Riders on a roll as Tain target is tripled
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VISITORS to a Tain rally covered the 500-plus mile distance of the North Coast 500 in a remarkable display of pedal power which almost tripled organisers’ target.
The idea of covering the distance of the famous route on static bikes was conceived by Tain and Easter Ross Rotary Club with a view to raising awareness of prostate cancer and boosting the coffers of a charity by £500.
The group had a stall – and borrowed exercise bikes – at the Tain Vintage Car Rally on Father’s Day.
Will Porter, club member and organiser, said the effort "surpassed all our expectations". He said: "We had the idea of trying to cycle round the world-famous North Coast 500 route but on exercise bikes. We thought if we could get visitors to the rally to sponsor us a pound a mile we might just have £500 for Prostate Scotland in our collection bucket by the end of the day and perhaps have the change to raise awareness of prostate issues.
"As it was, we were overwhelmed by visitors wanting not just to sponsor us but to get on the bikes themselves. They cycled the whole day, people of all different ages, everyone from children to business folk to a local councillor and, of course, Rotary members themselves. By the end of the rally we’d had so many good conversations with men in particular – some on serious matters because prostate cancer takes another life every 45 minutes – and some men had personal stories to tell. Not only that, we had more than £1400 in our bucket! We couldn’t believe it!
"We have a saying that Rotary is where neighbours, friends, and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders and take action to create lasting change. We feel so privileged to have had an opportunity to try to do just that. So many people said ‘yes’ to our ‘will you help us?’" He thanked everyone who helped out.
