A big week with the Etape Caledonia on Sunday, the first proper test of the year. And right on cue I picked up a virus that left me feeling decisively under the weather and knocked my pre event plans.
Ride one – Riding round the storm
Bank holiday Monday evening with a sky that looks glorious and threatening in equal measure. I set off, the only aims in mind to do at least an hour and avoid getting wet. I headed north, with the aim of cutting across in front of the squall that was coming down the dale, but it was moving fast and I cut northwest to see if I could out smart it, if not out run it. I found myself on glorious cycling roads I’d never encountered before and suddenly at the foot of Billy Row bank, which I had. Is it best to know what’s coming, or remain blissfully ignorant?  The climb through Billy Row goes in three sections of ever-increasing steepness and knowing what my opponent had to throw at me made the ride easier.
The squall passed behind catching me with only a few spots of rain and from the glorious descent toward Willington, I could see its damp grumpiness tracking down the other side of the valley. I chased it to Hunwick and chickened out when I crested the hill above Toronto to see the village being given a good soaking just a mile away. I headed back over the tops agreeing that a few hundred feet more climbing was a price worth paying to stay dry and into the village the back way.
Ride stats 18.2 miles 1206 ft 01h 15m 11s
Ride two – Etape Caledonia
The cold virus had left me with a very mucky chest, a hacking cough and very low energy. I slept loads on saturday when we arrived in Perthshire and felt surprisingly good eating my porridge on the hotel balcony at 04.30am. We arrived in pitlochry and were ushered straight up to the start line. We were away.
I was riding with my sister, who took up cycling last year. The caledonia was taking place on her birthday and back in the autumn buying her entry seemed a good present. What a way to celebrate!
The Caledonia is an 81-mile route through highland Perthshire, starting and finishing in Pitlochry. The air was gorgeously cool and heavy with moisture, which helped my breathing as we tracked westward along the northern bank of Loch Tummel and Loch Rannoch. There was a great camaraderie on the roads, chatting with other riders and getting cheered on by residents and supporters helped at every turn. After the second feed station everyone’s thoughts turned to Schiehallion, the biggest climb on the route. A few minutes into the climb, we stopped to help a rider who lost her balance and took a tumble. Sorted her bike and chain, and got her going again. The main climb was a slog, but not exceptional – it looked far worse on the elevation profile.
We were piped into feed station 3 and set off knowing we’d topped out for the day.
The weather in Glen Tay was warmer and brighter, the air drier and my chest began to suffer. It had been six hours and 70 miles since my Lemsip. We took a decent break at feed station four, but shortly after I was struggling and had to stop. I told my sister to go on and she told me not to be stupid – we were doing this together.
Five miles on, the final climb was a short, sharp kicker and we knew it was coming, so we stopped again to let my chest relax again. The final run in was a glorious ride in the sunshine. The 80 miles sign told us we had just one mile to go and we raced up into town to the finish line.
A brilliant experience. Residents, volunteers, organisers and fellow riders all made us feel very welcome. I hope we’ll be back.
Ride stats 80.9miles ; 4,016ft; 05h 22m 59s
Week’s total: 99.1 miles; 5,222 ft; 06h 38m 10s