GrahamF

Would be interested in the train and island version. Carol & Dave

I'm planning ahead a bit, but am keen to go and enjoy the delights of Arran before the end of the season.
 
It will be a full day out, getting the 09:45 ferry out and the 16:40 back.  Both these link to trains for anyone who doesn't want to cycle both ways and it gives us 6 hrs on the island which should be enough to do the 55 miles and have a lunch stop.  If we were to miss the 16:40 return ferry there is a contingency 19:40 ferry which is also met by a train so there's not much chance of being stranded!
 
Miller Street to the ferry is 26 miles, so that makes 107 miles in total for anyone choosing to do the whole route.
 
Meeting at Miller St. at 07:30 should give us time to get the ferry, with an expected return time about 19:30 if cycling back.
 
The ferry train leaves Johnstone at 08:54, returning at 18:28, so a bit more time in bed for anyone looking to save their energy for the island.
 
Anyone like to join in, either for the full version or just the island?
 
Note:- This trip should not be confused with any DA trips, it will not be a Team Time Trial, but there will be time to enjoy the views and the hospitality on offer on the island, as well as stopping for a few minor mechanicals should they occur!

In for the full version....

I have been encouraged to put this up by Chung and am not sure what's etiquette- so here goes.
 
GHK playing fields at Anniesland Cross to just before the pier in Dunoon. Starting at 2145 and finishing hopefully before 0700 (there's a reason for this which I will come onto later). Now I know you top guys are doing 100 for fun at the weekends, but maybe crank that up to 200 to make a more equal comparison and for the audax guys- maybe 350!!!
 
So my good friend Gordon from the Glasgow Nightingale (a very good junior cyclist in his day, which is code for.. this could be boring for him but he's coming along as my super domestique) chose the 109, why? we're members of a cycling club and wouldn't dream of doing less!!!!
 
So we set off at 2200 in the third group of 20ish riders by mistake as all the 109s were in the first group- but we didn't know. A total of 68 starting. Anniesland cross to Helensburgh with a stop in Helensburgh for those that wanted- we didn't stop.
 
Then we were joined by 4 guys who wanted to "take spells" which lasted 20 mins before I said to Gordon "let them go as 20mph at this stage going up the road by Faslane will only end in disaster for me", and so we did. Then we hit the loch long road in complete darkness, pedalling past a lone chap and onto Arrochar. A quick stop at Arrochar to allow the midges their supper and fill the bottles. (At this stage I started feeling sorry for the lone chap we passed on the loch side- so when he arrived at Arrochar we asked him to join us- I mean - come on- it's not a race!!)
 
So Bob sat in for the next haul, up the 'rest and be thankful' and despite dropping the speed to 5 mph before we got to the climb, he asked us to go on and thanked us for the company.  Now it was very, very dark. No noise and two cars passing us all the way from Arrochar to the top of the RABT. But wait,  what yonder be that commotion at the top of the Rest- A bloody disco no less- that's right, a disco- or a night club as you young people call it nowadays! So we pulled over to see what was 'gong down with the young crew'. Crispy cakes, coffee, tea and 'Insomnia' by Faithless being played at full pelt (now for you Neil Diamond lovers, Faithless are a hip and happening pop group). How cruel those organisers can be playing Insomnia at 0100 at night!!,  In saying that I did feel very sorry for the couple who had parked their campervan just up from the discos and until then were probably having a peaceful and relaxing evening.
 
So on we pushed to Strachur, all the way with not a sight of a car or another cyclist, although we did see some flashing lights over the other side of loch Fyne heading towards Inveraray!
 
Through Strachur and onto Kilfinnan,  narrowly missing the drunk walking in the middle of the road on his way home who wished us all the best, well,  we think that's what he said! 
 
The sportive splits at Strachur- those doing the 77 are held here until 0300 so that they are not in Dunoon until the coffee shop is open- they go straight up the Glen Branter/ Loch Eck road to Dunoon. The 89ers go along the Colintriave road - as I call it-  to then climb up and over to Loch Striven and we headed along the Otter Ferry road to meet up with the 89ers on the Colintriave road after going through Tighnabruiach.
 
I have done the Tighnabruiach to Starchur road before, but not the other way and I have to say that with no visual references, just smells (wild garlic, cows and lavender) and the little light you have from the front of your bike, this bit wears you down.
Met a few guys along this bit, some on their last legs or as we renamed them-'got excited and stared too quick', two that thought they were lost, but didn't want to join us - or as we called them- we started too quickly but are just kidding  that we are lost so that we can get a break and two from the earlier group of four we met who just so happened to be looking at a mechanical at the top of the wee climb out of Otter Ferry and breathing heavily or as well called them- 'should have done the 77'!
 
