Riding high on the Harley helps Cat and Fife charities

Cat Aitken, a researcher at Heriot-Watt University, rode 2000 miles across Europe on her Harley Davidson after setting off from the Lang Toun on April 4, taking in the Netherlands and Belgium before finishing in Dieppe in France.

She raised £1300 she shared with Kirkcaldy charities Samaritans and Home-Start.

“It was really awesome,” she says, “I got out of it what I wanted.

“Coming home I felt a lot more confident. I felt that if I could apply that to certain area in my life then things would improve and that’s what’s been happening.

“It was terrifying because I was on my own and that isn’t easy for a week. But the only other problem that I had really was the weather in some places.

“France was a complete let down. Going down the coast there is some beautiful scenery but I couldn’t see any of that because there was lots of fog. It was a bit disappointing to be riding for six or seven hours a day and not being able to see in front of you.

“My favourite place was Bruges. Belgium was beautiful – and there was a hip hop festival in the middle of Bruges which was crazy!”

Cat set off on her adventure after deciding to take part in the ‘One Year No Beer’ challenge, which she says struck a chord with people across the world.

“The support I received from the public was amazing,” she said, “I had people contacting me from America.

“I’m eight months sober now and people were sharing stories with me about their own addictions and issues.”

She added: “I think that has probably been the nicest part of it all.”