Wedensday 12th May – Oban

Straight after work we drove over to the west coast to meet Matt and Emma, we found them in a little pub with locals playing funny instruments.  We had a few beers and headed for our respective vehicles for sleep as the next morning was a fairly early start.

Thursday Barra 16.4km and 300m of ascent

Up at the crack of dawn (lucky Dawn!), packed our bags up with the bits we used the previous night and then cycled down to the ferry terminal for our sailing to Barra.  We got there no worries and bought our tickets – a whole massive whopping £25 each later we have in our possessions tickets for every ferry we need for the long weekend, incrediblycheap .

We all boarded the first ferry, this was to be the longest of all of them, 6 hours as it stopped at Col and Tirree on route.  It was not a bad crossing until we got out of the channel and hit open waters – at this point it got choppy and poor Emma did not feel too good, she wasn’t happy with having cameras pointed at her when she was green in the face

6 hours later as planned, we arrive on the Western Isles.  First thing is first – to find some food (important to me!), we find a Co-op and stock up, we only have a short ride today to get around Barra and to the northern ferry point to cross over to Eriskay.  We start to go surprisingly fast

 and find that we can make the last ferry, Barra was a pretty island, small but nicely formed (like me…..).  We get to the ferry terminal in good time and have no worries getting on the ferry.  This is a short 45 minute crossing over to Eriskay.

On arriving it is an uphill (we found this is always the way out of ferry terminals) and head up up through Eriskay, another small island.  It was getting late and our eyes were pealed for places to sleep that night, there was a distinct lack of flat ground, but eventually we managed to find a spot that would do us just fine.

We put up our tents, had a little wash and cracked open some wine we had lugged with us watching the sun go down.  We all felt fine, it had been an easy day – but we all felt good about the bikes and the ride.

Friday 14th May –  South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist (Lara’s Birthday!!)
75.8km, 455m ascent

Lara woke up to our tent having been decorated by Matt and Emma with balloons, it was after all her birthday!  Poor thing always seems to be cycle touring on her birthday, last year we where in Sardinia. We packed up and was on our way by 9am.

Lara with her Birthday bike!  We crossed over the causeway and onto South Uist.  As far as all the islands we went through, this one was the least impressive.  Mainly because it is the biggest and the road goes straight up the middle of it and all the pretty bits were a 10km detour.  We had a long way yo go that day so no detours were allowed!

South Uist came and went pretty quickly, it had a good road surface and pleasant riding.  Just re-read what I wrote, god you know you are sad when you comment on your blog on the state of road surfaces!

Next up was Benbecula.  The day was turning into a lovely day, the sun strong and hot and some lovely beaches past on route.  We sat and found another Co-op (only supermarkets on the western Isles) and had some lunch.  From here, we hit a strong head wind, and the going got harder.

We knuckled down in silence and got going, after about 70km we found a shop which we decided we needed ice creams. After inhaling ice creams we turned East and had a great tail wind to our final destination that day – Loch Maddy. We managed to find a great spot to camp right next to a pub, being Lara’s birthday it was rude not to go in and celebrate

We staggered out at silly o’clock to our tents and all fell asleep very promptly

Saturday 15th May –  Skye
88.7km, 1164m ascent

With a horrible early start and a pounding headache ( I blame Lara, it was her birthday after all) we got on the ferry to Skye.  An hour and a half later we arrived at Uig.  This on paper was to be the hardest day, and it was.

Looking back at our boat leaving Uig.  It was all uphill into a strong head wind.  This head wind was unfortunately going to be a strong feature in the days riding.  We got to Portree and found a cafe to have some early lunch and hide from what looked like a rain shower.  Once refueled, we headed off again south, I was looking forward to this bit as we were going to ride past the Cuillins.  What I was not aware of was that we were going to be riding in the the pissing rain with strong headwinds all the way!!!!!!

Matt and Emma with the start of the Cuillins and heavy rain!  The rest of the day was spent battling up hills in rain with head winds.  I suppose this is what should be expected from this part of the world and we should count ourselves lucky to have seen the sun the previous days!

