SUNDAY 2 AUGUST
105 miles; approx 10 (or maybe even 11!) thousand feet ascent
The weather for my 2nd time in Hawick couldn’t have been more different than last year, but my time was almost exactly the same! Figure that one out? I had gorgeous sunny weather all the way round for my 7 hrs 6 mins of hilly Borders cycling, compared to last year’s drenching, which made the whole thing far more pleasant.
A field of over 200 runners rolled out of Hawick Rugby Club, concentration being at a premium to avoid clashing with the masses of lycra clad cyclists for the first mile or so as the closely packed peloton rolled out of town on to the quiet country roads. After a few miles the pace quickened and after the first couple of gradual, testing climbs, groups formed to press on down to Newcastleton. Cycling in a bunch certainly eased the effort as we had a fair headwind to contend with, and the odd short spell at the front soon made me realise the effort required to take one’s turn.
After two hours I had a short break at the first stop at Newcastleton for some cake and a roll. The next section over to Lanhgolm was on an exposed hilly moor road, and was a bit of a drag, though the expansive views were great. The various groups had split up here, but on the long cycle up to Eskdalemuir, a few small groups formed and this helped me maintain concentration and effort. I started to flag a bit a few miles from the next stop at Ettrick Village Hall, though fortunately the last 3 or 4 miles to this 66 mile check were downhill through the many forests in this area, and the Buddhist Monastery.
After a decent 10 mins stop here, I reluctantly dragged my weary limbs back on my bike and headed off, though a long snooze in the warm sun would have been far more preferable at that point. After the first long drag of a hill up and over Berrybush to the Gordon Arms pub, hopped on the tail of a small peloton and it dragged me on nicely to an earlier group who had left me. One wee hill though and I had to ease off, before the next proper hill, The Swire, forced the granny to be engaged again for a slow grind, the last of the jelly babies being gulped down here.
A fast but windy descent followed down to Kirkhope and Ettrickbridge, lovely little villages outside Hawick. Yet another hill followed up Woll Rig and down to Ashkirk, where 4 cyclists caught me up en route to the last climb of Leap Linns, another long moorland drag. I stuck with them and even managed to pull away from them on the climb. A Falkirk cyclist stuck with me and passed me just after the top, giving me a target to chase for the last 7 miles, which were all downhill.
Fortunately, we both seemed evenly matched and together we took turns at finding some energy to push the pace, which was great fun as we sped along the quiet B711 feeling for all the world like Contador and Schleck battling it out on the Tour de France, well sort of. It sure felt exhilarating and fun though as we pressed on the finish in just over 7 hours, almost exactly the same time for both of us as last year as it turned out! A great tour of lovely Borders scenery, fab weather, lots of pretend cycle-racing and a decent end-result all left me with a big smile on my face, and a bottle of Bitter & Twisted in the sunshine after was the icing on the cake.
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