By the time we had a bottle fill up and yet another crispy cake at Kilfinnan the dawn chorus had just started.
 
On a serious note, this was a beautiful moment, peace, the low light on the hills, the gentle lapping of the loch wate,  the birds singing and...... BLOODY HELL WHERE THE **** DID THAT ROE DEER COME FROM AND WHY DOES IT WANT TO PUT IT'S HEAD INTO MY FRONT WHEEL!!!-  locked up, skidded to the side and managed to miss it on a fairly fast decent. A close one and a the lesson learnt?.- Roe deer are just as mad as Italian cycling fans on a stage of the Giro!!
 
 
So on to Tighnabruiach the site of many a classic shinty match and up the hill out of this lovely village- by now this hill is tough.
 
Onto the hill up to the descent down into Loch Striven and now feeling tired, not n the legs, but just sleep tired.
Dawn has fully broken and the front lights are off, no cars and just some nice pedalling until we get onto the last undulating climb up to Loch Tarsan. This was tough, but we knew that after this it is just rolly road all the way to Dunoon.
And so with a tail wind just after hunters quay helping us to the finish we roll along easily at 19 mph, tired, weary and covered in midges onto the salubrious electrical tape on the road which signified the finish line.
 
Post ride-  we enjoyed the free roll and sausage and then prepped for the next stage of this sportive- Oh yes and you thought it was finished?
 
At 0645 one of the boats that they normally use for booze cruises, came to pick up those that had paid for the return trip back up the Clyde to the Science Centre. Now,  I would have to say that I was very sceptical about this, but it was well worth it. Even if you wanted to just sleep, dance at the dance thingy on top deck with free cans of alcoholic beverages, sit down stairs chat and drink coffee or as I did stay up deck to see parts of the Clyde I had never seen before. We past the very large cruise ship at Greenock, all the stands for the speed boat racing,  the Waverley past us just at Renfrew on its way 'doon the water'- all lovely
 
We arrived at the Science Centre at 1000 just as the Glasgow mens 10k was starting which provoked all those warming up to come and see what the hell was going on. As we clambered off with our bikes, making throw away comments of, (needs to be done in a slightly RAF posh voice )"yes-just rode through the night to a disco thingy at the top of the Rest and decided to carry to for a bit. Venison at Kilfinnan, before scaling the hills of Cowal- just the 109 today, but back for more next week- enjoy your plod!"
 
And so the Dunoon Chase the Moon sportive was over- in summary- well worth it and well worth doing next year, a great experience shared with a great friend, well organised and plenty of provision at each stop. So whether your a 'pushing it to do 77' or a 'bring on the 109' it isn't a race, but good fun.
 
And finally- the flashing lights on the other side of the loch?? the two boys who we met earlier at Faslane, who didn't turn off at the big signs for Dunoon- needless to say.... they missed the Boat!
Alan
 

Lovely run to Troon. Long route via Galston and Tarbolton (see Strava).
Disappointed that the Blueberry Cafe wouldn't serve me a hot filled roll cos it was after 11:30.
Went next door (The Coffee House) and had the biggest scrambled egg roll I've ever seen!
 
As I came off the track at Howwood Emma was passing by so we shared the route for a few miles until I turned off for Lugton.

Well done to all, especially Gerard on a great time ...
 
Douglas (jets) - 20.10
Alan Mcmillan - 18.53
Gerard - 16.59 PB
Alan T - 17.09 PB
Billy - 17.02
 
All adults paid, £12 for the club coffers

A big woo-hoo for smashing my previous PB by 44 seconds!  After a long break away from the TTs I was cycling down in the blustery wind thinking that anything under 18min tonight would be an achievement.  Well done to all of the other riders and to Richard and Ian for officiating, especially good to see Ian on the mend after him punching a moving car.

I am glad you posted this one Graham. I will be there on the strict condition that there are two cake stops (minimum!).

Planning on a day out over the river on Friday.  Out via Dumbarton and Drymen to Aberfoyle, return via Lake of Mentieth, Killearn, Strathblane, Milngavie.  Coffee stop at Aberfoyle with a possible second one in Killearn.
 
A 70 mile loop from Erskine, suggest meeting at the bridge at 08:30, but could change that if another time suits others better.

Six riders on a cool, dry night with lots of grey cloud.
 
