Please click here to visit my website: tourdecosse.co.cc!

A one-man cycle tour of Scotland this summer is set to raise up to £8k for Aberdeen’s Roxburghe House. I, Graeme Rennie, will combine my passions for road cycling and Scotland’s countryside to complete the 1000+ mile trek between 16 and 24 July, supported by friends and family.

I am 48 and a PE teacher  at Aboyne Academy, and am determined to fulfil my ‘Tour d’Ecosse’ after losing my dad, Donald Rennie, to cancer in 2008.

It’s a huge personal challenge, as well as an opportunity to get cycling supporters involved in a great cause. Cancer is something that will inevitably touch us all in our lives one way or another. Roxburghe House provided sensitive and personal care to my Dad over his last weeks and this is my way of acknowledging the work that they, and all other similar bodies, carry out on our behalf.

We’ve all watched and wondered at the efforts of Eddie Izzard, and Dr Andrew Murray and the impact they can have – to raise funds for good causes but also to get people involved in sport and exercise, in general.

As a cyclist I am inspired by the achievements of Lance Armstrong a cancer survivor himself. And, as a teacher, I have the luxury of having 6 weeks off over the summer, so I really wanted to get the most out of it, this year!

I will complete the ‘Tour d’Ecosse’ in 4 legs, starting from and returning to Peterhead, at Keith Inch, Scotland’s most easterly point.

I wanted to do something that was different, that may not have been attempted in this way for some time, if at all! There is the risk of failure but as my Dad, and many others before him, had said “You won’t know if you don’t try!”          

Well, I’ll soon find out!