edinburgh rc cycling club

4 days of exhausting and incident filled racing in the English borders

Can you think of anything better to do with your Easter weekend than four days of racing??  Tim Blathwayte, Colin May, Ross Spence, Oli Young, Greig Walker and I (Calum MacLean) obviously couldn't  - and thus fund ourselves departing Edinburgh at 7am this morning  - along with team managers/support crew extraordinaire Gareth George and Neil Muir.

DAY 1 - 62 MILES

Depsite the forecast, the weather stayed fine for the duration of our race - though there were black clouds of another variety in the offing.

The commisionnaire made it very clear that due to recent police concerns with races, that the rule of no crosssing of the whte line would be strictly enforced.  In the neutralised zone this was made clear when he drove through in his car, forcibly directing errant riders onto the LHS, just as we approached a narrow bridge.  The consenquence was that one rider ricochetted off the road up the opposite bank while another rider ran into the back of Tim's bicycle -  breaking his rear hanger, back wheel and cracking the drive side chain stay.  So Tim was out of the race before it even started.  I can only imagine what he was feeling like.

The race continued equally dangerously for the first 25 miles until it strung out a little - the pace yoyo'd constantly, and there were a lot of near misses, what with 80 riders squashed onto one narrow carriageway.

The 7 mile circuit was repeated 8 times - and each time involved 2 long drags and one tough short climb, followed by a headwind.  By the fifth lap I at least was beginning to feel the pace.  On the whole we rode within the bunch - but Colin and I both found ourselves on a (somewhat foolish?) brief stint in a break away which was trying to bridge the gap with the leading riders.

After the last lap, we had a 4 mile stretch culminating in the final climb to the finish.  While I stayed in the front few notwithstanding a few attempts to break the bunch apart in the last few miles, I knew that I didn't have the legs for a sprint finish.  Colin cam in well towards the front of the main bunch, with Ross and myself (in that order) following shortly behind.  Oli and Greig came in a few minutes later.

First place was taken by Colin Humphries of Sport-cover.

Meanwhile Tim has fresh legs for tomorrow's stage - the question being:  Will his bike be fit to ride??

DAY 2 - 57 miles

A mere 57 miles.... Anyone could do that...??  Today confirmed that mere distance can be a deceptive guage of race difficulty.

Tim DID start today's stage - despite discovering more cracks in the chain stay - but elected to sit at the back well out of trouble, to prevent causing danger to others in the event that his frame did suddenly fail. Unfortunately this consideration did not hold much sway with the commissaire, who on hearing of the frame problems, pulled Tim out of the race half way through.

We started - in cold sunshine, on the same neutralised stretch as yesterday - no incidents this time - though the bunch was still a bit jittery at times, and stayed compact for a good distance - including down the first STEEP multiple descent complete with a good number of hairpins, though at that point the bunch did start to fragment.

A brief, fairly flat loop followed, before we started the multiple ascents back along the road on which we had come.  This is where it became seriously tough.  There had been a series of small lumpy ascents, but nothing major, and riders were starting to jostle for a position near the front of the peleton.  Difficult to do when you can't cross the white line!

Anyway - the big hill arrived - and I was feeling quite pleased with myself as I slotted in just behind Colin for the first part (about 3/4 mile)- right in the front bunch.  Then came the second kick and I just lost Colin's wheel by a few yards.  By the third kick up - there was a distinct gap, but a couple of other riders had come up to try to get onto the bunch.  We fought and fought, but as the hill continued to kick up at regular intervals - over a distance of about 3 or 4 miles, it was just too much, and I was left in a group of three doing a 3-up time trial when we eventually reached the summit.  Needless to say, that effort was futile, and I just succeeded in exhausting myself!  Just before we reached yesterday's circuit - which we had to go round twice before finishing on the same hill as yesterday, Ross came across to my group.  Greig had nobly sacrificed himself to help Ross bridge the gap, so with Colin a god 2 minutes ahead of us, Ross and I were left in a small group of about 8 to chase round the final 2 circuits.  Both of us were fairly spaced out by this stage, and the second time round, remembering the pain of the hills to come, we sat back in an attempt to recoup some energy and stay in the bunch to the finish.  It worked, ad we both rolled in in our group.

We met Tim on our way back - he had completed the route anyway - even though he was officially out of the race - and impressively only was a few minutes behind us (quite frustrating to see how unflustered he seemed by the circuit!!)  Oli and Greig followed on shortly behind.

Colin had a tremendous race-  and was in the bunch sprint at the end - we think in the top 20 or so.  He certainly has paid for his efforts - he looked if nything, a bit more shattered than Ross and myself!

