103 Days to Go: Spring has sprung

Finally felt like spring was here this weekend.  Felt very warm yesterday when I went out for a "hard as you can" burst around one of my normal training routes in an attempt to get faster and stronger on the hills.

Today's long ride was the route of the Selkirk sportive. Not as warm as yesterday, due to a horrible horrible head wind.  The ride started out with the climb over to Gordon Arms from Innerleithen into an energy sapping, demoralising head wind. No matter I thought, everyone else who was out will be in the same boat....until a women cyclist went past me.  Well that soon made me feel like utter crap, especially when I couldn't catch her (it's a girl thing, we don't like to be passed by another girl).  The only saving grace is that (I am sure) she was on a lighter bike.  Now bearing in mind that I was still in full winter kit the biggest shock was that she was wearing short shorts. To my delight I saw her turning around at the Gordon Arms crossroads, with a very red face and even redder legs! 

Still it was onto the next climb, back into the wind and avoiding the sheep up the berry bush.  All I could think about was the tailwind I was hoping to get once I dropped into the Ettrick Valley. And how right I was, a lovely fast run all the way to Selkirk.  Even managed to fit in an extra climb on the way. 

Have to say though I didn't feel that great as my legs hurt.  Good thing this was my easy week as I wasn't finding the ride particularly enjoyable on acount of feeling tired. Not sure if it was from Saturday's effort or not fully recovered from last week's long ride. 

After some Selkirk bannock and a cuppa with Mark I headed back to Innerleithen up the Tweed Valley.  Luckily the wind had dropped by this point so it was a nice amble back past some real signs of spring.

Time for a hot bath and a lovely green & blacks hot chocolate, with a shot of whisky.

110 Days to Go: RAD Tour

Fabulous day today, if not a wee bit challenging. Today was the West Lothian Clarion's RAD tour (Reliability Trial). 62 miles around the county, taking in 7 castles and what seem endless hills and undulations. To top that off I rode to the start and finish, adding 14 miles, to give a total mileage today of 76 miles.

The day started well, as the first 2 miles are uphill and then is a gradual drop of altitude over the next 5 miles to the start. Just under 40 of us started. I had opted to for group 2, with the aim to average 15 mph + breaks. It all started off well but then somehow I lost the back of the group, when overtaking the group 1. Took me a while to catch up to the stragglers but the main bunch were gone. As it was pretty windy this was not the best situation. But hey ho, I just had to make do. After a bit of cat and mouse on the next few miles three of us rode together. This soon dropped to two when David had a blow out and had to bail out. Steve and I rode on, riding at a consistent pace with a nice chat to take the mind off things.

Now I had thought the ride would not involve many hills. How wrong could I be. As well as those constant rises that sap your legs there was a endless climb from West Calder to one of the highest roads in West Lothian. But at the top was the most welcoming sign ever....3 miles to the feed stop! And what feed stop it was. After meanearing down a long drive we arrived to a very warm welcome at Neil's house and lots of happy cyclists. Three varieties of soup, bread, the best collection of cakes I have ever seen, bacon rolls, tea and in the comfort of a dining room. I wasn't the only one who could have quiet happily whiled away the afternoon here. Finally we dragged ourselves away and formed a nice group of six for the last 22 miles.

Bizzare moment at the traffic lights. A car came completely towards us as we were sitting in a filter lane (single lane). At the last minute they mounted the pavement in the middle of the lights and careened up off the hill almost taking out some other riders. We were so dumstruck we missed that the lights had turned green.

Looking forward to some downhill we trotted off and five minutes later there were two punctures. 15 minutes later we were finally off again. Beautiful country lanes were our reward but not as easy as we thought. Every time we turned west there was a very taxing head wind. The last ten miles were tough as mostly uphill with a head wind. I think everyone was in their own personal hell at this point, with most silently riding on their own. At 3:30 we finally saw the end, nicely situated by a cafe. Time to relax at last! or not as I still have 7 miles, mostly uphill to get home (and with that persisent head wind). Still there was time to gather the energy over a latte.

Not a pretty ride home. I don't think I have ridden so slow in a long time. I was having to use my granny on the most pathetic of rises. At about 3 miles from home I was confronted with the final hill, which was as bad as it looked (see above). Needless to say I sit here now extremely tired, but pleased with my efforts. And it was such a brilliant day talking to so many friendly happy local cyclists. Wonder what next week brings?

117 Days to go: Cracking ride

Cracked 60 miles yesterday, although I did wonder if it would be me cracking. Set out from Innerleithen in the Scottish borders to do some decent hills and mileage. I wasn't sure how I would feel as last spring I felt shattered on the first ride in this area after 40 miles. So I had an opt out, when I got to Clovenfords after 25 miles I could either take a rolling 15 miles back or do another 25 miles, to take in a couple of half-decent climbs.

Well I felt like I was on drugs for the first 25 miles. Best I have ever felt at this time of year, and that was on the winter bike too! so when I got to Clovenfords I decided to do the longer route. Happy days....but not for long. The next 10 miles were hell. I felt tired, my bum ached, I had real pain in between my shoulder blades and once I got to Selkirk I was committed to the two climbs. No worries I thought, I will stop at the pub at Ettrickbridge and grab a cuppa to gather my strength. Mark had started at the same time this morning. I knew he was stopping here for a brew so I was hoping I might catch him as he was heading out the door. Seeing Mark's bike propped up against the wall put a small on my face. That smile turned into a massive grin when I saw Mark had a full cup of tea so we could chat for awhile, and that I was only 15 minutes behind him!!!

30 minutes later I was on my way again. First stop was my favourite climb over Witchy Knowe. Still a brilliant climb. Descent was a bit slow on account of the snow on the road. Was dreading the next stretch to the Gordon Arms as I really struggle on this section. but guess what? NO WIND!! OMG What a difference!!! Don't know what the fuss was all about, with no head wind I flew along and before I knew it was heading over the last climb of the day.

all in all averaged 13.5 mph, which is pretty good for me considering the time of year and the bike I was on. Must be doing something right.