A KILMARNOCK mum who suffers from multiple sclerosis is to undertake a gruelling cycle trip across Vietnam to raise funds for the MS Trust.
Heather Mackenzie will cycle for up to eight hours a day for eight days, travelling almost 700 kilometres in all. She said this week: “To mark my birthday I wanted to do something worthwhile in appreciation of the help I have received. It will be a challenge, but I’m training hard and really looking forward to it.” At the end of October, Heather will fly from Heathrow to Hanoi via Hong Kong, then bike it across the north of Vietnam through traditional villages and stunning scenery. With the rest of the party on the 2009 Vietnam Cycle Challenge, she will spend several nightly stopovers in remote hamlets being entertained by locals in traditional dress. After a gruelling climb to Heaven’s Gate, the group is due to reach their destination of Sapa, a picturesque village near the Chinese border, on Monday, November 2. Heather, who along with her husband Alasdair owns and runs engineering company Smillie and Cuthbertson in James Little Street, Kilmarnock, was diagnosed with relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis in 2006.
She says the information she was able to access from the Multiple Sclerosis Trust was invaluable.