Author Topic: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018  (Read 50385 times)

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #250 on: 31 May, 2018, 10:25:34 pm »
Probly.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #251 on: 01 June, 2018, 07:38:17 am »
Midges were out last evening.

You weren’t joking.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #252 on: 01 June, 2018, 07:38:30 am »
I assume this is what all the guys with road bikes with (mostly) more luggage than standard were waiting for at Haymarket this evening about 7:30?

Yep.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

whosatthewheel

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #253 on: 01 June, 2018, 08:56:52 am »
Weather warning on the first day... stay safe out there

Maverick

  • One of the rural idle
    • Twoberries
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #254 on: 01 June, 2018, 09:44:59 am »
A speedy first leg to Comrie for all riders last night meant we got the control packed up much earlier than expected so I had more sleep last night than I anticipated.  :thumbsup: Good to see a few familiar faces and a lot of new ones while stamping cards. 63 riders started out and 1 DNS before Comrie, so 62 riders out on the road. Thank you to all the riders for being so excellent last night.

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #255 on: 01 June, 2018, 10:06:57 am »
Who’s winning?

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #256 on: 01 June, 2018, 10:07:28 am »
Midges were out last evening.

You weren’t joking.
Russell Carson has a great photo on Instagram  ;D

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #257 on: 01 June, 2018, 11:24:34 am »
just about to head to Oban.  Will try and get some action shots - any worthy pics I will post on twitter. 

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #258 on: 01 June, 2018, 04:41:46 pm »
First riders through Oban 456km at 1630. 

Ive popped some signs up but the luggage van is in the coach park in lochavulin industrial estate, nr Tesco. 

whosatthewheel

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #259 on: 01 June, 2018, 04:52:31 pm »
First riders through Oban 456km at 1630. 

Ive popped some signs up but the luggage van is in the coach park in lochavulin industrial estate, nr Tesco.

20 hr 30 min to cover 456 km is pretty good going...  :o

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #260 on: 01 June, 2018, 08:42:26 pm »
I’m cycle touring around the West Coast, saw a few riders at Tarbert this afternoon including Audax Club Bristol guys


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Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #261 on: 02 June, 2018, 09:33:04 am »
51 out on the road on leg 2.  Expecting nobody back in Oban til maybe 5pm.

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #262 on: 02 June, 2018, 05:54:26 pm »
First rider back to Oban 1640 thats the 730km mark.  50 on the road now.  Expecting a few quick turnarounds overnight. 

Raining in Oban now after a sunny dry and warm day.  It doesnt look like more than a shower though albeit a heavy one. 

whosatthewheel

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #263 on: 02 June, 2018, 06:00:29 pm »
First rider back to Oban 1640 thats the 730km mark.  50 on the road now.  Expecting a few quick turnarounds overnight. 

Raining in Oban now after a sunny dry and warm day.  It doesnt look like more than a shower though albeit a heavy one.

730 km in less than 45 hours... that is again very good going!!  30 hours to do the remaining 270 km is a pretty healthy margin, I would say... even if he was to sleep 12 hours tonight...  ;D

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #264 on: 03 June, 2018, 05:32:44 am »
Thats everybody now left Oban with around 270km to go.  Most are in surprisingly good spirits.

The showers of last night have long gone and its overcast and mild, 16 degrees at 0530 isnt bad. 

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #265 on: 03 June, 2018, 08:37:26 pm »
Well, I done it. Got back to Edinburgh about an hour ago and currently enjoying the excellent post-ride hospitality at Monty’s. Brilliant ride. Seriously tough but hugely rewarding. Astonished I completed it but somehow I did. Though I don’t think my knees will ever forgive me.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #266 on: 03 June, 2018, 08:40:29 pm »
Well done  :thumbsup:

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #267 on: 03 June, 2018, 08:47:18 pm »
Got back about 2.30, as a group of 5 who had ridden much of it together.
Amazing luck with the weather, less so with the midges.
Off a 1.30 start in Oban today, we were too early through Perth for a beeakfast cafe, but we made up for it with ablow-out in Corrieris a bit further on.
That got our batteries back in the right way round for the final leg back to Embra.

Met a few OTP for the first time, including CET and Phil W.

Thanks the G and M for manning the bag drop van all hours in Oban, and to G for organising ans Sonya for stamping the cards at the end.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1614846092

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #268 on: 03 June, 2018, 11:46:29 pm »
Just wanted to thank M & G as well for running 4 hour shifts at the back drop van in Oban and for organising a ride through endless stunning scenery.

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #269 on: 04 June, 2018, 08:35:09 am »
A big thanks again to Graeme for such a well-organised event and to both him and Martin for dutifully manning the bag drop all hours. You can't put a price on fresh socks on the final day ;-)

I rode the event mostly solo (apart from a part of the night stretch where I met Chris Asher and a few others), starting later on Sat/Sun mornings to maximise sleep/recovery and then keeping a fast tempo, which worked out well for a 5pm arrivee despite leaving Oban at nearly 6am.

Highlights were of course particularly the scenery which photos don't quite do justice to, especially the stretch at Glenuig in the scorching sun. Also a proper Arrivee with food and drink laid on really leant the finish a sense of ceremony and I think added to riders' sense of achievement and was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with those we'd met out on the road and to compare stories.

Thanks again. And see you Saturday Martin ;-)

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #270 on: 04 June, 2018, 09:13:14 am »
I rode the event mostly solo (apart from a part of the night stretch where I met Chris Asher and a few others), starting later on Sat/Sun mornings to maximise sleep/recovery and then keeping a fast tempo, which worked out well for a 5pm arrivee despite leaving Oban at nearly 6am.

