An interesting day to say the least after yesterday’s 126 mile slog. An awesome breakfast in Ballachulish, to fuel some very tired legs, was unfortunately not enough to lift the spirits against the harsh Highland weather – lots of rain and a head wind to boot. The dish of the day was 102 miles down to Faslane, not quite as juicy as the previous day’s ‘Chef’s Special’ but certainly had a few lumps to get over along the way.
The first leg was 28 miles of coastal road to the first stop at Connell. Cue some very cold and very wet riders – Kev, Scotty R and Jay made a break for the first feed stn whilst Super Domestique, true to form towed along Colin and Bianca who were only good for a disappointing but insurmountable 11mph – Steve P came along for the ride as well, trying to improve on his record 65 mile drafting epic yesterday. Scotty M was shelled out of the back early doors, having stopped to put on more layers (poor admin drills!) and was eagerly awaited at Connell to see what had taken him so long – to everyone’s surprise and disappointment he arrived having spent the last 10 miles in the wagon. He has a knee injury which may respond to a little rest and he sadly sat out the remainder of the day, keeping the Support Team on their toes. We’ll see how he is in the morning. Connell could not have come quickly enough for most and all the riders enjoyed a brief respite in warm wagons and more meat pies – particular for serial eater Bianca.
One major theme of the day, other than tired and grumpy riders, was the quality, or lack thereof of the Scottish road surfaces. With more signs saying ‘Uneven Road Surfaces Ahead’ than you can throw your bike at and a quote from Super Domestique “I’ve been on better roads in Sangin” the next leg saw 32 miles of crevice punishment and loosened fillings hile the riders enjoyed the Scottish version of the Paris-Roubaix
The next delectable morsel on the menu (with the big side garnish of Scottish weather) was the 8 mile slog up to Tydrum, complete with a cheeky Cat 4 climb about half way up. At least the road surface on the climb was pretty smooth, although the gradient was punishing for a few of the more fatigued riders. Seeing that Colin was struggling, Stevie P and Tats cut him loose and smashed the climb at max chat, before hitting the last few miles hard to bring down the gap to the leading group – good drills Stevie P, but he still didn’t manage to get on front. Super-climber Bianca was left to bring the ‘Old Man of Tydrum’ up the hill, by getting him to ‘chase the monkey’. Again.
Pizza and brews on top of the climb at the 2nd feeding stn before the decent down to the shores of Loch Lomond. The ‘Old Man of Tydrum’ needed a bit of time in the wagon warming his bones before he took on the next leg, which after a smooth decent served up even worse roads than the previous leg. Argyll & Bute certainly win the prize for the ‘worst roads in Scotland’ – a lot of bike admin will be needed in the morning to tighten up various loose odds and ends, although replacing riders’ fillings may be more difficult. On the turn to handrail around Loch Lomond, the weather then served up a strong headwind just to sap the legs a little more. Some manning up was required in order to make decent progress and the team sped on towards the 3rd feeding stn at Tarbet with 3 riders in invidual breakaways off the front and the usual tag-team looking after the ‘Old Man of Tydrum’. Some nice views of Loch Lomond to be had. Apparently. Some riders got closer views of passing traffic thanks to some rubbish driving with Tats even trying to chase down one particular white van man miscreant after a particularly close call. The trailing group left Tarbet some miles behind, but knowing that the last big climb of the day was only 11 miles and that some of the time could be easily grabbed back on the ascent. The turn onto the final 8 miles delivered an excellent set of thigh burning pitches, some short, but all very steep, with most of the riders deploying the granny gear to full effect. Some massive efforts required to get over the last hill and then the fast roll down to HMNB Clyde. Cue monumental admin faff and much grumpiness on the part of the riders, however, we eventually got sorted and got onto the important business of food. Bianca caused much amusement with the Wardroom staff after putting in her order and then being handed 3 sets of cutlery. No, she pointed out, it’s all for me!!!! Feed the monkey, feed the monkey.
No Labradors thankyou!
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