Scotland : Edinburgh & Lothians CC Ecosse ride and/or RV ride - 9 November

[Telemark]

Is anybody missing a thin black rubber o-ring (about 2 cm diameter)? We found it in the hall outside the 'bike room' this morning ...

T

 

[Harry_Palmer79]

Just spent last 2 hours cleaning the bike - nice and shines again

Me too... I need to get proper mudguards for the T5, so I can spend more time riding it than cleaning it after wet rides!

I have a nice bruise developing on my wrist after yesterday's tumble but it's not particularly sore, so no major damage done thankfully! Back on the bike tomorrow...

 

[mr messy]

Hi all..........it's ffffffreeeeeezing out there!!!!!!!! Even the main roads are icy!
Today was a joy compared to yesterdays war of attrition.....
Saturday early o'clock and it's already drizzling, waterproof and lights are on. Couple minutes later and the drizzle has turned to major torrential downpour, but that's okay as probably only last 5-10 minutes and will surely pass......30 minutes later and the race is definitely on! I've gone head to head with this massive raincloud, it's throwing everything at me as we race along the edge of the Campsies.
There are no roads, just rivers, and cross and headwinds have come out to play....was too wet for tucked up in bed tailwind. Kilsyth arrives and so does a stupid cow in a Corsa who insists on racing down to the roundabout then hitting the brakes as she's just passed! One was not amused and intimated said dissatisfaction with quality of her driving and general well being.
Now i'm slightly irked and thoughts of diverting up to Croy, for the train, have been well and truly extinguished...a little bit of moisture will not win, THIS IS WAR!
Pushing on through Banknock and onto Bonnybridge no quarter is asked nor given. An artic with a digger has now been on my wheel for 5 minutes but doesn't have the grunt to overtake. In a moment of weakness i stop pedalling and wave him through. Couple of cars also pass and it's head down again, all the time raincloud hasn't given an inch, only gallons and gallons of water.
Soaked through, Bonnybridge passes and we enter Camelon, raincloud still showing no sign of weakness. At the traffic lights the water is running off me, i have a little chuckle..."ha! is that the best you got mr cloud?"
Soon we're heading out of Falkirk and on into Polmont. "What's this? Is the rain getting lighter?" Linlithgow's next up and we're down to a drizzle...."Ha! whose your daddy now mr cloud!"
The 30 mile battle had been won but had taken a toll.....was running very late and i had to admit defeat too and head for train station.
Then i missed train, got cold, caught train, got lost in Embra, got found, rode around surrounding area for a bit, filled up at chez T, train home, shower, bed

 

[mr messy]

A big thank you to @Telemark and @HJ for their hospitality. It was much needed and going by the contented atmosphere the best cakestop cc ecosse has visited!

 

[Col5632]

Me too... I need to get proper mudguards for the T5, so I can spend more time riding it than cleaning it after wet rides!

I have a nice bruise developing on my wrist after yesterday's tumble but it's not particularly sore, so no major damage done thankfully! Back on the bike tomorrow...

I'm thinking about getting a set too, not to keep others happy but to keep myself dry, I like the ones @Rasmus has but not sure if I have the clearance for them

 

[Telemark]

Hi all..........it's ffffffreeeeeezing out there!!!!!!!! Even the main roads are icy!
Today was a joy compared to yesterdays war of attrition.....
Saturday early o'clock and it's already drizzling, waterproof and lights are on. Couple minutes later and the drizzle has turned to major torrential downpour, but that's okay as probably only last 5-10 minutes and will surely pass......30 minutes later and the race is definitely on! I've gone head to head with this massive raincloud, it's throwing everything at me as we race along the edge of the Campsies.
There are no roads, just rivers, and cross and headwinds have come out to play....was too wet for tucked up in bed tailwind. Kilsyth arrives and so does a stupid cow in a Corsa who insists on racing down to the roundabout then hitting the brakes as she's just passed! One was not amused and intimated said dissatisfaction with quality of her driving and general well being.
Now i'm slightly irked and thoughts of diverting up to Croy, for the train, have been well and truly extinguished...a little bit of moisture will not win, THIS IS WAR!
Pushing on through Banknock and onto Bonnybridge no quarter is asked or given. An artic with a digger has now been on my wheel for 5 minutes but doesn't have the grunt to overtake. In a moment of weakness i stop pedalling and wave him through. Couple of cars also pass and it's head down again, all the time raincloud hasn't given an inch, only gallons and gallons of water.
Soaked through, Bonnybridge passes and we enter Camelon, raincloud still showing no sign of weakness. At the traffic lights the water is running off me, i have a little chuckle..."ha! is that the best you got mr cloud?"
Soon we're heading out of Falkirk and on into Polmont. "What's this? Is the rain getting lighter?" Linlithgow's next up and we're down to a drizzle...."Ha! whose your daddy now mr cloud!"
The 30 mile battle had been won but had taken a toll.....was running very late and i had to admit defeat too and head for train station.
Then i missed train, got cold, caught train, got lost in Embra, got found, rode around surrounding area for a bit, filled up at chez T, train home, shower, bed

