90 miles 9600 feet
6 hrs 12 mins
Another wet Scottish cycle! – bring on Nepal. After just missing out last year on the 6 hour target, I thought that I may be able to crack it this year. However, the “light rain” forecast didn’t bode well, though at the start it wasn’t looking too bad actually and my pal Andy commented that “I think this is about as bad as it will get” – how wrong could he have been!! I started off by attaching myself to a decent looking pack of Lomond Roads cyclists, hoping to get some benefit of their peloton. This worked well till Achnasheen, all sharing the effort at the front and enduring the spray at the rear/middle from the now lashing rain and wind. I was getting pretty cold and wet here, so I stopped for a minute to out on my waterproof and that was enough for my wee bunch to hare off downhill towards Lochcarron away from me.
I headed off in pursuit of them, conscious that it was always easier and quicker in a pack than on my lonesome. It took a good few miles before I caught a few groups, and a few also caught me, and together we got a good speed going. The weather was still foul and as we approached the feed stop at Lochcarron I was feeling a bit wet and weary. A flapjack and banana revived me a bit as I headed off in pursuit of some fast looking riders up the first real climb. I plodded my way up this as my pal Andy whizzed past me on his way to a super time of 5h 15m. There were some amazing waterfalls en route to the foot of the infamous Bealach Na Ba climb.
At the timing point for the climb the weather actually had calmed down a bit, so the 2000 feet climb didn’t hold too many fears at that point. The first few miles are long switchbacks to ease you into the brutal slog of the 2nd half, and soon the weather turned really foul – gusting gale-force winds and driving Scotch mist. It was really miserable and actually a bit worrying as we were heading up to the top of a 2000 feet mountain basically. Thoughts of turning back down the climb were quickly dashed when I looked round and saw the dozens of other cyclists behind all crawling up and spread across the narrow road.
I had to get off the bike twice and walk as the wind was threatening to blow me off, despite my best efforts to grind away in the granny ring for all I was worth. I did manage to get back on and cycle virtually all of it, but lost a good 15 mins walking, which were to prove unfortunate later on. Dead chuffed to make the top in one piece and non-hypothermic, I dibbed at the top for a total climb time of 61 mins, compared to about 45 mins last year in good conditions. Downhill was pretty dangerous too, with severe cross winds forcing the brakes on almost all the way down to Applecross. Down at sea level things were a whole lot better, merely reduced to averagely miserable. The riders were a lot more spread out now for the undulating coastal ride round the top of the Applecross peninsula, but I was passed by a few early on and spurred into bursts of chasing them. As we headed back down from the top of the peninsula I perked up a bit as the rollercoaster hills proved testing on the way to Shieldaig, passing quite a few cyclists who had passed me earlier.
More refuelling here, and only 17 miles to go, but 1 hour to do it in if I were to break the 6 hour mark. I knew this was unlikely but was determined to give it a go. This year I enjoyed a tailwind back to Kinlochewe which helped a bit, but without a friendly peloton to assist I finished in 6hrs 12mins. I was a tad disappointed as I knew that had I not had to endure the awful conditions and enforced walking twice I would have beaten last year’s time. However, in the epic conditions overall I was really pleased simply to have got round in one piece and more so in a time that I felt couldn’t really have been improved upon by me, all things considered.
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