The day started cool and cloudy in Pitlochry as we set off on the Caledonian Etape route. We had decided to skip the 6 mile loop at the Red Lion pub and complete 75 of the 81 miles.
There were 3 of us myself, the fit one and Derek (yet to be aliased!). It was pretty cold as we gilded out of Pitlochrie, well Derek and I glided, the fit one grinded and cracked as his bike gears crunched under pressure. The first climb was telling as, unknown to myself and Derek, the fit one's bike fell apart and became temporarily unrideable. He appeared at the top of the hill slightly frustrated at the gears on his bike as he had stopped to make emergency repairs. Being technically minded the patch up job did the business for the next 69 miles and got him round.
The climb to Queens View seemed easier than the last time which hopefully means that the training is paying off. My guts played up all day and I became aware that a few beers and a curry was not the 'food of champions' to fuel yourself up on for a strenuous ride. I suppose the tailwind was of benefit to me but might not of been so good for those behind when I took my turn at the front!
Once we'd climbed over Queens View we motored along to Loch Rannoch - quick loo stop (you can guess the culprit - didn't take my helmet off in case I bashed my head on the ceiling the way my stomach was churning!) and then we battered down to the end of the loch. We were flying. We paused briefly at the bridge to grab some food:
We turned into the cold easterly wind and headed for the big climb of the day. Schehallion (Sp?) is a long climb but nothing too extreme. We were buoyed, quite close to the bottom of the hill, when we saw a guy with a green Bianche walking - funny how other folk walking a bike up a hill spurs you on! Encouraged by a smile and hello we all blasted up the hill to the top.
The decent was exciting and demanded top concentration - put the wheel in the wrong place and you'd of been off quicker than you could imagine.
The rest of trip, to be honest, was a bit of a slog. We had all messed up our eating strategy and began to suffer from lack of food and the subsequent energy dropping. That wasn't the only thing I was dropping as my guts continued to churn....
We made the final turn, climbed the last climb and headed back into Pitlochrie knowing that we had done a good shift. The fit one had timed us at 4.15/20 on his elapsed time computer (ie without the bog stop!) so possibly not a bad speed over 75 undulating miles. The other two return to face the same route in the Etape in 4 weeks and I'm certain that they will both do really well and beat there times of last year.
A late lunch in Pitlochrie rounded off a grand day out and we all learned a wee bit more about ourselves and each other. We all flagged at different times, needed the support of each other and most importantly finished together. It's good to be in this team!
I had a day off today. I set off for a run but my achilles was playing up.
It will be interesting to get the other guys stories from yesterday. Derek developed a sore back, which was unusual for him so hopefully that will clear up quickly. Fortunately, for all those around me, my guts are back to normal and I have to say that on the trip home there were points that I was grateful that Derek's car has leather seats!
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