Around 800 cyclists are expected to take part in a 24-hour mountain bike endurance event in the north at the weekend – 17 hours of which will be in darkness.
Competitors entering Strathpuffer 2015 will include British motorcycle racer and TV presenter, Guy Martin, and two friends raising money for a Highland mountain rescue team in memory of a climber who was killed in an avalanche.
And the winners will be the solos, pairs, quads or teams of 10 that complete the most circuits of the 6.8-mile route in the Torrachilty Forest on the outskirts of Contin in the 24-hour period starting at 10am on Saturday.
Luke Bradley and Gavin Belton will be competing in the pairs category to raise money for Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team in memory of Oban student Chris Bell, 24, who was killed along with three other climbers in an avalanche on Bidean Nam Bian in Glencoe in January 2013.
Mr Bell, originally from Blackpool, had been a student at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams) at Dunstaffnage, near Oban, at the time.
He was studying currents and ocean mapping at Sams and was an accomplished mountain biker.
Mr Bell had been Mr Bradley’s bike racing partner and the pair had planned to do the Strathpuffer event together.
Mr Bradley, of West Yorkshire, and three friends took part in the event in 2013 and raised more than £20,000 for Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team.
And they have decided to return to the Strathpuffer this year to raise more money in Mr Bell’s memory.
Mr Bradley described his friend as “the very best of men, a kind, fun and enthusiastic man who made a lasting impression on all those he met”.
And he said they wanted to raise money for “for the fabulous mountain rescue team that recovered the casualties”.
The other climbers who died in the tragic incident were Tom Chesters, 28, Una Finnegan, 25, and Rachel Majumdar, 29.
Strathpuffer event organiser Steve Macdonald said they had more people taking part in this year’s 10th anniversary event than ever before.
He said: “We opened entries on November 5 and the solo category was sold out within three minutes and the pairs within five minutes.
“We introduced a new category for teams of 10 this year to mark the anniversary.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor Mr Bradley and Mr Belton can do so online at www.justgiving.com/Luke-Bradley/