As it got time to find camping spots, in true ‘our luck’ everything starts to get a little steeper with no flat spots to camp.  Everyone is getting tired and grumpy.  Unfortunately a huge gust of wind hit Lara and Matt and pushed them into the side of the road and resulted in both of them coming off.  New leggings need ordering!

We eventually found a flat spot and had dinner in the tents as it was still pissing with rain, everyone knackered and asleep by 8pm.

Sunday 16th May – Mainland, Mallaig to Corran
85.5km, 1488m ascent

Another early start to get the ferry back to the main land,  it was a bit of a mile stone as if something was to go wrong here at least a taxi back to our cars were possible.  we stopped off in Mallaig for breakfast, the morning was lovely and sunny.  we ate our bacon rolls in the sunshine outside, did some food shopping and set off.  just as we set off the heavens opened and it pissed down on us again!  Thankfully it only lasted an hour or so and the sun came back out.  As far as scenery went this was the most impressive part of the tour, it was a little hilly but the views took the pain out of it.

Lara with Loch Eil and Ben Nevis behind it. Another longish day was spent in head winds to finish.  We found another great campsite next to a pub!  result, again we had a quick wash and headed into the pub to eat and re-hydrate.

Monday 17th May – Corran to Oban
58km, 921m ascent

In the morning we woke up and had about 100m to go to get to the ferry, our last crossing. I had another hangover and felt the need to refuel, we found an appropriate place and all was well after that.

From here home fever set in, it was heads down, pedal to the metal and horse on back to Oban.  We didn’t stop much and decided it was best jsut to crack on, thus no pictures were taken. 

We arrived back at Oban just after mid day and were all really happy.  It was a great 5 days, Matt and Emma did brilliantly seeing it was an order of magnitude longer than anything they had done before on bikes and hats off to them.  I think they may have the touring bug…….

This sportive has been on my radar and on my ‘Biking to do list’ for years and was very high on the list.  It is heavily over subscribed and hard to get a place.  There was the option of paying £250 for charity and getting a guaranteed place.  I though this was the way to do it, give a little and get a place.  So early March Helen (friend from uni) and I joined.

Come closer to the event, I was getting a little nervous – a winter of snow and ice ment not much riding was done and what I had done was reasonably short – so to complete this monster was a little daunting.  The Fred Whitton is a route that circumnavigates the lakes going up over Kirkstone, Honnister, Whinlatter, Hardknott and Wrynose pass in a loop of 112miles and just under 4000m of climbing. – Pooping it a bit we were!

The day before the event I bumped into a few old friends from chamonix  and arranged to ride it together, it will at least stop me listening to my voices in my head!

Come the day, up at around 6 and Helen headed off early as she totally under estimated her speed, she went a hell of a lot faster than she thought she would.

The first half was a bit of a blur, Kirkstone pass came and went with no issues, total respect to the guy i went past on a hand cycle, I saw him pull over and unvelcro his hand from the bars and it flopped down.  So this guy only had one working arm!!!  Utterly inspirational stuff,  I doth my hat at you sir.

Down the A66 in a big chain gang at 40kph+ all the way was quite a nice break from the slow trudging up the passes.  Through Keswick and up to Honnister.  Honnister was a big milestone in my ride, as I saw it as the second hardest climb, which it was!  People were already pushing up it at this stage in the ride (about 60 miles in), and not surprisingly so as it was bastard steep!  Got up to the top and waited for the rest of my group, and off we went.  The descent is dangerous, and we went past two guys who were in a complete mess as they must of ploughed into dry stone walls at 40mph+.  Hope you are ok guys, fast recovery.

Next was Whinlatter – this one in my mind was easy, as I knew it, I could map it in my head and for some reason there were hundreds of people up it cheering and clapping, thank you to them, they lifted a lot of cyclists spitits that day.

The ride from here is undulating to Hardknott,  I spent this time trying to eat and drink as much as I could, I could already feel my legs starting to fatigue, and I was getting the odd twinge of cramp!!  Oh no, not my dreaded cramping problem.  From previous experience I know once this sets in I am knackered.  I have had two races end prematurely before due to cramping.  This is due to my excessive sweeting!  Nice!