You must be the same Oli I rode with (very) briefly on Saturday morning when you caught up with me at the Loch Creran info. Not entirely surprised I didn't see you again!

Agreed about the scenery - I took a few pics along the way but mostly didn't bother because there's no way an iphone camera could do justice to the stunning views.

And yes, to echo everyone else, thanks to Graeme for organising such a fantastic event, and to Martin and Sonya for their support, and anyone else who was involved behind the scenes and at the Comrie control.

I ended up staying at Monty's until gone 11pm last night. I was waiting for the arrival of a few riders I'd spent time with on the ride - a couple of them had been struggling the last time I saw them so I was keen to see them make it to the finish. I needn't have worried, they all turned up with plenty of time to spare and in pretty good spirits. After that, I was just enjoying the good company, and the good beer (and, ahem, the excellent whisky). One of those riders was Ian of Four Corners Audax (don't think he is OTP) who was very good to me on Friday evening. We had both arrived at Campbeltown in a real state after that brutal stretch down the coast road and after struggling to get some food inside ourselves at Café Bluebell, made a pact to stick together for the ride back to Oban. We made good progress as far as Tarbert but then I started to fall apart while Ian seemed to be making a recovery. But he stuck with me all the way, waiting at the top of every climb, and keeping my mind off the suffering with an endless stream of anecdotes.

I believe the last three riders finished less than half an hour to spare, which I'm guessing was a deliberate strategy since from chatting to them briefly I think they must be very experienced riders who've done a lot of this sort of thing before. (I suppose that would also be why Sonya didn't seem at all concerned that they still hadn't arrived at 10.30pm.)

There's a lot more to say about this ride... might write up a full report later if I get round to it...
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #271 on: 04 June, 2018, 09:36:12 am »
Morning. 

Heres how it ended up

Entries : 101
Starters : 63
Finishers : 51

So, lots more DNS than other events I've put on, but fewer DNFs.  I was struck by how unfailingly cheery every participant was, even when clearly very tired.  That made it rewarding for us too. 

It was also great to give folk the opportunity to hang about at the finish and enjoy a drink and some grub, I managed to judge the bar tab just about perfectly so the books still balance this morning (just) largely thanks to a high number of DNS riders.   

Thanks to all the helpers whether at Comrie, Oban or at the finish.  The van turned out to be the wisest investment of all, it even doubled as a studio flat in the early hours of Sunday. 

The idea of using Oban as base at the end of legs 1 and 2 seemed to work reasonably well.  There aren't that many places in Scotland that hit the sweet spot of being big enough but not too big for that sort of thing. 

I'm looking forward to hearing your stories and Im very much looking forward to simply riding an audax event next Saturday.   

Graeme


citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #272 on: 04 June, 2018, 09:37:54 am »
Brilliant ride. Seriously tough but hugely rewarding.

On Sunday morning, I rode for a while with Bob of VC167 (I don't think he is OTP but I'm sure many of you will know who I mean). He was telling me about the Mille Alba, which on reflection sounds like it is far more deserving of being described as 'seriously tough'. This one was certainly challenging but most of the climbing was of the enjoyable kind, except for that road, which I'm just not talking about.

Quote
Astonished I completed it but somehow I did. Though I don’t think my knees will ever forgive me.

To give an idea of how woefully underprepared I was, my Strava log shows that with this ride I have more than doubled my total mileage for the year to date.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1616118769
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Bairn Again

Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #273 on: 04 June, 2018, 10:06:49 am »
For those interested here's a rough breakdown of the events finances

In : Entry fees : £1784

Out (in descending order)

Monty's bar : £825 (a thirsty and hungry lot......:D) though I think I now qualify for platinum membership.   
Oban accommodation : £290 (we booked late and got ripped off, though we did need somewhere central to make the 4 hr shifts bearable)
Van hire and parking : £205
Food : £195
Comrie Hall hire : £68
Validation : £51
Brevet cards : £32
Postage : £25

I think that leaves about £100 that Im sure would have been spent on other stuff eg treating Martin to his lunch on Saturday, buying cable ties etc etc.

G




Re: West Highland 1000km. Thu 31 May 2018
« Reply #274 on: 04 June, 2018, 10:10:49 am »
Many thanks again for an excellent ride, challenging without being too challenging, and thoroughly enjoyable. A chance to visit some new areas and revisit others I haven't been to in a long time. It must be said that we were extremely fortunate with the weather, less so with the midges (though perhaps I have been lucky in the past) who seemed to enjoy their nocturnal meals from me immensely. So much so that the desire to stop and eat something was usually outweighed by the discomfort of stopping and being eaten.

I had planned to do a fairly fast ride, as the logistics of getting a train home on Sunday evening worked out much better than Monday morning (for some reason all the bike spaces were booked then). But I was surprised to be one of the first finishers. My thanks to Colin (I believe OTP) and his Garmin for guiding me through Edinburgh's cycleways, even if we had some problems finding the bar.

The only problem I found during the event was the Corran House hostel in Oban, which is definitely not Audax friendly with (among other issues) a loud bar until 2.30am, when I got fed up and left. This, of course, was completely beyond the control of the organiser, and I had only booked this as I had entered quite late and other more obvious places were full. The riders who went on to Glencoe on the first night probably had the better strategy, certainly pushing on to Crianlarich on the second worked well, even though it hurt a bit at the time.

As someone else has said, there's lot's more could be said about this event, but overall - excellent.