Wind speed recorded as 7mph NNE at Bishopton weather station. Temperature: 14.7 degrees. Air pressure a stonkingly low 996 hPa!
 
Times in the order the riders set off:
 
Graham  19:44 (pd)
Douglas  19:45 (Johnstone Jet) PB
Alan M    18:40 (pd) PB
Alan T     17:21 (pd) PB
Ian A       15:57 (pd)
Andy        22:44 PB
 
Thanks to Iain Couttie for holding up (and keeping me company.) A big well done to Andy on his Georgetown debut, and to the three other riders who PB'd. Good effort, folks.
 
£12 to be transferred into the club's account presently.

I'll see you there

We are meeting behind Amaretto at 0945 heading to Lochwinnoch and then Haylie Brae for a stop at the Bagel Basket, before returning through Brisbane Glen. Graham needs to be home before 1400 or his bike turns into a pumpkin! Post up if joining in and we will wait on you.

After a brisk renfrew bunch yesterday I rode back from West End to Kilmacolm today in scorchio conditions. Dreamy ride along Kelvin Walkway, picked up canal at Maryhill all the way to bridge then Bishopton, west glen, home.
 
Canal boats, swans, fisherman, tailwind, even Clydebank Shopping Centre looked exotic in shimmering heat. Nice surface, signposts, loads of walkers and cyclists so slow but I was not in a rush. Off road from great western road to Erskine.
 
I see temp is forecast to drop about 10deg by weekend, really going to miss this.

Graham, can't make Friday. I'll go tomorrow afternoon. Need to change BB cos it was making horrible noise yesterday.

What a great trip, lots of laughs! I can only apologies to Billy and Iain as I did get the timings wrong, They were going strong and would have smashed the last bit I am sure. To be honest I had stopped after told we couldn't continue and was eyeing the bar and picking my spot in the sun when Charlie powered of out of El Gastor for the final leg, I only chased him down to tell him the lads had gone to the bar and we should head back as there was a good chance the signs, feed stations and support would not be open and it was pointless continuing as we could get lost, run out of food or just melt. He quickly reminded me that that I was a wuss and should go back as there was no chance in hell he wasnt finishing, I sheeplessly sat on his wheel for a few minutes and then decided to continue rather feel Charlies wraith again hahaha, Chapeau to Charlie he is one determined and stubborn chap. I was glad I stuck with him to the end even though I bonked so bad I started to speak Spanish to riders going by me, luckily an Italian rider gave me a sticky strawberry power bar which was by far the tastiest thing I have ever consumed, later I thank him, but I was so great-full I think he thought I was proposing to him... lesson learnt  
 
James, Alex, Paul, Mark, Alan and Paul(LA) looked so strong it was impressive. Iain Coutie again so strong but I think he just likes my company! But a big Thanks to Charlie and Billy who paced me up the first two climbs and without their help I probably be still out there.
 
Top trip, hopefully next one Ian McGinty and Darryl are fully recovered

Yet another excellent Jwcc adventure. on the Thursday myself Billy Iain Couttie Paul Leavy Paul McMillan & Mark oneil had a smashing ride through the Sierra Nieves national park. We ended up in the village of El Burro & had a smashing lunch. 61 km and 1181 m of climbing so a good test for Saturday.
On Friday Billy Paul & I decided that on basis we were going to find the race tough any way we should suffer together and a pact was set. Great decision as one of the hardest things about these events is the long time you are actually out there & in our case a bit longer than others. Billy & Paul are devoted to power meter and we cruised up the first climb to the dulcet tones of 220 watts Billy 240 Billy 280 Billy ease back. Down a tad. I joined in with 150 bmp 160 ease back. This tactic was employed all the way to the 133 km station. During this spell Couttie toyed with us. He started at rear joined us for a while got fed up with our metronome chat tootled ahead and then waited for us at top of climbs just to see our grimacing faces. We also had the pleasure of the company of Mark & Paul McMillan for a while but both these mountain goats soon left us to our own pain. However one of the biggest pleasures of this race for me was that after the first the longest and the hardest climb I was able a few kilometres later to join Paul McD Alex James and big Al at the front. This only came about as lead car restricted to a speed of 25 Kms so we were able to catch up on one of the very fast down sections. Their look of incredulity was a picture.Once we hit the next hill they were off and not to be seen till end.
Couttie got fed up with his own company and having waited for us at top of Montecurto joined us in to El Gastro. Now entering El Gastro is were it got a bit tough. I blame Paul Leavy cos he was our time man. Well to be more accurate was the only person to bother himself with the rules.We had slipped off the back of the protected peloton but Paul assured us that the sweeper van was hours behind us and all was well. However the marshals at El Gastro had other ideas and told us we could not continue. Paul was demanding to see Oscar the organiser Couttie turned off his garmin and Billy had the look of what the "f" is going on. Unfortunately and to our shame there was a language barrier and we wasted a lot of energy and time trying to explain that we were continuing. At that point a group of Spanish riders came through and said they were continuing so Paul & I carried on with them and then we both pushed on together. We were a bit low at this point as we had all being going well. We were not caught by other riders but did catch up with groups ahead and stayed ahead of the dreaded sweeper car. Like Couttie it was toying with us but we triumphed for as when we entered a military barracks about 20 km from end(which was part of the route for some reason I still do not understand )we were not court marshalled but met Oscar who told us he would wait for us at end and that we had completed the full race. With that good news Paul proceeded to bonk on the next hill but was saved by a kind Italian rider who gave him a gel( defo contained epo as within 5 mins he was flying)
With 1 km to go the dreaded sweeper car came up behind us. I would not let it pass and blocked the road. Paul was shouting that I would be disqualified but I didn't care as I was finishing before that car & we did. Paul & I got our finishing rock which fittingly was local granite used for headstones
Chapeau to all jwcc riders. Great job. Special thanks to Paul & Billy
For the record Strava says:-
203.3 km 09:38:07
A very friendly event with some magnificent vistas and hot.

