A PEEBLES man is saddling up this weekend to cycle coast-to-coast across Scotland in a day.

Ben Glasgow will join riders from Edinburgh and South Ayrshire in a charity cycle ride from Prestwick, on the west coast to Berwick.

The 37-year-old, who aims to complete his 140-mile journey on Saturday, will travel through Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Peeblesshire and across the Borders.

The ride will set off at 6am, and aims to pass through Peebles’ Tweed Green between 1.15pm and 1.30pm.

The epic event aims to raise money for three causes – blood cancer charity DKMS; Alzheimer Scotland; and Cash for Kids.

The former Peebles and Edinburgh Northern ‘Gents’ (over 35s) rugby player started cycling in 2015 after a knee injury put a halt to his regular appearances on the pitch.

And Ben, who works for the Scottish Government, is calling on Peebleans to show their support on Saturday and get involved, as he takes on his longest-ever bike ride.

He said: “Adding another 50 per cent on to the longest ride I’ve ever done in one day will be quite a challenge.

“I’m not exactly of an aerodynamic build, and the route we’re taking across the width of Scotland features some pretty testing terrain to climb up and over on the best of days for bigger units like me – let alone if the weather conditions and wind decide to conspire against us.

“I’m looking forward to it though, and continuing to raise much-needed funds for a variety of great charitable causes. Anyone from Peebles who wants to join us for any length of the the second half of the trip from Tweed Green in Peebles over to Berwick Upon Tweed would be most welcome – estimated departure from Peebles is around 1.15pm/1.30pm.”

To make a donation, go to justgiving.com and search for ‘Ben Glasgow’ to find the three separate fundraising pages for DKMS, Alzheimer Scotland and Cash for Kids.