A BIG ‘WHEEL DONE’ FOR CYCLIST GRANT
Gruelling charity effort raises £4,500 for track
Grant Murdoch and Bob Ellis greeted by well-wishers Intrepid Coupar Angus cycling development officer Grant Murdoch has completed a gruelling challenge to raise funds for a cycle skills track for the town.
The 26-year-old keen mountain biker cycled around Scotland in just two weeks in a trip which saw him cover nearly 1500 miles and cycle the equivalent height of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest.
Grant cycled an average of just over 100 miles a day and tackled a number of hills on the route, which he completed to precise timing on Friday, April 21.
And he has raised an incredible £4531 so far with his efforts.
Coupar Angus Cycling Hub is trying to raise £100,000 to build a new cycle skills or pump track in Larghan Park.
Grant left Larghan Park in Coupar Angus on Saturday, April 8, heading south to Edinburgh, down to Berwickupon-Tweed and across to Gretna and Dumfries, Newton Stewart and Ardrossan.
He then took in Arran, the Mull of Kintyre, Mull and Skye before heading up along the ‘North Coast 500’ to the most northerly tip of the UK mainland at Dunnet Head, and down the east coast to Peterhead during the course of his trip. From there he continued south back to Coupar Angus via Inverurie, Banchory, Edzell and Kirriemuir.
He was joined by well-wishers on the final day of his journey, including fellow keen cyclist Bob Ellis, who devised the route and cycled with Grant from Memus to Coupar Angus.
Members of the town’s Cycle4Cakes group also joined Grant, cycling with him for the last mile or so of his epic challenge.
He was welcomed home by friends and was piped into the park by Robbie Smith.
Grant thanked everyone for welcoming him back and everyone who has donated to the fund-raising efforts so far.
Describing the trip, he said: “Scotland’s amazing! The west coast was brutal but the scenery just got better and better the further north I got.
“Every day was completely different with its own challenges and ups and downs - and I don’t mean just the hills.
“It was as challenging mentally as it was physically.
“It was tough to keep the legs turning day in, day out for on average nine hours a day.
“This has been the biggest challenge in my life so far, and having the challenge has forced me to train and prepare for it.
“I didn’t know whether I could complete it so I broke it down into individual days and then down into segments each day so it felt like I was achieving something the whole way around rather than just another mile of 1500, which is pretty demoralising.”
Grant added that he had taken on the challenge in order to raise awareness of cycling as well as to raise money.
He said: “Spring, and hopefully summer, is upon us. Go and grab your bike, get it serviced at your local bike shop, get some good kit to keep you comfy, warm and dry, set yourself a challenge and build up to it and then go and smash it.
“I have not been a serious ‘roadie’ before this. I trained by cycling 13 miles to and from work on and off for three months and managed to achieve my goal.
“This challenge has proven to me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and it’s amazing what your body is capable of helping you achieve.”
And he added a “massive” thank you to everyone who had supported him.
Those behind the cycle skills track, which will be free to use, say that it would benefit people of all ages and abilities and would also benefit the community as a whole as it would attract people into the town.
John Palfreyman, one of the founder members of Coupar Angus Cycling O’Groats Grant Murdoch at John
Hub, congratulated Grant on his achievement.
He said: “It is an amazing feat, the whole of Coupar Angus is really proud of Grant. Hopefully within a year or two we will have a really good cycle track in the town and Grant will have started that.”
•To donate to the crowdfunding efforts for the skills track visit www. cacyclinghub.com. Once there, click on the ‘Cycle Scotland for Coupar Angus’ tab for a link to the Just Giving page. Alternatively, find the page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ cyclescotlandforcouparangus