SCOTS super gran Mave Paterson is getting on her bike again to reclaim her record of the oldest woman to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

“Granny Mave”, 85, will attempt to raise thousands of pounds for charity – this time for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in honour of her son, Sandy, who died suddenly of a heart attack in 2012 when he was 43 years old.

The heartbroken pensioner then lost her daughter, Katie, to a viral infection the following year and her remaining son, Bob, died in an accident in 2016.

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Having lost all her three children in the span of four years when they were all in their 40s, the grandmother of three finds the only way she can cope with the “unimaginable grief” is cycling.

Before her children’s deaths, both Mave’s younger sister, Sandra, and their mother, Cathy, died from cancer.

“Cycling is my way of coping,” she told the Sunday National. “I live on my own and if the weather has not been good and I can’t get out on my bike, I can be quite down at times.

“I couldn’t imagine ever losing a child but now all mine have gone. It’s too much to cope with.”

A former marathon runner, Mave took to her bike when her knees began giving her problems and began raising money for charities after her sister and mother died.

“People say I am strong but what else can I do?” she asked.

She has now raised well over half a million pounds for cancer charities, such as Macmillan Cancer Support, and has received a clutch of awards for her efforts including the Sir Hugh Dundas Award, a Points Of Light Award from Macmillan and Cycling Scotland’s Inspirational Champion Of The Year.

“I set myself a target and people say I will never do it and I say ‘just watch me’,” said Mave.

She previously set the record of the oldest woman to cycle Land’s End to John O’Groats when she was 81, raising more than £76,000 for charity and charming a warm following among the public and TV/radio outlets in the process.

Mave held the record for almost a year before she was “beaten” by an 82-year-old.

Not one to just accept being ousted, Mave will be 86 in August when she sets out to retake the record. However, her training has been set back a little because of the poor weather, meaning she has had to train on her turbo bike in the kitchen.

“I practise on that but it is not the same – I need to be out on the road training and training,” she said. “At the moment, if they told me I had to do the ride tomorrow, I would say ‘forget it’ but by the time August arrives, hopefully, I should be ok.”

Mave did manage out on the roads a few weeks ago but hurt her back when she fell off on a cycle path near Fort William.

“It was very narrow so I hit a lamppost and fell on the road in front of the cars – that was quite nasty,” she said. “I hurt the base of my spine and was told to go to A&E but I didn’t and I am back on the bike.

“Whenever it is a reasonable day I will go out. Because of my age, I don’t want to go out in bad weather and catch a cold as that would stop me cycling so I have to be careful.”

Mavis is now hoping to get back to her 40-mile training route and aims to complete around 50 miles a day on her epic journey in August.

She will lengthen the route by visiting a number of BHF facilities and charity shops but still hopes to finish her journey well within the month set aside for the trip.

Accompanying her on bikes will be Sheila Scott and Jackie McDougall who will have to keep some distance ahead so that Mave is not assisted by their cycling draft.

Sheila said: “When Mave got the oldest woman’s record for Land’s End to John O’Groats, I said I would get that record when I am 82 but here I am helping her at 86. She keeps moving the goalposts!”

Mave is confident of raising at least another £76,000 for BHF but still needs sponsors to fund the trip, including a tracking system, bike accessories, food and accommodation, a support vehicle and fuel.

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When she completes the ride, it will be just the latest in a series of remarkable achievements, including a 6000-mile cycle across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax which took four months to complete and raised £20,000 for Macmillan.

To celebrate her 85th birthday last year, she took on a 1000-mile cycle ride round Scotland starting at her home in Dumfries and Galloway and raising £75,000 for Macmillan Cancer Care.

She also abseiled down four lighthouses raising £125,000 when she was 75 years old, inspiring further lighthouse abseils and raising a further £60,000.