Newtonmore girl gets on her bike in memory of granddad
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A 13-year-old schoolgirl will be getting on her bike tomorrow to tackle almost 250 miles across the widest part of Scotland in memory of her grandad who died of cancer during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Isla Easto, from Newtonmore, is taking on the four-day challenge to raise vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of Kenneth Easto, (78), who died of lymphoma at the end of March.
The young road cyclist will be accompanied on her coast to coast ride by her dad Paul, a keen triathlete.
Mum Susie and younger brother Euan will be spurring them on in the support vehicle making it a real family effort.
Isla said: “I wanted to do something to honour my grandad’s memory and to thank Macmillan Cancer Support for all the help they gave him and my family at a very difficult time.
"I’m doing this for my grandad but also for anyone who’s life has been affected by cancer.
“I love cycling so I came up with the idea of riding my bike across the breadth of Scotland in the Highlands.
"The route covers 400km and 4,500m of ascent so it’s quite a challenge. I plan to ride it over four days and my dad will be alongside me the whole way.
“My mum and brother Euan will be our support vehicle should we get a flat tyre or need to refuel. We’ve got a good plan in place.”
Aiming to set off tomorrow morning, Isla said: “The first day we are cycling Ardnamurchan Point to Fort William. The second day is from Fort William to Newtonmore, my home village, and then the third day will be to Ballater, probably the most strenuous part of the challenge because a lot of it is up hill.
“Our last day is the Saturday, and we’ll finish up cycling the stretch from Ballater to Cruden Bay. I’ve never done this route before so I’m quite excited about that. I’ve been doing a bit of training for it.
“I have done 100km rides before but never consistently so that’s going to be tough but I am really looking forward to it. I’ve set a target of £4000 and want to raise as much money for Macmillan as I can.”
Mum Susie said: “Every time I think about what Isla is doing I get all choked up, she’s just amazing.
"The care from Macmillan that Ken received was just phenomenal.
"When Isla suggested doing this challenge with her dad for Grandad, we just knew it was the right thing to do.”
The Easto family do a lot of cycling together, and Susie said: “My husband Paul, does triathlons so in the last couple of years Isla’s definitely been influenced and got in to cycling quite a bit more.
"You can see she really enjoys it and she loves watching the cycling tours so that’s probably inspired her to do something herself.
“She’ll be doing 100km a day so it’s quite a lot! The thought of her getting back on a bike each day, oh my word!
“My son Euan and I will be in the car supporting them all the way.
"We’ll be able to take photographs and clock their journey as they go.
"They’ll finish on the Saturday in the afternoon sometime, we’ll probably head home after that and do a bit of celebrating and resting up I think.
“We’re all quite overwhelmed by the response we’ve had so far with people donating to Isla’s JustGiving page – it’s incredible.
"Her high school in Kingussie have put it on their Facebook page, the support she is getting is fantastic.
“Everyone is going through so much right now with the virus, so it’s just amazing the way people have been so generous in sponsoring Isla.
"It’s really lovely.”
Angela McCormack, the charity's area fundraising manager in Scotland, said: “What a fantastic challenge and what an inspiration Isla is.
"It’s a lovely thing to do to honour her Grandad’s memory. Thank you so much Isla for raising money for us during a time when we most need it.
“All of us at Macmillan have our fingers crossed the sun will come out across the Highlands for your challenge Isla.
"We’re behind you all the way!”
Macmillan Cancer support are doing everything they can to help address the immediate and unique challenges that having cancer during this pandemic brings but they need your support.
Your donations are vital to enable them to continue to be there for people living with cancer. If you would like to donate to Isla’s Just Giving page, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/isla-rides-scotland
The Macmillan Support Line is available on 08088080000 to help with clinical, practical and financial information. The line is open seven days from 8am-8pm.
* If you’re facing cancer, or love someone who is, there may be times when you need to talk about things or just hear from those who’ve been there. The online community is full of people who understand how you feel, because they’re facing cancer too. More details are available at http://www.macmillan.org.uk
