My baby sister is cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats........

This is my gorgeous little sister, Honor, with her boyfriend Jamie, pictured last week when they came to visit us at our cute holiday cottage on the Black Isle.  And do feel free to comment on the family resemblance. I look that good in real life too, honest..............

My said little sister is all kinds of awesome for many reasons. She's one of the bravest people I know already before her latest escapade. A week on Friday, this girl who hadn't been on a bike since we were kids until about 6 months ago, will be embarking on a Land's End to John O'Groat's cycle for charity.

She's going as part of a team who call themselves the Inverness Spinners. There are 12 riders and 2 support people. There is a huge variety of experience amongst the riders. Jamie has climbed the Ventoux and several other of the hideously difficult mountain climbs on the Tour De France. He is also used to endurance events having gone from Paris to Marseilles last year. Another member has cycled in North Vietnam. And there are some, like Honor, who are doing this for the first time.

This isn't something you can do without months of preparation, so the whole team has been training hard for months. The thing which attracts the most sweary words from my little sis is called hill training. This involves finding a hill, the more vertical the better and then cycling up it not once, but several times in quick succession. It sounds deeply unpleasant, particularly in the middle of  a gale and driving rain. They've been going out for very long cycles at weekends, on some occasions aiming to do 80-100 miles per day.

Now, dear reader, I'm looking for some help from you - and it doesn't need to involve cash, but they are aiming to raise £10,000 for the MS Society Scotland and Inverness SNAP, a local charity which helps kids with learning disabilities, so if you have any spare, it would be gratefully received here.

Cycling not that far off 1000 miles in 10 days is quite some undertaking, so if you have any experience of doing it and have some constructive advice to offer, or you just want to wish them luck, like their Facebook page and leave them a message.

Also, if you are going to be anywhere near their route, which is outlined here, if you're around at the time, please go and wave them on and wish them well. I know she's a grown up, but the mother hen in me wants my baby sister to be looked after along the way.

I am so proud of Honor for what she's achieved and wish her and all the team the best possible weather, not too hot, not too cold, and luck for their long trip. And let's hope they reach that £10,000 target for those good causes.