WATCH: ‘Bicycle-canoe’ explorer treks across width of Scotland in handmade machine
A man, who travelled the width of Scotland and back in a hand-built “bicycle canoe”, visited Inverness for the first time in aid of raising funds for charity.
Ben Kilner (36), from Sussex, spent over two months crafting a unique contraption that took on a mammoth 150 miles of land and water.
Starting from Fort William, Ben paddled to Inverness along the Caledonian Canal before turning around and cycling back on land along the Great Glen Way.
He said: “It was my first time in that neck of the woods, so I wanted to explore Scotland and my mother’s heritage, which was part of the drive as well.”
The adventurer managed to raise an incredible £3768 for the charity A Leg To Stand On, which provides prosthetic limbs for children in developing countries across the world.
Ben embarked on his adventurous journey via social media three years ago when he curated a machine to travel across the length of the River Thames in aid of raising funds for two mental health charities.
He said: “That was what really started it off, I just wanted to raise funds for charity and I have been doing things like it ever since.”
Since then, Ben is a relatively well-known content creator on social media and has become a viral sensation with a combined following of over 750,000 via TikTok and Instagram.
He said: “The first canoe adventure got over a hundred million views and since renovating my workshop, it has over 200 million views this year. This most recent project has had around 80 million views now.”
When talking about how people have reacted to his most recent conception, Ben said: “People have been fascinated by it. The videos about the canoe structure tended to do really well as it is really beautiful.
“While the bike structure works incredibly well, it does take the edge off of the beauty. Most people have either said ‘wow’, or ‘omg, isn’t it just going to break’, which I thought at first too.”
However, Ben managed to complete the gruelling challenge in just nine days, which included around two days’ worth of repairs.
Ben plans to revisit the north of Scotland again for its ‘wonderful mixture of water and mountains’, perfect for his adventurous tendencies.
Next on the cards for Ben is the continuation of his workshop renovation. After that, he plans to create a seaworthy pedal paddle that will be a full working prototype.
