Day 4 SITREP

An epic day in the hills today with some equally epic performances from all of the team.  The day started well with a send off from the Stn Cdr, clearly none the worse from his efforts

yesterday, in fact, he looked like he could take on another 100 mile stage.  Not only was he there to get us underway, but to bestow a CinC’s Commendation and an AOC 1Gp’s Commendation – well done Colin and Al, top job.  Both are stalwarts of the unit and Colin’s Commendation for his work for RAFA was entirely fitting given his current endeavours.  Richly and rightly deserved the both of you.  The Stn Cdr had also ordered some perfect weather and bright sunshine and blue skies saw us out of the gate at RAF Leuchars.  The perfect also brought out the lesser spotted Bianca in a set of shorts for the first time on the ride after we promised her that she wouldn’t get any embarrassing tan lines.  First hospital pass of the day delivered.  Happy days.

A short blast to the Tay Bridge during which we managed to generate the biggest tailback of traffic ever seen in Guardbridge.  Some very angry people on the roads in cars today!  We made the crossing of the Tay to some brilliant views of the Firth and then a short stop to get some pics at the Discovery.  Out of Dundee and we hit the coast road before turning north to get onto the A92 and then press northeast.  A few lumps to get over before the dual

carriageway, but once on the A92, the pace increased as the riders smashed along more or less as a team.  The first testing hills of the day turned up as we turned off the A92 and hit the back roads enroute to the 1^st feeding stn.  The bunch got spilt, but was eventually brought bac

k together by a newly mettled road, which was the eye of Al’s rage today!  The first taste of the hills had a few of the riders working hard in the morning sunshine, but Bianca was clearly on fire today on the hills, or maybe that was something to do with the large portion of fish and chips last night and a huge amount of caffeine based energy drinks.  After a fair amount of effort, the 1^st feeding stn arrived at 33 miles and in pretty good time.  Spirits were still high and after a short stop the riders were on the road again, minus myself.  Schoolboy error from me who was too busy gassing with the Support Team to notice all the riders were already up the road.  Cue some unplanned time-trialling in order to catch up – I won’t make that mistake again, or so I thought!

A few more hills to get over before Brechin and the tedious climb out of town and onto the A90.    The team was split by this point, but some hard graft from the trailing group swept up most of the groups on the road.  Colin was sold the usual dummy by the 2 Scotty’s who used him up then cut him loose a few miles down the road.  Guess where the ‘Order of the Jack’ will be going tonight.  A long old drag up the A90 finally ended at Fordun, where the Support Team

had set up the 2^nd feeding stn.  Big thanks to the staff at the Castleton Farm shop for looking after us and providing the strawberries.  Excellent scoff for lunch courtesy of Mrs Miggin’s Pie shop in Laurancekirk otherwise known as Bakery Bliss Limited.  Well done Lossie for providing the timely ‘flypast’ and a spot of noise to drown out Bianca’s caffeine overload laughing.  A big feed up was required before the next leg which contained the majority of the big hills on today’s menu.  A swift team smash along the A90 before a left turn and straight into the hills, which pretty much destroyed any team formation we had and it was everyman (and Bianca) for themselves for a few miles over the Fetteresso Forest with some very steep climbs followed by some much appreciated decents.  Time to get a sweat on in the (rare) hot Scottish sunshine and press on over Mongour and Cairn-mon-earn.  Some serious manning-up was required over Cairn-mon-earn for a lot of the riders, with the miles already taking the toll on the legs.  Over the top not before time and a long and fast descent towards Banchory.  Scotty R again gets the prize for the best opportunistic breakaway of the day letting me do all the work up the hills, then catching me napping (again) at the bottom of the hill and clearing off.  A hard chase over the next 5 miles failed to reel him in and he made it to the last feeding stn giggling like a schoolboy.  An excellent stop in Banchory, with some good fundraising and much morale, mainly due to the epic hills being behind instead of infront for once.  A lot of very tired legs at this stage and a spot of ad-hoc crevice management was required by several callsigns.  Good drills by the Support Team who enlisted Wee Jock Poo-Plong McPlop to boost their fundraising activities and get us free entry to the Bachory Public Toilets – what can I say?!!

A final push over the last 25 miles into Ballater was hard work, with some more hard graft required and understandably not many riders willing or able to smash it out on the front.  Cue the Super Domestique to hit the front and dish out the pace over the rolling run into Ballater.  101 miles in the bag and Victoria Barracks is a welcome sight.  Have to give 2 Sig Regt and their RQMS in particular for squaring us away with catering – sweet drills fellas. Certa Sito.

A hard day day to be sure, but for most of the riders, one of the best days in the saddle.  Fantastic scenery, a lot of banter and some epic work on the hills by the whole team has left morale on a high.  That said, there is a lot of sore legs in the camp tonight, but all worth it as it was all left out on the road today – well done.

Another big day tomorrow as we push onto RAF Lossiemouth, 97 miles and a few hills to get over, so a big breakfast will be required tomorrow!

The team appreciate the support we’ve had from RAF Leeming and from the public along the route, it’s been fantastic.  Keep following us on this blog and on Twitter as we are fast approaching the £8000 mark.