Three amateur cyclists from Perth popped a champagne cork under the famous sign at John O’ Groats after successfully completing a gruelling 1600km charity challenge.
The dynamic Team Tab - Roxanne Tabourel, her dad Hervé and her boyfriend Ross Phillips - had been 12 days on the trail northwards from Land’s End in Cornwall, for their charity project, Pedal for Paula.
They were raising money for the British Red Cross in memory of Roxanne’s mum and Hervé’s wife Paula who died suddenly at home aged just 53 in November last year.
Hervé and Paula ran popular restaurant Cardo in Perth ’s Princes Street and “passionate” and “inspirational” Paula was well known for several previous Fair City food businesses.
Roxanne, Ross and Hervé put in 18 weeks of training to turn from occasional cyclists to cross country team mates.
Staying in hotels but carrying all their kit between them, they rode eight to nine hour stretches daily. Their itinerary was meticulously planned by Ross.
Roxanne said the first of only two punctures suffered took “two hours” to fix but they were “a lot quicker” the next time. “Ross was lucky in that his wheels lasted the whole trip.”
They wheeled over the Queensferry Crossing and brought their bikes through Perth.
The weary cycling trio were cheered when Cardo customers came out to wave them on along the route from Edinburgh to the Fair City, having followed their progress online.
Tiso Perth ’s bike store Alpine Bikes lent them lots of support.
When the PA reported two weeks ago that the cycle trio were midway through their pedal stunt, the fundraising total was just over £8000.
They finished on Thursday, September 8 with 108 hours of pedalling under their belts.
Team Tab got back to Perth, celebrated Ross’ birthday then Roxanne and Hervé carried on working at Cardo restaurant.
The amount they raised has climbed to a fantastic £11,490. This is over ten times more than the initial target set at £1000.
Roxanne, who had never been further south than London, loved seeing Cornwall and the West Country.
She said of completing the trip: “It was an incredible experience - but probably not one to repeat.
“That was, without a shadow of doubt, the hardest, most physically and mentally gruelling 12 days of our lives.
“Broken would be an accurate representation as to how we were all feeling after crossing that finish line.
“There were many moments where one of us was ready to jump off the bike and call it a day, especially going up, what felt like the thousandth steep hill of the day.
“John O’Groats had little to offer so we left soon as we could, there was just some grey houses, a hotel and a gift shop.
“We had a great meal with Ross’s mum in Helmsdale after we finished.
“I miss being able to eat so much food guilt-free, that was the best part of the challenge. My appetite is still enormous even though I’m off the bike now!
“Thank you to everyone who supported us is any way. It’s so heart-warming to see people come together like this, all for a wonderful cause.
“In a world with so much sadness and conflict, moments like these really restore your faith in humanity. In my humble opinion, the only way to play your part is to look around at what you have, grasp it with both arms and to share those blessings, when the opportunity arises.
“I take my mother’s passing as a lesson.
“It’s made an impact on how I view the world we live in and the time we are allocated here.
“Make the most of our time, set personal challenges, make positive changes, live life with passion, urgency and presence.”
The charity page is at http://gofundme.com/f/pedal-for-paula
Club 300 Gym in Perth helped raise around £1000 for the British Red Cross through Pedal for Paula.
The gym held an event in May with members go head-to-head in a number of challenges for the title of Superteam, Superman and Superwoman.
Gym owner Mike Lindsay said: “We raised over £800 for sure but most likely closer to £1000 from our event which was dedicated to raising funds for Pedal for Paula.
“Since opening in 2015 we have raised over £20,000 through our charity events.”
