Cycling the name of the game for Muriel

She is one of the best female golfers to come out of Scotland at large and the North-east in particular, but Aberdeen-based Muriel Thomson has not hit a ball since she retired as Portlethen Golf Club professional in 2015, writes Colin Farquharson.

Cycling is the name of her game these days. Last year she made it on two wheels, on her own, from Land's End to John O'Groats and now she is off on an epic cycle trip from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to Saigon in Vietnam. Thomson has also been raising funds for an orphanage in India at Chennai (formerly Madras) for over a decade.

I'm joining a group from Explore UK of about 12 people for the Bangkok-Thailand cycling trip from February 18 to March 4, she said before setting off. I'm going to the orphanage for one month, then joining the trip before returning to the orphanage for ten days before coming home, said Muriel who deserves some sort of gong for her charity work.

The St Joseph Centre is in the south of India. I first visited it in 2006 and have been raising funds for the last 11 years.

Muriel does not miss the game of golf which was central to her sporting instincts for so many years. ÏI haven’t hit a golf shot since I retired on December 31, 2015 and at the moment I don't think I will play again. I don't want to go out and not play to a decent standard and that would mean I'd have to the range to hit balls - a thing I have done all my life but no longer have a desire to do.

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