CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
@cyclingmollie
The group I was with to start with didn't seem very sociable, the headwind wasn't bad with all the hedges and I had an Easter roast to get back to. However normally I'd much prefer company. I don't think I could manage 600km solo so many kudos to DaveC and DrAfternoon (today?) on their solo efforts. I do hope that I can find a group on the Nat 400.
@panyagua
Good luck with the sportive - not only no receipts to collect from the Coop (that has to be wrong) but on the west coast!
Cycling alone is ok, once you get used to it. You have no one to keep up with, and no one to wait for. Stops can be had where ever you like, and I regularly take my iPod plugged into my dynamo to charge, and listen to music the whole way. I also chat to any and all cyclists along the route even if it means slowing for a coulpe of miles.
The cycling with others becomes a bonus.
I'm just about recovered from my weekend ride, which (for reasons that will become clear) doesn't deserve to be a 'lovely ride today thank you', and feels that it does probably qualify for the audax/sportive thread.
Some months ago, before the date for PoP was announced, I'd obtained all the permissions and bought all the tickets to do a ride home from Inverness. It seemed a logical extension of the ride of a couple of months ago from here to Kingussie. The bit that wasn't logical was deciding to start at 11.30 at night, and do the whole thing overnight and through the following morning.
The train to Inverness was quiet, and we were met off it by two of Inverness's finest: I don't know what trouble they were expecting, but there wasn't much evidence of anything happening at 11.30 on a Friday night. After the usual issues trying to navigate by Garmin in a strange town, I headed east on NCN 7 towards Culloden. This 20 mile detour avoids a bit of the A9, and I must confess that as I passed over the deserted A9 I did briefly consider going on that rather than the country lanes.
Out in the countryside it was dark, although there were disappointingly few stars. The B&M dynamo light was great: it threw light a long way in front and well to the sides (although it may have been angled a bit high to be totally courteous, but there were very few other road users about). Wildlife was abundant: mainly rabbits, but at one point there was a slinking black shape that may have been a big cat or a Big Cat. The prospect of Slochd summit was intimidating, but in the event it passed unremarked.
Aviemore was lively (relatively speaking). There were half a dozen people on the streets (all the worse for wear) and more police. The NCN route ejected me onto the A9 at one point. It seemed deserted, and I rode along it for about 5 minutes until the first big truck swooshed by. He passed with lots of space, but it did seem unwise to risk being flattened by a truck, so I returned to the NCN path.
By Dalwhinnie it was clear that the intermittent 'rain' was blowing across the road when it landed, and the Garmin said the temperature had dropped to zero.
The sky began to lighten at Drumochter, and, rather like the ascent of Slochd, achieving the summit was much easier than expected. The path beside the A9 was a rubbish as I remember it, and the gravel that I reported to FixMyStreet is all still there.
The next 40 miles were all downhill, but by this time my digestive system was beginning to object to being fed when it wanted to be asleep and I was finding it increasingly hard to eat anything, and the pace was beginning to fall.
A short sit down in a park in Perth watching the end of a ParkRun got some more food on board, but by now it was clear an arrival on the Meadows in time for PoP was unlikely. I walked up the two long hills south of Perth (including the one that @HankChief likes to break the 50mph barrier on).
A pause on the outskirts of Kelty to apply some more chamois cream was well-timed to be complete just before two female roadies came past. The roadworks at the new Forth Crossing were 'interesting', and crossing the bridge seemed steeper it has before.
In Crammond a chap in Lycra asked 'Come far?' as he passed, and it was very pleasing to be able to say 'Inverness'. He did the right thing at that point, and sounded impressed.
The ascent of Craighouse Hill was done on the bike, not on foot. That was a point of principle.
Home in 13 1/2 hours for the 165 miles, missing PoP by about an hour.
What did I learn on this adventure? Starting a ride overnight and then expecting to continue it into the next day for a substantial time is unwise: my digestion just wouldn't put up with it. Despite this, it was possible to keep slowly grinding out the miles, but it wasn't a great deal of fun when in a sleep-deprived and vaguely nauseous state.
Would I do it again? Yes, but I'd start from Inverness early in the morning rather than overnight, and would make sure that the council had got the gravel off NCN7.
