A blind Moray cyclist is hoping to compete in Rio Paralympics after becoming the UK’s road race champion.
Steve Bate, who is registered blind, and his pilot Adam Duggleby won the UK Para-cycling road race in Manchester earlier this year.
The pair completed the 18 mile course in just under 37 minutes.
Now the 37-year-old is dreaming of competing in front of a global audience at the Paralympics in Rio de Janerio in 2016.
Describing the Manchester race as a challenge, Mr Bate said: “We wanted to put in a good performance to finish off our first season riding as a pair.
“The course was a challenge on the tandem, with blind corners and the greasy road surface, however Adam controlled the bike amazingly well.
“If you told me at the start of the year we would be National para cycling road race and time trial champions I wouldn’t have believed you. With the Rio Paralympics less than two years away, we have our eyes firmly fixed on the big picture but for now we will enjoy some time off the bike.”
Now Mr Bate and his wife Caroline are preparing to leave Moray so he can continue working towards his goal of getting to Rio.
The couple, who both work for Lossiemouth-based outdoor charity Outfit Moray, will move to Manchester next month.
Mr Bate, who is an instructor and bike revolution manager for the charity, has ridden a few international races in the last few years but plans to keep working hard so he is selected for the British team.
Ian Rideout, chief executive at Outfit Moray, described Mr Bate’s win as “amazing” and said the team at Outfit Moray will support him all the way to achieving gold at Rio 2016.