A Perthshire man is aiming to cycle the height of Everest and 12,000 miles in honour of his mother he lost to pancreatic cancer.
William Gerry, Killin, has set himself four gruelling challenges to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Scotland in memory of mum Jean.
Jean passed away to the disease in November of last year aged just 53.
As well as cycling the 29,000ft height of Everest and a 12,000 mile challenge in 2016, William is aiming to complete a solo cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats and a 24 hour event, tentatively planned for Knockhill, later on in the year.
William, 30, said: “I lost my mother to this horrible disease last November after almost a year of fighting it. She’s a fighter, a true gem, a one off.
“She was originally given three months but she carried on. It never changed her and to be honest she did really well until the final week where she deteriorated.”
To hit his 12,000 mile target in one year he needs to complete around 33 miles per day.
William, a greenkeeper at Balfron Golf Club, has been cycling from his home to Callander, where he gets a lift to work, in order to help make up the miles.
“I am just over 5,000 miles in now. The best week I have had saw me complete 430 miles so it just depends how I’m feeling.”
For the Everest challenge William has pinpointed a section of road just above Killin, the Ben Lawyers climb to Dam, on the A827.
“It’s a three mile climb with about 1050ft. I would need to go up it 29 times and would do 180 miles in total which would take me about 16 hours.
“The worry here is the descent because it can be pretty cold when you come back down, and going up you get that hot that there’s no happy medium. It’s either going to be here or at Bracklinn Falls at Callander.”
William was a keen runner until February last year when injury forced him to look for another way to keep fit.
He explained: “My brother suggested I start cycling. When my mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2014 cycling gave me something to take my mind off of things.
“Now I have gone on to complete the Etape Caledonia and have never looked back.
“My mum was very special and meant the world to myself and the rest of our family. And for that reason I felt I had to do something for her.”
Anyone wishing to donate can do so at William’s fundraising page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/william-gerry.
