Exactly two years ago today I was having the most epiphanous (is that a word?) day I had ever had in my life. It was Day 9 (Geordie accent) on the Bunny and my Land's End to John O' Groats ride, from Connel (just north of Oban) to Inverness. 106 miles, give or take, in a north-easterly direction up the giant wind tunnel known as the Great Glen. Into a howling wind. All day, after having cycled about 700 miles in 8 consecutive days, hideously under prepared, and injured in knee and neck. The only good thing going for that day was it wasn't raining. It was so bad you had to pedal downhill to get anywhere and I was lucky to break 10 mph on the flat.
At around 5PM, I'd had enough, I pulled into the Fort Augustus Health Centre car park, and figured they must have cortisone in there, I'll persuade them to give a random non-local Englishman an injection to cope with the pain. Umm, quickly realised that wouldn't wash. There was nothing for it, I'll bail, this is horrible. Then I thought, hold on, when will I get the chance to do this again? And anyway it's only 34 miles to Inverness, pasta, a shower and a bed. Then tomorrow is the last day, and I have come too far, in all senses of the word to give up. And in any case, I don't give up. As Bunny says, I am the living embodiment of KBO.
So I ground out the miles, arrived in the gathering gloom, stuffed my face with pasta, and blasted the final 123 miles the next day. And learned a thing or two about myself. Apart from don't ever think of walking into health centres in sweaty lycra and ask for drugs, or that I'm made of sterner stuff than I gave myself credit for. No I learned the visceral meaning of the six Ps. It's a training term.
So today, the White Horse challenge. I had a plan. Pedal like fudge and don't stop. There were a few nuances to it, but that was the basis of it. Eat properly in the days leading up to an event, and rest properly, I have found a good night's sleep really does help, it's not just something your parents say. I also did my best to stay with the fastest group I could for the first 25 miles on the flatter sections (see me lurking at the back in the photo, hanging on for dear life), and was fortunate to buddy up and take my turn with a couple of others on the more draggy uphill bits. Blast down the safe hills, and unlike the chap who decided to face-plant the floor, take it easy on the dangerous descents.
As you know I did the maths (note "s") on Friday, but had another realisation, I just had to be a little bit faster than last year on every section, marginal gains see. And be lucky on the puncture and mechanical front.
I think the scenery was as wonderful this year as it was last year, it was certainly a nicer day, in fact it was hot by the end. I didn't really look too much to be honest, although I saw the White Horses as I cycled up the hills.(If you want a description of the sights and route, see last year on 25 April.) And as I took the briefest of stops at the two feedstops, I was absolutely hanging by the time I got to White Horse Hill, the final big climb. They had a special timing mat for that one hill, for me they really shouldn't have bothered, it must be embarrassing. I relied on gels (I had four of them, and I certainly am paying that price this evening) But on arrival back at the lovely Shrivenham village hall, I had a new experience. The sight of a full car park. One or two had gone, but my time, just under 5-09 including all stops, 5-07-38 without stops, for an average speed of 17.4 mph, means that I got all three objectives for the day, including that gold standard.
It was always on really, I just had to keep up the pace and not worry about fading. Adrenaline tends to take over for me in the last five miles, so once I'd done the last hill I knew it was in the bag. My heart did skip a beat when I rounded a corner 15 miles from home and the bike stopped moving. It was only the chain falling off but if I'd had any mechanical fault, that would have been it, little margin for error. So to beat the time of last year by 33 minutes shows how far I have come, last year I was pleased as punch to get silver, today it would have been a disappointment.
Not sure if I'll do it again, everything went right today, and I could enter on a day of appalling weather and have no chance. It's still the best ride you can do I think, the best scenery, lovely people, no idiotic cycling at all, I think it attracts an older clientele, or maybe one that just knows not to go into health centres and make stupid requests.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/219891
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