GrahamF

Thanks Chung, that looks like a plan - but I'll watch out for a post nearer the time.
I didn't read your post carefully enough and was thinking the race was on tomorrow!

I'm interested in this Chung, what timings, etc. are involved?

David B, David C and myself returned to Galashiels for another Audax, this one was the last one we needed to qualify for PBP. David B had decided not to go to Paris and was just doing this for the craic.  Davie Borland was planning on riding straigh through the night so he could meet his wife for stake and chips about 1pm the next day, the pace he set of at it seemed he would! he was flying and lead the field throughout the day, as this was 3 out and back legs we got to wave a couple of times. He sensible decided to stop after the second leg rest up and meet the wife. David C and my self had a more relaxed plan and after the first leg 230km we were feeling good, We then headed of into the night for the second leg towards Gretna and rode with a Friend of Campbells called Neil. He was stopping at lockerbie at the first passing, but we decided to continue on hoping to complete the 2nd leg without stopping, but our pace had dropped in the darkness and as we hit Gretna it was fairly cold. When we got back to lockerbie about 380km in we were very tired and the usual pains we each had were back. We decided to stop at lockerbie truck stop(from and Irvine Welsh novel) and sleep for 3 hours and head back over the climbs in daylight. 
When we woke we both agreed to head back to Galahsiels and call it, it was a tough call but by this stage we had difficult sitting down and our pace was abysmal. I suppose training for these events are a good thing! and the qualifiers did there job, and weeded out the chancers trying to do the bare minimum to get to Paris! any way we got back to Galashiels after 460Km and plenty of time to do the 140km left, but of to McDonalds and home we went! Thanks to David C and Davie B for the company on this adventure! one my buttocks will never forget!
Salut! 

7 riders in total tonight, 5 of them Jets, and no guests.
Jamie Thomson (jet) 18.38
James Ross (jet) 19.42
Sam Edgar (jet) 18.26
Keir Gaffney (jet) 18.21
Joseph McIntosh (jet) 18.45
Scott McIntosh 17.45
Gerard Deeley (pd) 17.00
Well done to all the riders on a cool evening.
I will transfer £3 to the club account.

Thanks for posting this ride Elaine, it turned out to be a good day out, with teaming with the fast bunch nine of us went over the crow and enjoyed a cafe stop afterwards.  Only one shower in a mainly dry day.
I'm looking forward to more Intermediate rides over the season.

Thanks for posting this ride Elaine, it turned out to be a good day out, with teaming with the fast bunch nine of us went over the crow and enjoyed a cafe stop afterwards.  Only one shower in a mainly dry day.
I'm looking forward to more Intermediate rides over the season.

Thanks for posting this ride Elaine, it turned out to be a good day out, with teaming with the fast bunch nine of us went over the crow and enjoyed a cafe stop afterwards.  Only one shower in a mainly dry day.
I'm looking forward to more Intermediate rides over the season.

Hi all ....my expectation was to go round Arran in balmy high teens and stay dry...looking at forecast this is not going to happen....so I will be staying on the mainland this weekend. I should really do some audax prep anyhows...
If you do go over ...have a great ride...
Cheers,
Davie
 
 

I will try and get along for this one, it has been a while since my last Arran trip.  I am sure with careful planning the ferry can be ‘just’ missed to maximise pub time.

You were not the only ones who went into the wrong service station, me and Duncan wet into one after which he confidently declared we only had 80kms to go and 20k to Moffat after riding hard for 40 odd minutes we still had no sight of signs for Moffat and see just about to turn back when John arrived with old skool technology (a map) and told us we had not even made it to Johnstone bridge yet.
Last 65kms I hated, don't know if this is a function of not having distance or time on my computer as it seemed that no matter how hard I pushed Selkirk would never appear. Physically ok for me but don't know if I want to do it enough to actually get enjoyment out of the challenge. Weather was actually ok and rode in shorts throughout.
You pair deserve a lot of credit for finishing I could not have spent that much time suffering on the bike, I would have chucked I.  and your right if you just look at maintaining  a low average speed it might look physically achievable with little prep neede but there is more to it than that. 

