Trio of Friends Completes 17,000-Mile Bike Challenge After 40 Years

On November 14, 2025, three friends from Aberdeen University, Sophie Trafford, Rona Hulbert, and Craig Swan, completed a 17,000-mile mountain bike challenge they had started four decades earlier. In the 1980s, when they were in their 20s, the trio cycled from Punta Arenas in Chile to Anchorage, Alaska. However, a remote section of Patagonia in southern Chile had no road at the time, forcing them to take a ferry.

Over the past few weeks, the friends, now in their 60s, have finally finished the missing link of their epic journey, cycling along the entire length of the Carretera Austral road in southern Chile. The completion of this lifelong dream has been an emotional and deeply moving experience for the group, with Sophie finding inspiration in the memory of her son Hector, who passed away from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

The bike ride has also raised money for a Maggie's cancer center in Forth Valley and the Epilepsy Research Institute, making the journey even more meaningful. Rona, who had battled breast cancer, said the cycling pushed her to her limits, but reaching the end of the road was "very emotional" for the friends.

As Craig, the former BBC journalist, said, "For me, to join my oldest friends to complete this chapter in our lives has been a deeply moving privilege. We are all feeling tired, exhilarated and proud."