Organisers announce Strathpuffer 2021 has been cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic
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ORGANISERS behind a 24-hour cycling endurance challenge say they can't in good conscience hold their annual event in January.
Strathpuffer 2021 has been cancelled as the cycling festival will not go ahead in two months time.
The endurance event at Torrachilty Forest near Strathpeffer, brings cyclists from all over the UK to take part in the challenge.
An event spokesman said due to the restrictions caused by COVID-19, they have decided to cancel next year's event.
"We just don’t believe that circumstances relating to COVID-19 will have improved sufficiently by January to enable us, in all good conscience, to bring almost 2000 people from all over the UK to a small Highland village.
"We have thought long and hard about this and tried to balance all the relevant factors such as current guidance from Scottish Government about events.
"The announcement of a possible vaccine, current and changing travel restrictions for competitors across the UK and beyond, our desire to give competitors as much notice as possible and the need to retain the support of the local communities impacted by the event.
"We have also looked at all the possible ways in which we would have been able to make the event safer in a COVID-19 environment.
"However, in the end this decision felt pretty inevitable, even though we are so going to miss being together with you all for the annual winter madness."
