Fab four bid 'au revoir' to cycling challenge

Four friends hit the saddle recently for a gruelling 309 mile cycle from London to Paris -all to support a local hospice which looked after their loved ones.

- STUART MCFARLANE

Lorna Muirhead, Jamie McWilliam and siblings Elaine Blackwood and Paul Valentine were part of more than 100 cyclists on the European challenge and raising money for Strathcarron Hospice along the way.

The event, which was hosted by Global Adventures Challenge, saw the cyclists spend four days in the saddle, setting off from London, before crossing the Channel to Calais.

Once in France, they cycled through the French countryside, through traditional market towns with views of the rolling green hills of Northern France, passing the war memorials and cemeteries of the Somme.

Lorna and Elaine were inspired to take on the challenge to mark their 50th birthdays after completing the Sahara Desert Trek together for Strathcarron in November 2023 in memory of loved ones.

Lorna was moved to fundraise for the hospice after her dad Hamish Mullen, died in Strathcarron from a brain tumour in 2008 aged just 61.