The next trip on the agenda is back from Oxenholme via the Kirkstone Pass, Carlisle, Devil's Beef Tub and the Lang Wang. I'll make sure I eat enough for that one, and will do it during daylight.
Epic
See also daveC cycling to Nottingham for a laugh
That's a feeble excuse for not being at PoP ;-)
Epic.
Well done.
Well Done Greenroofer! I've fancied that ride myself before. You should have got in touch, I'd have ridden with you to keep you company.
13.5 hours for 165 miles is impressive! Thats ~265km. When you consider Audax riders get 20 hours to ride 300km and most complete it between 15 - 18 hours, you did really well!
Riding alone, at night is a bit different isn't it! It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it becomes quite relaxing - the lack of other vehicles, and can even be fun (type 2 fun).
Good luck on your ride up from Oxenhope, give us a heads up, I may be able to join you on the ride given sufficient notice.
Dave C
This weekend I'm heading south to Northallerton to ride
'Beyond the Dales We Know', 300km Audax which circles the Yorkshire Dales. I'm looking forward to it as I'll be riding with a couple of mates from Newcastle again, and we are camping before and afterwards.
Fantastic Greenroofer! That's interesting about your experiences of starting in the evening. I've cycled through the night a few times but after starting in the morning. There is a 400 in a month or so that starts in the evening though - it does sound like purgatory but I may try it out as it means less of the weekend is disturbed.
Do you prefer the idea of one-way trips rather than loops?
@daveC have fun down south. It sounds like a good route if a little flat ;)
amir, what 400 are you planning on riding?
Which 600 are you planing on? Lucy's?
davec, I'm signed up to the National 400 - so plenty of new ground there (Shropshire, Herefordshire and Mid-Wales). I am half thinking to do the auld alliance to keep the legs going. I've no plans to do a 600 at this stage (Lucy doesn't appear to be running one).
Chapeau @Greenroofer.
You should be a case study for the slippery slope that regular cycle commuter can take when the they start going for longer rides and get hooked ;-)
BTW - have you seen this...
"Join Sustrans volunteer rangers and Pitlochry High School Junior Rangers for a task day to keep the National Cycle Network in top condition.
We'll be clearing litter along National Route 7 at the Drumochter Pass, ensuring the path stays clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy"
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/events/looking-after-network-litter-picking-drumochter-pass
One for the 'sportives' bit:
I'm a bit baffled by his geographic descriptions (up? east?) but otherwise positive spin for scotland and cycling.
Anyone else doing Kinross Sportive on Saturday?
I am half thinking to do the auld alliance to keep the legs going.
I showed that one to my wife the other day. Reaction: you're not doing that.
@Cyclingmollie you could just do the night section (runs and hides)
@DaveC - following your comments, I've rechecked my timing and the ride was actually 14 hours, not 13.5. I do like riding late at night: the complete absence of other vehicles, and the peace and quiet are very pleasant. I'm actually quite happy riding all night, but I learned at the weekend that it's then good to stop rather than carry on.
@amir - yes, your 400 that starts in the evening sounds like purgatory. Enjoy :-) I like one-way trips because it means you get to see lots more new stuff. With a loop from home, even if it goes somewhere new, there's the familiar ground to cover at the start and finish. In general, I reckon I prefer a train out and ride back, rather than vice versa, because it removes the time pressure of knowing that you have a train to catch.
@Hankchief. I do feel like a bit of a case study. I hold you significantly responsible. On the subject of litter clearance on the A9, there's a bit of litter up there, but the real problem is the gravel on the path. I don't think the school kids will collect that. I will FixMyStreet it again.
I liked this tale from road.cc
http://road.cc/content/blog/222231-go-west-and-then-come-back
It's a nice write up of a ride that was challenging but didn't turn into an epic. I like rides like that.
Trying to keep up with @Greenroofer's exploits is become harder and harder...
Yesterday was the 3 Pistes Sportive, which I think is the best & toughest event on the calendar.
The only downside is a faffy bus transfer back from Cairngorm to Pitlochry.
So this year I retraced the route back over the Lecht & Glenshee!
