A cursed charity bike expedition has been postponed for a third time — after the men taking part were told minutes before they set off they could die on their trip.
Darren Leckey and Daryl Hill, both of Dundee, were planning to ride the North Coast 500 route twice after initially hoping to cycle to Land’s End and back again.
They were hoping to raise money for the Dundee Foodbank and have stumbled yet again after being told their sleeping bags weren’t warm enough to cope with the low autumn temperatures.
Darren, who caught the train back to Dundee after their latest hitch, said: “We decided we would do the North Coast 500, which starts in Inverness, because we thought it would be sensible to be closer to home if anything went wrong.
“When we got to Inverness, we had a quick bite to eat in town before setting off, and as we were eating, a guy from an outdoor shop saw our bikes loaded with gear and began chatting to us about our ride.
“He asked if he could have a look at our gear and when he took out the sleeping bags, he said we could die of hypothermia if we camped out in them because they were designed for spring and summer use.”
Darren added that he was glad someone had pointed out the unsuitable equipment, but couldn’t help but be frustrated at yet another setback.
He said: “It’s very annoying. I get to the point where I think I can’t be bothered fighting with all the things which have stopped us from getting under way. It’s one thing after another, after another.”
This is the third major postponement the pair have had since planning the epic trip.
Before setting off for the first time, one of their bikes was stolen from Darren’s front garden.
Then, after an outpouring of generosity from businesses and individuals across Dundee, they set off again — only to be forced to abort 90 minutes later after one of the bikes suffered a malfunction. This prompted them to rethink their route in order to be closer to home.
Despite the problems, Darren said the pair remain determined to complete the journey and raise as much as they can for charity.
He said: “We’ll get there, whether it takes another week or another three months. The thing that is stressing me out at the moment is the fact that winter is just around the corner, and it will soon be too cold to do it, no matter what kind of sleeping bags we have.”
Darren added that the pair have since sourced suitable sleeping bags and hope to make another attempt to set off next Friday.
He added: “We’re down, but definitely not out. We were joking that we should’ve just donated the money we have spent on gear to charity, but it’s bigger than that. We’ll never back down and will keep fighting until we have finished what we set out to do.”