Highland Rivy Sinclair cycle tribute heroes get endorsement from pedal legend Sir Chris Hoy
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A Scottish cycling legend has endorsed the heart-warming efforts of devastated Highland parents honouring the memory of their daughter by raising funds for terminally ill children and their families.
The group from the Invergordon area have crossed the finishing line after their intrepid cycle in memory of Rivy Sinclair.
Little did they realise that their efforts was about to amplified with a retweet from multiple Olympic gold medallist, Sir Chris Hoy.
Kildary couple Sheena Sinclair and Dave Hennessy, novice cyclists, were joined by three friends – Caroline Reid, Shaun Bremner and Greg Wilmot.
On Sunday afternoon, they were welcomed by the cheers and applause of family, friends and supporters as they returned to their original starting point of Inverness Castle, having endured everything the weather could throw at them and hit an amazing £10,000 fundraising target.
The group were raising money for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), a charity that provided Rivy's family a lifeline after the devastating loss of their young daughter.
The ‘superheroes in lycra’ celebrated in style as they popped champagne, sported their CHAS medals and enjoyed the embraces of family and friends.
All amateur cyclists, they knew that this would be a huge physical challenge but what they could not fully prepare themselves for was the adverse weather conditions that they would have to endure.
This meant that the team had to adapt their original plans in order to prioritise the team’s safety.
Caroline Reid spoke about the unpredictability of the weather on their last morning of cycling when she went live to the group's facebook page:
"It has been a mixed bag weather wise today we have had a lot of rain, not so much rain, scorching sun, then to more rain then some more sun."
She also said that the team were feeling enthusiastic after already having done thirty miles that day. they stopped for a quick refuel at Cromarty.
Ahead of their final stretch from Cromarty back to Inverness Castle, she said: "I think we are all motivated to get back to the castle, to keep pushing on while we still have the energy to do so. We are super-proud."
Along the way they received massive support from family, friends and the wider Highland community.
One such example of the commitment of the family in raising awareness was from Steven Reid, cousin of River. Steven took to X to try and spread the word about his aunt and uncles 500-mile cycle.
He tagged Scottish track cyclist and six time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy asking for him to share their story.
The eleven-time world champion acknowledged this request, responding with a repost to his 635.4K followers!
The group and their supporters were very excited about this famous athlete’s sharing of their story.
More excitement comes as the team have now passed their ambitious fundraising of £10,000.
Their total currently sits at an astonishing £10,700 on their gofundme page.
The team have been getting some much needed rest since finishing and have even posted videos of them trying out an ice bath and sauna to aid their recovery. This came after a generous offering from Stoltman Strength Centre to use their Invergordon gym's facilities.