I rummaged in my jersey pocket….. oh shit!  I had left my salt tablets in the van.  this was going ot hurt.

I saw the climb ahead of me – Hardknott, a steady snake of multicoloured jerseys, not moving quickly! This is why I’m here. I looked ahead to suss out where the ultra steep parts were. And then it started. Soooooo steep! One pedal stroke…stop….balance…another pedal stroke…..stop…..balance…and so on, the other three I was riding with had already got off and started pushing – I was not, i would get up this! Then a respite (the respites were still 10% + I reckon) before it kicking up again, this time for longer and lasting 2-3 hairpins. Buuuuurn and cramp!! Then 2/3rds of the way up another viciously steep few turns, and here – for a brief moment – I thought I was going to stop, my quads where spasming hard with cramp and really, really hurt,  but my head disagreed and I kept going. I could not believe the effort I had put in to get to the top. Total elation.

I got down the other side in one piece (these descents were horrible – bumpy and tight and really sore on the hands and shoulders after this length of time (around 7 and a half hours of riding )) Wrynose now. Ahead of me  looked just as steep! Wait a minute though, it’s not as long. OK stay positive. Two ultra-steep sections of 20-30 pedal strokes, but hardknott had taken it out of me, the cramp was too bad this time, I had to stop and stretch.  God it hurt, so I stretched for a few minutes and got to the top.  Not what I really wanted, but happy that  I had got up Hardknott!  That was my real goal.

From here it was a long down hill and another 30 minutes of undulating to the finish.  My final time – 8hrs 43 min – Probably 650-700 out of 1000 starters, so I wasn’t quick, but we stopped a bit and took it gentle.  They say that 75% have to walk on Hard Knott, and a lot of riders have to walk on Honister and Wrynose too, so I achieved my personal goal.

Will I do it again, probably, unless I can find something as difficult (the harder the climb the bigger the buzz if you succeed) and if I do then I will maybe push the flat parts a bit more, and go for a PB, maybe under 7:30 hrs.

If you like climbing like me, then I dont think you will find steeper hills anywhere, AND they are 100 miles into the event! Someones outrageously sick joke is a reality!! Also, the organisation is first class, the scenery is simply stunning, the mountains are special whether you are a cyclist or not. This is a seriously difficult challenge.

What next? I have no idea. Alpe d’Huez and Fred Whitton ticked off. Will everything else be a bit of a disappointment? Some ideas would be helpful.  Thanks again to the organisers of FW 2010. What an event!

Well the seasons are certainly changing up here, the snow is fast receding up the hills and it is getting warmer.  With the fast approaching Fred Whitton race I have stupidly entered in May it is time I started getting out on the bike and getting the miles into my legs.  Lara, Emma, Matt and I went out for a ride around Donside on Saturday.

It was Matt’s and Emma’s first real ride of the year so we decided on a easy-ish ride and it ended up being a glorious day, there was even sunshine!!!  Riding through the hills with snow still on them was really picturesque and great to give the legs a shake out. 

Think this is the third time I have taken a picture with this signpost!  Never get tired of it.

 Lara and I did not suffer as much as expected, I think all the ski touring has kept our legs going over the winter and hopefully have a reasonable base for the summer biking.

Lara on the final fast decent down to where we parked the van in Ballater,  I am excited for the fast approaching longer days we get up here in the north of Scotland to be able to get out on my bike loads.

As with the rest of the UK, up here in North Scotland we are getting a fair bit of snow.  The roads are a bit sketchy and people drive like idiots.  So my daily commute to work, despite the cold has continued by bike.  Mainly for the reason I am really enjoying the route I take to BP, but also the van turns into an 18foot toboggan in the snow which is rather scary

The bike was being held up by the snow!

Thew road was very snowy and was a bit like riding on sand at some points, but with slowing down and being careful it is more than manageable.  Luckily the roads I ride on are super quiet and I only pass about 3 cars in 20 odd minutes of riding.

It is still a better way to get to work than driving and gives me an excuse to wear loads of tight fitting clothing!