Well, thanks for the route suggestions for my impromptu tour from Dundee to
Glasgow. Read on to find out how it went..
I packed my kit, staggered into the lab to leave rucksack and laptop for a
colleague to take. Did a few bits and pieces and finally got riding about
11. I'd got loads of stuff with me, three OS maps, the minipump, loads of
geobars, spare drink powder, digital camera and so on. Too much for the
jersey so I'm having to wear the waterproof, and no straps to put it under
the saddle. This would haunt me later.
Over the bridge to Fife. HRM is playing silly buggers. Roll nicely through
tayport. Will my legs last the distance? It is a new saddle, will my bum be
behaving by the time I get to Glasgow? How about the rest of me?
Dundee is the sunniest city in the UK. This much was obvious as it started
to rain as soon as I had crossed the Tay. Into Cupar, pretty much on
schedule and then a bit of a grind up and out into the Howe of Fife. There
is a light headwind but it has stopped raining. Still somewhat grey.
My legs are aching a bit, but nothing too bad. I'm making a concious effort
to use easy gears and try to spin, so I'm cruising at 26 km/h and feeling
reasonable.
The last bit of the A91 was a bit busy with the traffic until the M90
turnoff at which point it became quite pleasant. Into Kinross and hunting
for lunch. I stopped for a sausage roll and a cup of tea.
Young lad asked if I'd come far. "Not really " I said. "Where did you come
from then?" "Dundee". Suitably impressed.
Now came the bit I had least been looking forward to, the A977 to the
Kincardine bridge. I'd heard it was a terrible road, busy traffic and so on.
As it was the sun had finally managed to break through and whatever head
wind had gone. I was flying along quite happily but starting to get a bit
warm. My waterproof was the problem but I had nowhere to put it. Press on.
I came into Kincardine a little sooner than expected. By now I have gone
further than any other ride this year. It was at the last roundabout that I
discovered a new meaning for the phrase 'on the rivet' as I hit a hidden
pothole.. hard.
And so on to the Kincardine bridge. I was expecting some sort of sign to
point to the cycle path so I carried on. Then I finally saw the path, the
other side of the barrier as I was on the main carriageway. Not wanting to
stop and climb over a fairly substantial barrier, I carried on and just rode
over the bridge.
As described by other posters, the road the other side is nasty. Fast and
busy. I stopped in a layby, feeling rather too warm and found the map, the
sunglasses and an idea. The jacket got rolled and TdF style put down the
back of my jersey. The blissfull relief of fresh air hitting my limbs and
cooling me down..
Through the flies of Falkirk. Once the next motorway junction had been
passed the road became a lot better for bikes, quieter and generally more
pleasant.
Falkirk is a dump. I was heading for the Falkirk wheel which, being a decent
piece of engineering and quite attractive is something that Falkirk wants
absolutely nothing to do with. There is a sign to the Falkirk wheel on the
M80 (or thereabouts) but absolutely nothing in Falkirk itself. The only
people who visit the wheel must be those who stumble on it by accident.
[censored] signposting notwithstanding I rolled down to the Falkirk wheel with
just over 100km on the clock. I'm feeling a bit cooler now but definitely
suffering from the heat. Just under 5 hours so far. The legs are holding up
well, the bum has not winged in the slightest. The only problem is my head
as I feel a headache coming on.
The wheel is impressive. I wheeled my bike through the visitor centre and
got a nice view, took some pictures and determined that the catering must be
run by Falkirk inmates. Overpriced and under quality. So much potential
wasted on that site.
After an hour I head off again. I have two choices: head back up the hill,
try to find a station, then wait ages for a train to Glasgow, or just ride
along the canal path. (which being a canal is flat). The latter wins.
There are a lot of leisure cyclist about. I gradually tick over the
kilometers maintaining a comfortable 20-23 km/h. The sun is in my eyes as I
head west at approaching 6pm.
Cycling on Towpaths Lesson 1: Always keep your mouth closed. And preferably
your ears as well.
Cycling on Towpaths Lesson 2: Some Oik will always try to pass you the other
side to that which the rest of his group is doing leading to a head on
screehing of brakes and skidding to a halt. 70+ miles does wonders for the
patience, not.
So after a tempting rest stop at the pub/indian restaurant on the towpath I
progress, cursing the gates that are there to make convenient transport less
so and prevent kids in trailers/wheelchairs and so on from using the
towpath.
It was about mile 80 that the nausea became apparent. I felt wrecked. My
legs were fine but my head was pounding. I knew I should eat and drink but
the very thought of putting anything in my mouth seemed abhorrent and I was
beginning to fear a sudden collapse off the bike, leaving my lunch in the
bushes. It didn't come to that. I pressed on as the only thing between me
and arrival was turning my legs and keeping going. My mind had this mental
image my body looking and feeling like a concentration camp inmate.
As I came past Kirkintilloch Ii was chatting to a chap on his mates MTB who
was able to point me in the right direction for Glasgow city centre.
Strangely the body began to improve, the head hurt a bit less. Earlier I had
been considering adding an extra loop on to do the full 100 miles if
necessary. Now I knew that that Was Not Going To Happen, under any
circumstances. If a bed had appeared then and there I'd have been in it.
Strange to be riding on the road now as I roll down Maryhill. A bit of Zen
navigation and I recognise the footbridge to Sauchiehall street and know
where I am. A few miles later and I arrive at my destination, Ticking over
to exactly 90 miles and the longest I have ever ridden in one day.
Time pedalling: 6hr 43 mins for 144 km, an average of 21.3. Total time
taken, 9 hours almost exactly.
So, a few days after the event, what was good and what was bad:
Good:
1. the legs. The joints ached a bit about 50 miles but were really just fine
all the way through. Spinning is a really good idea but didn't really click
in till 60-70 km. No muscle aches to speak of (minor twinges walking up
stairs and I have to keep them moving but really just fine). I reckon the
legs would happily have done at least another 20-30 km without a problem.
2. The bum. The saddle was fine. In fact it seemed to just be better and
better as time went on. It was a bit of a plunge taking a new saddle on a
ride like this but it went fine.
3. The route (mostly). The day was generally good for route finding with the
exception of Kncardine-> Falkirk wheel.
4. The bike. Behaved perfectly.
5. Spinning. fantastic idea. Must work on it more. After 70km I just
couldn't not spin at 90+ rpm.
Bad:
1. Nutrition. Though mostly good I probably need more variety than Geobars
and Isotonic fluid. Probably didn't drink enough (3l plus cups of tea for
the whole ride).
2. Clothing. I should have taken the jacket off a lot earlier.
3. Falkirk. It's a dump.
4. Gears. I really only used the easiest four on the bike, and most of the
time that was 39x17. I must sort these out.
5. My mate who was supposed to bring my bag turned up an hour and a half
after I did.
I don't feel tired now though i suppose such an extended ride (for me) would
have a knock on effect. Could I have done an extra ten miles? Legs
absolutely. Head and body with the overheating, not a chance. Am I
disappointed that I didn't do the century? I have just done the longest ride
I have ever done. I'm really quite chuffed. I know that with a bit of care I
should be able to do a century and am looking forward to the next chance.
Possibly the next big ride will be the Forfar 100k audax, but I have one
more TT to try next week. Time to really put spinning to the test.
...d