Getting her teeth into a charity challenge is dentist Katie Stirling.
When she’s not busy doing check-ups and filling cavities at her Camelon practice, she’s spending hours in the saddle in preparation for a three-day cycling marathon.
Katie (46) is joining five colleagues, who are all national dental advisors for Scotland, in the 240-mile London to Paris bike ride.
They will all be raising cash for the British Heart Foundation, the charity organising the trip, after one of the group, Clydebank dentist David Brunton (47) went through a quadruple heart by-pass. However, he has made a full recovery and in full training for the event.
Katie, who will be joined by Alan Whittet of East Lothian, Stephanie Mannings and John Cameron, both of Edinburgh, and Monica Downie of Glasgow, said she is desperately trying to find the time to get in the practice needed.
She said: “John is a keen cyclist and somehow, I’m not really sure how, he managed to rope the rest of us in.
“It begins on September 1 and the first day we will be cycling 70 miles, then 80 the following day and the final stage will be 90 miles.”
Although this is a new hobby for her, Katie is determined to be fit enough to complete the course. However, she reckons that Olympic gold medalists Victoria Pendelton and Laura Trott don’t have much to worry about as she’s not quite in their class.
She added: “It’s difficult to find the time, but I’m out every weekend clocking up the miles. Recently I did about 60 miles by cycling to St Andrews, staying over and cycling back.”
Katie, who is married to Tom and lives in Laurieston, juggles her dental work with looking after her family, Fraser (20), Scott (18) and Eilidh (16).
“Not that they’ve been very encouraging,” she said. “They told me that I would never do it, but perhaps they’re adopting the reverse psychology approach.”
A former pupil of Falkirk High School, she has run Katie Stirling Associates in premises in Union Road for over 20 years.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to support her efforts can visit www.justgiving.com/katiestirling.
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