In our goal to qualify for Paris Brest Paris Myself, Davie B and David C headed down to Galashiels for the 400(420)km out and back to Barnards Castle. We stuck together until the Barnard Castle the half way mark and then Davie B continued at a faster pace with a couple of guys we had met and  David C and I started the dusk Wet Climb over some Moss hill.
Through the damp night we rode but! it was a balmy 12 degrees so it was not too bad. We did encounter few kms of road with 100s of frogs on it which passed the time trying not to squash any, which we managed! Until I heard David shout! -1 frog bless his soul, a few minutes later a Huge Rat ran into David's wheel but he managed to stay upright, I used to have a Rat her name was "Otago" David loves my patter. It was about then 3am? that Davids Knee started to hurt and our energy levels were very low, luckly we passed through lockerbie and had only 20km to a 24 hour with a service stop, I'm not a big fan of McDonalds but I was tonight. After about 5mins cycling David convinced me that the service station was here?? "Look" he said and pointed towards a BP sign behind some trees, But we stil had had 20km to go? I wasnt going to argue with him or his shiney new Wahoo gps, a few minutes later we got to a Service stop only to find it was the wrong one and nothing was open(Hammock Award Contender), a few swears were jokingly exchange and we rode on to McDonalds. Once we got there David went for a Sleep and I changed out of my wet clothes. I tried to sleep but people were intent on talking to me even though my eyes were closed, but best McDonalds I ever had, I even ate David's leftovers once he fell asleep. 
Back on the bike and back into the rain, With Davids Knee and my development of what I can only describe as "the worse butt pain in the world ever®" we took a nice steady pace back the last 100km.. the sun came out near the end and we were greeted by fried egg and bacon sandwiches by the organisers. A quick shower and off back up the road, I told David I would stay awake on the journey home as he was driving, I think I lasted abut 5mins.
Started at 9:00am finished next day at 10:17am 
Distance : 419.91km    Time pedaling 18:48:33     Elevation 3,922m
Avg Speed    22.3km/h    Elapsed Time    25:17:05
Anyhow only a 600km to do to qualify, To be honest i thought these would be easier than they are... yes they are physically draining but it really is all in the mind. Thanks for the company Lads

Seeing if there is anyone else interested in doing a bit of touring with wild camping flung in.
Next summer hoping to do 5 nights or so with approx. 50/80 miles a day, possibly heading over to Orkney / Shetland Isles.
This year thought I might do a taster with 2/3 nights a bit more local, probably a long weekend in July.
Anyone else have a similiar interest?

Well done folks. Sounds like you did the Wheelers proud on a tough course 

Thanks everyone for making Glynn and myself welcome. And Darryl, you were right about needing low gearing for the event.. on the last climb (think it was Fleet Moss) I needed to get off the bike for a breather.. unable to keep a 34x27 turning, even standing on the pedals!
There was a man and a woman sitting on top of the grassy embankment overlooking the road on the climb, encouraging me to keep going as I passed. I called out to them, "I imagine you've seen the full range of human suffering today". Their eyes twinkled briefly, before smiling politely in response.

I agree with the guys, this was a very well organised event, in a stunning part of the country on great roads... we stayed in a quaint wee village called Kettlewell in 4 different lodging all within about 100 yrds of each other and had a meal in the local hotel, food was great and for once we went easy on the pints, only 3 or 4 max .. as for the ride itself, no-one has exaggerated how tough this was, easily as tough as anything I've done before including the Fred and the Marmotte Pyrenees, it seemed that every single climb had sections in the high teens or low 20's plus a couple of 25 percents that seemed to go on for ages... as usual the company was great, so despite the pain it was a really enjoyable day in a masochistic kind of way.. Slept like a baby when I got home..
mcginty
 

First of all, Thank you Darryl for suggesting/organising this Sportive & all the Wheelers & friends for another very memorable day indeed on the bike!
I wouldn't have thought about doing this if it wasn't for Darryl's idea, since all I do these days are flat & cobblily :-) ............. but I'm glad I did this even though as everyone have said - it's brutal  !
It's been a long time since I've done a "local sportive", probably have to go back to 2012 now, so it was a great reminder that there are still some brilliant events to be ridden without crossing the Channel.
It might not have the glitz & glamour of bigger, more internationally recognised foreign events, but what it lacks is made up for by the warm reception (everyone I met, locals/marshalls helpers etc all had a smile on their faces) friendly atmosphere ........ & less riders to elbow out the way at feed stations 
In my opinion, this was an extremely well organised event with some lovely scenery & some of the hardest climbs I've ever done 
I've lost count of the times 20/21% gradient reading shown on my Garmin & these were always at the end of some long constant 10,12, 14, 16% slopes. Every time I ask Darryl, how many more climbs, he just said "........... only 1 more"  ........ I know full well that it was not true ........ but somehow want it to be so!
What also pleasantly surprised me was the conditions of the roads we drove & rode on, it was actually quite good without too much pot holes or broken surfaces, that was very welcome indeed, especially the brilliant & long but fairly technical descents. Which was great because after everyone climbs, the long down hills would munch away the km's, bringing us closer back to the finish!
It goes without saying that I had a great time - thanks also to Gerard for pick-up & drop off & to my travel companions .............
P.S We were lucky with the weather, because I dare to think what it would be like if it was windy & wet 
Cheers