Thanks again to Gareth and Neil, who were on hand to cheer us on, supply sustenance at the race and, and are now cooking us our dinner.

A truly exhausting day - and the thought of another two days is sheer torture!

First place today was B[- - -] Johnstone - Team Planet X.  (Prizes for suggesting the best name as he seems to be lacking one! )

DAY 3 - 68 miles

Some of us foolishly went to look at the today's circuit last night - I say 'foolishly' simply because everyone was very depressed with what we saw.  Not only was today to be the longest stage, but it involved three ascents of a long ascent with a  significant stretch at 1 in 6!

Colin May started today 2.42 seconds down on the leaders overall - along with the majority of the bunch that completed yesterday's stage.  Ross and I were quite a few minutes further down the rankings having both just lost the peleton on the hill.  We set out on today's stage vowing to be further towards the front of the bunch, as that was a major factor in losing the bunch or keeping with them.

The race was fast and furious today - I averaged 24.2mph, with a max a little above 50.  Despite out terror of the night before, and the sore legs as we started off today, the whole ERC team (minus Tim - who has been promised a prize for the 'most unfortunate rider' (I'm assured that this is not a statement as to his character, but simply reflects his frame difficulties etc!) started off well towards the front of the bunch-  keeping there was tricky though!  

To my surprise the 16 miles in each lap before we reached the hill were not docile.  In fact, I think there was definitely an aggressive attacking off the front at regular intervals.  We all managed to keep the pace at this stage though.  I was determined to keep with the bunch on the hill, and followed every lunge forward by the front riders.  Colin overtook me mid way up the hill lap one, but thanks to good positioning, I was well up in the bunch on the second lap - and was shocked to see Greig cheering us on (I think team ERC dererves an 'unlucky team' prize - as Greigs rear mech was destroyed in today's stage, so another rider bites the dust due to mechanical failure :-(

The last ascent of the hill was definitely a test of will power - and I just manged to sum up the energy and motivation to keep with the bunch, though a fair bit further back than last time.  Colin was racing ahead.  We both clung on for the final 10 miles in - it was a fierce and terrifying 10 miles at that - with some VERY near misses as the peleton started to swarm acrss the whole carrageway.  This caused half of us to brake urgently just before the final 500 yards sprint to the end, but both Colin and I managed to get back on and finished well up the bunch.  Ross followed just a few moments later with the next surge across the line.  Oli, not really a hill climber build, powered up the hills regardless, and apparently massacred some of those in his group!

For those of us that were able to finish today's stage it was the best by far - and speaking for myself, was the stage that I completed with a real sense of satisfaction.

The weather was absolutely stunning - why did none of us bring suncream??  It was so lovely that I couldn't resist a brief visit to the local English Heritage country pile - welcome respite from the cycling onslaught.

DAY 4 - 67 miles

The last day started cold and misty -so the race start was delayed by half an hour.  This would mean half an hour more eating time for Tim (I have been chastised for leaving out some of the 'colour' of the trip - a major feature of which appeared to be an eating competition which Tim easily won, even when he was no longer racing.  Personally, hard racing has the opposite effect on me, and my appetite was stunted for most of the weekend.  Last night's evening out at a local hostelry - selected not for its fine wines or Michelin stars, but for its 'eat s much as you like' carvery - which turned out to be an 'eat as much veg as you like carvery!!  Served us right!  Tim's still managed to pile his plate like some circus balancing act - food piled upon food)

Back to tales of the race - The circuit had been amended due to road works - so we had 8 laps of an 8+ mile circuit of fairly unremitting potholes, and one climb of two halves.  The remains of our squad (those not felled by mechanical problems) set off with tired legs, and a couple of suspected colds.  We all managed to survive the awful potholes - and managed largely to hold a decent position in the fast and furious bunch.  The art seemed to be to be near the front for the sprinted climb each time, to ensure a decent position thereafter.

The final sprint was on a fairly flat part of the circuit - and was largely determined by bike handling and the ability to get through the bunch to the front.  I beleive there may have been a few riders off the front, but in the bunch, first rider to cross the line was the wyly sprinter from Dooleys, Graham McGarrity. 

At the end of the event Colin was by far the highest placed rider - finishing well up in the bunch again today, with Ross, Oli and myself following in fairly close proximity behind.  What's more we were not badly placed in the team rankings against some tough competition.   Definitely the hardest succession of days I have ever spent on a bicycle!

Photos from the event can be found on http://web.mac.com/fursdonphotography