A gorgeous evening for the gorgeous people to go as quickly as possible down the Georgetown Road TT Course.
 
Drum roll please...
 
Carol C paid 20m 23s
David C paid 20m 07s
Lusia S jet 18m 54s pb
Alan M paid 18m 51s pb
Emma M paid 18m 32s pb
Alan T paid 17m 34s
Richard paid 15m 33s
 
Congratulations to all of our riders for turning out and to those who got a pb.

I'll let you know about Friday.

Gorgeous night for TT-ing, warm, dry and a tailwind on the out leg.
Chris - DNS
Emma - 26.19, paid
Richard - 21.34, PB, paid (this week, last time out and next time out)
 
£12 transferred to club funds. Thanks to Billy for pushing riders off.
 
Well done to Richard on the PB, in a shockingly large fixed gear.

I'll timekeep.

I can sadly confirm I will not be able to make this one due to a school meeting. I will be reminding everyone there that the meeting is serious enough to supercede cycling.

Hi Paul
 
Thanks! Being philosophical in situations like this often boils down to trying to see things in a broader or different perspective. As in 'it could have been worse', or ' actually a broken leg allows you to catch up on your reading". So, am I being philosophical? Am I f**k
 
Actually I'm happy to report I am at home now and looking forward to watching the rest of the Giro.

Hired a bike and covered 190 miles in 3 days. Not too hot (25 C).
Not a big island so have just about been on every road there is!!

A few photos taken on our way back from Largs...excellent cycling weather

Great wee run today under what turned out to be very good weather indeed!
 
8 met at the club room - Boyd, Chris, Carol & Dave, DavidC, Graham, Paul (LA_Guns) & myself setting off down the track to pick up Len at Lochwinnoch.
 
A wee mechanical disaster just before Lochwinnoch, in the form of Dave's puncture, while trying to get the back wheel off, he some how managed to snapped off the skewer handle even before the wheel came off, must have been Carol's secret EPO breakfast he had earlier with that strong fingers.
Luckily between us we managed to figure a way to sort the problem out & got going again. Be it minus some skewer handles to save a bit of weight for the rest of the days climbing
 
We made good time despite the puncture hiccup & got to Largs just before 11am where we past Iain Couttie going up the Haylie as we just came off it, apparently Charlie was heading to do the Fairlie which we just missed him, hope you guys had a good one too today!
Anyway, Paul was time constraint which meant he just carried on without the café stop at the BB, we of course didn't and enjoyed a lovely cuppa outside the sun .........ah bliss!
 
The second part of the route is a bit more challenging what with the Brisbane Glen & Whinhill to come. Chris went up the Haylie & back to Beith while the remaining lot made our up hill & down hill way back to Kilmarcolm then on the track again & home for everyone.
 
120km for me by the time I got home & a decent sun tan as a result of todays better than forecast weather, brilliant!
 
Thanks for the company today guys & gal, the wheels for most appreciated.
 
P.S Some lovely view down across the Clyde up the Whinhill ....... cannae beat it!
 
Cheers
 
Chung