The weather was cracking, cool and dry with a tailwind for coming home.
Setting out I was trying to judge which trains it was worth hanging onto and which were too fast for me. There are some seriously quick riders...
I decided to take the hills very steady and stick to a sensible heart rate - as long as I was still moving forward I was happy.
The Lecht was tough into a stiff wind and the clouds at the summit, but the organisers had laid on speakers blasting out cheesy music up the toughest bits to spur us on.
Having only ever done it Northbound before I was paying extra attention for the inclines I would be suffering later on... there were quite a few...
On the last 15miles from Nethy Bridge to Cairngorm, I attracted a wheel sucker who refused to work, claiming he had done a marathon last weekend... He stayed behind me until the steep bit past Loch Morlich, and then went off ahead :-(
Keeping to my sensible pace though, I caught him with 200m to go and sailed passed :-)
A quick bowl of pasta at Cairngorm and a top up of my Garmin's battery and I was on my way again, making it to the Nethy Bridge feedstop, just after it had packed up but the guy kindly let me raid his van for more supplies.
Riding into the evening was lovely and peaceful and still very light. The climbs were quite different coming back with Bridge of Brown probably the worst.
Some very quick decents with the wind behind us were great but I found that when I started pedalling again my knees had started to seize up.
I had planned to stop for food in Braemar but with daylight running out I decided to push on. I never appreciated how tough to the southern decent of Glenshee was - lots of little climbs when I had hoped to be freewheeling
By the end of it most things were hurting but it was quite a delight to see the twinkling lights of Pitlochry just as darkness was properly falling.
14.5 hours 205miles & 16,000ft of climbing.
Amazing effort @HankChief! Did you have any company on the return leg?
Stangely enough no. I was trying to convince our mutual acquaintance, but alas he declined.
I did mention it to quite a few other riders (once they asked why I had a frame bag) but I'm not sure they believed me.
It's quite relaxing going your own pace through glorious scenery.
Sounds awesome, well done!
@hankchief, chapeau, that is. Large amount of climbing. Any tips for keeping at the 14.5 miles per hour? We have a big trip planned which will be 150 miles starting in dunkeld but when I have cycled with the Balerno dads before they go too quickly and I end up burned.
@Gembo- I use a Heart Rate monitor.
Over the years have worked out what are sustainable numbers to keep to and what will see me burn out and should just be kept for special occasions.
I started out of Pitlochry trying to hold onto the Pentland Velo group - did okay on the uphill but lost them on the flat after deciding it wasn't best use of my energy so soon into the ride. Never saw them again...
Chapeau @Hankchief! You've never had any trouble keeping up with my exploits, as this wee spin in the Highlands proves. You'll be ready for another ride like that in, I dunno, just under three weeks (just picking a figure out of the air, like...).
Anyone in for Katrine Kapers on 17th June...?
Splendid madness @HankChief. Great riding.
Cyclingmollie and I redid a diy 200 from two years ago called Mersing About. It goes down to Denholm over to the Chain Bridge Honey Farm and over the Lammermuirs to East Linton. We had fantastic weather (despite the forecast) getting sunburnt and enjoying a favourable wind mist of the way round. Lots of wildlife including innumerable hares and a handy woodpecker that gave us an excuse to stop on Lindean Hill. We found a new cafe in Denholm (the other one was closed on Sunday) and lots of interesting history stuff.
@darkerside I would have liked to have done Jardine Karen's. It looks fun but I'm away. I've got the National 400 (Shrewsbury, Herefordshire, Aberystwyth) and the lovely Moffat Toffee lined up. Plus East Lothian Roughstuff, which should be fun
Chapeau @ HankChief.
BOFFOF and his mate were on the 3 Pistes as part of the Tour of the Highlands, so they did 3 100 milers in 3 days. I told them about your exploits: "Oh you mean he went back down the A9" they said. "No, I've seen the Strava, he went back the way he'd come."
(I got to go out and play too, but my fun didn't involve bicycles.)
Humf autocorrect. "Jardine Karen's" should be "Katrine Kapers". "mist" should be "must"
@amir
Do you know a Karen Jardine? And does she know that Kaper Katrine is her alter ego?
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