An intrepid cyclist is preparing to travel more than 700 miles to Germany to highlight the bonds between two twinned cities.
Bruce Morris, 31, will set off from Inverness Castle at the heart of the city on Thursday, July 11, to Augsburg in Germany to symbolise the connection between the cities.
Inverness was twinned with Augsburg in 1956 in the aftermath of the Second World War to promote friendly links between Germany and Britain.
Mr Morris says his monumental journey, spanning 775 miles of Europe in just six days, was inspired by the rich history and his strong family connections with the German city.
The Edinburgh man said: “A couple of years ago I cycled around the NC 500 and, on my way back, I noticed Inverness was twinned with Augsburg.
“My mother-in-law is from Augsburg so I mentioned to her and she was aware that it was twinned with Inverness.
“Really, I just said it would be nice to ride between the two.
“With so much going on this year, with Brexit and things, this is my own little spin of trying to connect a city in Scotland with a city in Germany.”
With fewer than two weeks to go until he begins what he describes as “his biggest challenge yet”, Mr Morris says keeping going will be his biggest obstacle.
He added: “In a one-off, cycling 140 miles to 150 miles a day is hard but your body starts to do strange things after day two or three.”
His journey will help generate funds for two community-based charities, Dundonnell Mountain Rescue team and Kartei der not Augsberg in Germany – a charity which helps support people who have fallen on hard times.
He said: “I wanted to pick something that was local to both cities.
“When I do things for charities, I like it to make a significant difference for them.
“Every charity is worthwhile, but some of the bigger charities might not notice my contribution quite so much.
“I think its just a really nice thing to do for a small charity.”
