I pledge to attempt to mountain bike the West Highland Way in under 24 hours for Callum’s trust. The 98 mile off road route starts in Milngavie on the outskirts of Glasgow and finishes in Fort William in the Highlands. The amount of climbing is approx 14,500 feet along its journey which is half the height of Mount Everest. The route is normally tackled in 7 or 8 days by walkers, so to accomplish the route in under 24 hours by mountain bike is going to be a very punishing challenge.
The route is normally part of a running challenge where the record is about 16 hours on foot. A mountain bike weighs about 30lbs and a rucksack of kit/water will weigh about another 5lbs on my back. Although slower on the climbs I will make up time on the descents but the law of averages will mean time isn’t on my side. By this I mean it takes longer to climb than descend so being slower on the climbs mean that a runner has the law of average speed on their side. For example, I could be at the bottom of a mountain 15 minutes quicker on a bike than a runner, but a runner could be 30 minutes quicker to the top of a mountain than someone carrying an extra 30lbs of carbon/metal.
I will only have support on standby in case of emergency or to pick me up on route if I fail! Even if I exhaust myself I need to get myself to the main road for pick up, and this is a very wilderness route in places!
The costs of this exercise are being funded by myself, so 100% of all donations go straight to the charity involved!
This is going to hurt me, possibly even break me! Help me smash my small fundraising target of £1000. I don’t deserve it, but Callum’s trust do!!!
Cancer is something that happens at home and can happen to us all, so dig deep and pay up! So many families are ripped apart by the effects of cancer. Two of my aunties have fought cancer, one lost the fight. My sister has won the fight against cervical cancer, and I’ve been screened for testicular cancer in the past but the result was negative!
So when is this going to happen?
Well I originally planned for the first week in May but I'm thinking I might just wait until the time is right..... i.e. fundraising target is exceeded and the hours of daylight increase my chances.... perhaps July!!!!