Great stuff from Darryl, an epic Wheelers day out in some stunning scenery.  Very glad of my decision take each hill as steady as possible for such a long route with a couple of steep climbs.  I am a rubbish climber but based on how I fine feel today it has paid off.  Many thanks to everyone there, it was a memorable weekend.  When do start planning the next one...?

Thanks Gerard - that’s the JWCC bunch at the start of the ride - all looking relatively fresh. It was a different story at the end though!
There were 7 JWCC and two friends - Scott (just back from a weeks training in Majorca) and Glynn who was always going to be good on the hills given can’t have weighed more than 55kg - wet through.
The intention was to ride ‘as a group’ at a very conservative pace. This proved to be a very good decision. Group was intact when after 30 miles or so Linda peeled off to follow the 60 mile route - sterling effort Linda!
After that the fun and games began. I’m sure some of the others will want to add their own experience, but suffice to say that this is a very very hard ride indeed. In a word, brutal. It is every bit as hard as the Fred in my opinion.
Anyway, our policy of keeping the group intact and stopping at the feeds served us well. Everyone was in good spirits with no mechanicals or mishaps (we saw a few which served as a salutary reminder that the course can be dangerous, especially the downhills). 
I’d ridden quite a few of these roads before so I had an idea what to expect, but I kept that to myself to preserve morale , as each climb was as hard or harder than the next, with a few 25% sections thrown in for good measure.
We regrouped in Hawes for the last time and had a welcome coffee before tackling the very last climb - Fleet Moss. I hadn’t ridden this before, but Graham had, just the previous day (yes he cycled down!). He told us with a solemn look on his face that it was just as hard as anything we had already done. He wasn't lying.
Overall a great day out, which will no doubt gain epic status in our memories, once we forget about how hard it was.
It was a long day though, with the drive back to Glasgow. With hindsight, staying another night would have been good.
Thanks to all who participated - JWCC and friends. 
Cheers!
 
 
 

Tommy & I had a great wee run round the coast to Largs today.  The Millport ferry just arriving around the same time as us, so we hopped on and took a wee jaunt round the island, refuelling at The Ritz cafe.  We cracked on up the middle of the island then back round from Millport to the ferry.  I couldn't pass the BB without stopping so popped in there for a coffee and a cake, then we hit the Haylie back to base.  Lovely warm day and tan has got even better   
Cheers Tommy!  

Made it to the end of the Georgetown and lost it! Fastest 3 miles I’ve ever done!  Is that a record for the quickest person to be dropped   

Glorious night for the Frank Lauder, 9 riders and check out the brilliant times all round...  all very tight except for the 5 times in a row Champ
1st.  and JWCC 10 Mile TT Champion : Richard Montague - 20.50 (pd)
2nd. Stuart Tennant - 23.05
3rd. Colin McPhee - 23.09 (PB) (pd+1)
4th. Gerrard Deeley - 23.16 (PB)(pd)
5th Scott McIntosh - 23.18 (PB)
6th James Snodgrass - 23.28(pd)
7th Colin Sales - 23.34 (PB)
8th Alan Thomson - 23.37 (PB)(pd)
9th Joseph McIntosh - 26.35 (Jet)
Well done all the riders... a lot of very good testers this year ..
Alan T collected a few quid for the coffers, but I don't know how much..
Cheers
McGinty
 
 

Great, James MacLaren will probably be there too, so that makes 6 of us so far, should be a good ride.

Great, James MacLaren will probably be there too, so that makes 6 of us so far, should be a good ride.

Great, James MacLaren will probably be there too, so that makes 6 of us so far, should be a good ride.

I will book a table at the Kings Head Inn for eight of us at seven.