Event: September 13-16
Two brothers who lost their mother to cancer are set to get on their bikes for a 340-mile cycling challenge that will take in all of Scotland’s seven cities.
Gordon and Donald Sayers decided to organise the Scottish Cities Cycle Challenge for Cancer Research UK after their mother Joan died after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Taking in some of Scotland’s most glorious countryside, the brothers hope that 100 cyclists will join them for each of the four days in September.
Gordon, 43, of Juniper Green, Edinburgh, said: “Cancer Research UK is a charity close to my heart. After losing three people close to me to cancer in just three months, I really wanted to do something that would help bring forward the day when this awful disease is a thing of the past.”
Gordon was devastated when he lost his mum Joan to bowel cancer in December 2012, just twelve months after she was diagnosed, and when she was only 72-years-old.
Then in September 2012, tragedy struck again when Gordon’s mother-in-law Anne Fraser died after being diagnosed with womb cancer at the age of 76.
Gordon also lost a good friend to cancer, also in September 2012.
Keen to do something to help the scientists trying to find a cure, Gordon and his brother Donald, 41, of Uphall, came up with the idea of the Scottish Cities Cycle Challenge.
Taking riders through all of Scotland’s seven cities, the challenge will start in Inverness and travel down through Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Stirling and Glasgow before finishing in Edinburgh.
Participants can sign up for all four days, or just join the brothers and their friends for particular days on the route.
They will cover over 200 miles in the first two days but then plan to take it a bit easier for the last two with only around 60 miles to cover on the final days cycling between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Gordon, an IT consultant, former policeman and father-of-two, said: “The experience of losing so many people close to me in such a short space of time changed my perspective on life.
“Cycling 340 miles in four days seemed like a good challenge, especially as I didn’t even own a road bike until January of this year.
“We really hope cyclists from across Scotland will rally and help us raise as much money as we can for what is such a worthwhile cause.”
If the challenge is a success, Gordon and Donald hope to turn the event into an annual extravaganza that will be much anticipated in the cycling calendar.
Cancer Research UK fundraising manager for Edinburgh, Donna Marshall, said: “We are so grateful to Gordon and Donald and the Scottish Cities Cycle Challenge team for organising such a tremendous event and donating the proceeds to Cancer Research UK.
“The pioneering work of Cancer Research UK doctors, nurses and scientists, who are fighting cancer on all fronts, depends upon the efforts of all those who support the charity and so I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.”
To find out how to take part in the event, which takes place between 13 and 16 September, visit www.scottishcitiescyclechallenge.co.uk
