Marathon bike thanks for 'saving my life'

by Kyle Ritchie

Marathon biker Graeme Willgress during his stop in Banff.

THE long road around the UK has been the perfect road to recovery for cyclist Graeme Willgress.

The 51-year-old from Devon is cycling around the country’s coastline and stopped in by Banff’s Coffee Pot in the High Street for breakfast.

He told the ‘Banffshire Journal’ that he was not just doing the cycle for charity but to help him recover from mental illness.

"Five years ago I suffered a breakdown, losing all I had in the process including my teaching career," he said. "To help me recover I made a number of life changes and the most significant was taking up cycling.

"The exercise has really helped me to manage and progress my life and although I am not back to work, I am doing volunteer work with a charity called Sustrans."

Sustrans works with communities and partner organisations to make it easier for people to walk and cycle. One of its projects is the National Cycle Network offering a mixture of traffic-calmed streets, quiet roads and traffic-free routes in communities all over the UK.

Mr Willgress said: "The charity has really changed my life, and I decided to take on this challenge to raise money for it."

Starting off at Devon in May, he is travelling the country over the cycle network. By the time he had reached Banff he had already pedalled 2,000 miles, averaging 50 a day.

"My bicycle is specially built for long distances and I am pulling a small trailer with all my camping gear," he said. "I have been stopping off at campsites along the route and picking up food as I go along.

"I have been really impressed with Aberdeenshire, in particular how peaceful it is, the beautiful countryside and scenery, and how friendly the people are. It is the best place I have visited.

"I still have about 2,000 miles to go and I aim to be home in Devon in September."

His progress can be followed on www.facebook.

com/Ride2Recovery and anyone who would like to sponsor him can do so online at: www.justgiving.com/Graeme-Willgress