think I’m crazy sitting on a bike for that long. It gets the message out there.
“People are just so generous. As I always say…It’s all up to these people out there that are donating. I get to do the stupid stuff. There is no point in doing it if no-one is going to help me but it’s amazing how generous people are.
“All charities have struggled over lockdown because people couldn’t get out there to do stuff. It means a lot to me to get this done so hopefully I will complete it alright.”
