A north-east couple have embarked on a 200 mile charity cycle – a year after a serious injury forced them to postpone the event.
Amy Gray and Glyn Jarvis, both from Oldmeldrum, set out to cycle across seven Hebridean Islands in aid of Aberdeen Cyrenians and Arthritis research UK.
The couple had planned to complete the challenge in April last year, but 10 weeks prior to departure Mr Jarvis was injured in a cycling accident.
While riding on Bennachie his bike slipped and he crashed into a tree.
The crash left with a shattered collarbone, multiple cracks to his shoulder blade, five broken ribs, a collapsed lung, fractured vertebrae and a blood clot under his right arm.
Fortunately for him the air ambulance and a mountain rescue crew were nearby and he was quickly taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment.
He spent 10 days in hospital and underwent surgery to repair his collarbone.
As soon as he regained his former fitness he set his sights on completing the run.
Miss Gray suffers from joint hypermobility syndrome so training has been tough for both of them
And in addition to building up their strength for the island-hopping challenge the pair have had to balance their preparations around full-time jobs.
They set off last Saturday – May 2 – and are aiming to complete the journey in two weeks.
Miss Gray said: “We’ve got a cycle trainer set up in the living room and a dog who needs to go out for walks twice a day too, so we’ve been up walking in the hills and things, doing different types of training to build up our stamina.
“I can’t do too much training because of my disability, so we really need to think about how many miles we can do each day so I have time to recuperate.
“Doing 20 to 30 miles doesn’t sound that far but we’ll be carrying all our kit, and I can’t do what normal, able bodied people can do.”
She said the couple both had strong personal reasons for raising money for their chosen charities.
“I picked Arthritis Research UK because I have a form of arthritis, I’ve got it in my family,” she said.
“It’s a life-changing disease but it doesn’t get a lot of recognition in relation to more life threatening diseases.
“Glyn picked Aberdeen Cyrenians as his charity because at one point in his life he was homeless for a short period.
“We came and volunteered one Christmas and it made us realise how lucky we really are.
“Everybody deserves to have a chance in life, but there’s a lot of prejudice about homelessness.
“We want to raise awareness about it to help people who haven’t got a chance.”