@Pat "5mph" has some competition for edge-of-the-seat writing!Thankfully you didn't do yours in installments

T

 

[Telemark]

A big thank you to @Telemark and @HJ for their hospitality. It was much needed and going by the contented atmosphere the best cakestop cc eccose has visited!

apart from the super-strength coffee
T

 

[mr messy]

apart from the super-strength coffee
T

@tug benson had a mugful and was fully caffeine loaded for ride home!
There was only a splash left in pot...that's my excuse and sticking to it!

 

[Scoosh]

That was one of the hardest rides I have ever done, which is curious because, being a CC Ecosse Forum Ride it was, by definition

mostly flat, some lumps, no real hills;

My pleas in mitigation are

• not having ridden more than 15km in a day since the Edinburgh SKY Ride (was that really as long ago as 7 Sept ? )
• having had a nasty chesty cough thing for 4-5 weeks
• having lost my mojo
• Mrs Scoosh telling me "it's only 55km - you've done that plenty of times before"
• me believing her

The net result was that I was off the back as soon as an upward incline appeared - and further back when we reached it* .
The good news is that this was a CC Ecosse Forum Ride , so I didn't get left behind** , @tug benson (the 'Steps up to the Temple' ) and @Fubar and @Telemark (much of the rest ) were kind enough to stay with me when I was even more obviously struggling .

With very grateful thanks to @DougieAB 's local knowledge, there was no need to call Mrs Scoosh for a pick-up (the shame of it ), all pain comes to an end, so eventually we carried our bikes up the 3 floors to the RV part of the ride, where it took me a good 10 mins to scoff enough tea, soup, cake etc to feel my-version-of-human again. The usual story-telling, cake eating , exploit-recounting, cake-eating and general encouragement followed, then it was time to escort the hard-cased Alloa/ Fifers onto the safety of the cyclepath and wave them a 'Ride Safe' farewell.

Some muscle stretches, a hot bath, more stretches, a light meal and in bed by ... err ... 2150 . I have never been so tired exhausted after a bike ride.
It was only 50km.


*tug benson and Fubar even gave me a tow (me grabbing hold of them ) up Gilmerton Road and they didn't believe me when I said I was practising for later ....
**except at that junction ...

When's the next one ?

 

[Col5632]

Lack of time on the bike really didn't help me either, on the drag from inverkeithing to dunfermline I stopped at least 5 times which is really not like me defo bit off more than I could chew that day lol

 

[Scoosh]

"The boy** done good"



**that's @col



mind you, I think he was daft to cycle back when I believe there is an adequate train service ... - he was almost as cream crackered as was I - but he's young and invincible ...

 

[tug benson]

I was still going strong and felt good when i finished, not been out as much as i would have liked but they legs held up well...I think the 3 bowls of soup helped.... the cold was starting to get to me and am not going to lie i feared for my life coming down the Dunfermline to Alloa cycle path, it was really cold and it was full of leaves, one slip and i could have been in trouble....

 

[DougieAB]

The hardest part of the day was carrying the bikes up three flights of stairs to T,s flat. That's enough to put anyone off cycling.

 

[Telemark]

The hardest part of the day was carrying the bikes up three flights of stairs to T,s flat. That's enough to put anyone off cycling.

I carry my big tank up and down those same stairs every day, often more than once ... you're just big girls' blouses, the lot of you

That was one of the hardest rides I have ever done, which is curious because, being a CC Ecosse Forum Ride it was, by definition My pleas in mitigation are

• not having ridden more than 15km in a day since the Edinburgh SKY Ride (was that really as long ago as 7 Sept ? )
• having had a nasty chesty cough thing for 4-5 weeks
• having lost my mojo
• Mrs Scoosh telling me "it's only 55km - you've done that plenty of times before"
• me believing her

[...]
When's the next one ?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hehe ... is that you hooked again? Well done @Scoosh(ie) and Mrs Scoosh for booting you out of the house to get on with it.
We all have bad days every so often , I was well impressed how you kept going despite clearly having to work very hard at it ... and the hills just kept on coming ... when the audax tales started again after the first bowl of soup I knew you were (almost) back to your old self .

T

 

[Col5632]

"The boy** done good"



**that's @col



mind you, I think he was daft to cycle back when I believe there is an adequate train service ... - he was almost as cream crackered as was I - but he's young and invincible ...

Think you tagged the wrong person Nobody told me the route would be so hilly