First Audax, The Erit Lass 2015 Report - Now What???

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SteCenturion

I am your Father
Just 200k !!
:whistle: ;)

Well done Fun Boy Fubar
:cheers: :thumbsup:
 

172traindriver

Legendary Member
Ok so for those of you who have been following THIS thread the background to this is well versed – for the poor souls who are uninitiated the story goes thus: I decided 6 weeks ago it was about time I did an Audax. The notion had been floating around for a while but I was either not ready or there was not one suitably near enough for my first attempt. Well no more excuses, The Erit Lass 200k Audax from Musselburgh was coming up, so in went my entry.

Forget the fact that this was a AAA Audax. Forget the fact I hadn’t even done 100 miles in a single attempt this year. Forget the fact I would be doing it on a 4-week old bike. Forget the fact I have a shonky knee and have suffered from cramp on several occasions already this year. Ready or not, here it was.

I had set the alarm for 05:30 but the butterflies had me restless well before that. It was still dark but I was up and ready to go by 06:20 and made it to Musselburgh in plenty time to collect my first Brevit Card and leg it to Tesco for a final loo stop. It was overcast but that suited me fine.

(the bike is ready, but am I?)
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Once the riders started gathering outside the Brunton Theatre the nerves were starting to jangle, though I knew these would dissipate once I started riding. I idly chatted to a couple of guys prior to the start, but everyone looked pretty handy so I reckoned I was in for a lonely day.

(ready for the Grand Depart!)
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I wasn’t surprised then when the pace off the front was more than I could handle, so dropping back I decided that leg preservation was better than point scoring – this was going to be a long day and I had both time and a body to manage.

Out through Aberlady and Gullane the group quickly disappeared, except for a couple of guys off in the distance – I knew the road out to North Berwick anyway and reached the first checkpoint in just under an hour. Martyn the organiser was sure I wasn’t last on the road so I was quickly off again towards Haddington. Outside North Berwick a chap drew alongside me and we chatted for a bit, which made the drag out to and past Athelstaneford pass mercifully quickly.

By Haddington I was on my own again and almost got caught out following an older gent with Brooks, Carradice and Handlebar Bag (MUST be an Audaxer!!) until my Garmin started bleeping “Off Course” – I scolded myself for blindly following someone. Back on course again the 2 guys I’d seen earlier were back in front of me, and a bit further up the road they stopped and we had a wee chat about the next bit of the route. One even asked what a Fingerpost was – I mean, who doesn’t know that?!? ;)

We were onto narrow roads now and down to a Ford which we had been warned was slippery, I opted to take the bridge but this meant a 50-yard walk up the steep hill on the other side – I figured there may be more walking to come. At 60k Martyn was waiting with a food stop which was really welcome, Irn Bru and Snowballs were dutifully demolished.

(the break of Champions!)
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The route then took us down to and along the busy A7 for a few k’s and over the new Borders railway line – a number of people had gathered as a steam train was heading up as we were heading down. Bizarrely a former work colleague was at the side of the road as I flew past and the look on his face when I shouted “Alright Tony!” was priceless.

Turning off the A7 the road climbed up again and took us along a valley then down towards Innerleithen. A stiff headwind being funnelled by the glen was not making this road any easier, though I again caught up with my 2 chums (I suspect they were deliberately waiting on me) and we traversed the route down past the Innerleithen golf course and into the town for a welcome café stop and our 2nd Control, just under the 100k point. I was pleased to see a collection of Audax bikes outside the stop, as it meant I wasn’t too far behind some of the other riders.

In the café introductions were made to my now 2 mates Brian and Ian, rolls were ordered and we were joined by another rider called Martin who reckoned he was the last man out on the course, which fired me into action and I was raring to go again. Off we headed down the A72 before turning North at Thorneylee towards Stow, which gave us some more climbing to do. I was mostly alone again at this stage but just pacing myself as I knew what was coming at Stow, a steep climb out the village.

Sure enough when I got there another Audaxer was steeling himself at the bottom for the 15% climb, and we had the temptation of the new Stow railway station sitting at the bottom of the hill as a bailout – I decided just to grind it out as this would test my legs to the max. My fellow Audaxer was making lots of grunting and swearing noises behind me which made me laugh on the climb, and I was pleased to make it to the top without stopping or any adverse effect on my legs.

It is weird what you will do to amuse yourself when you are on your own on a bike, normally I have a song in my head repeating over and over and today was no exception, but I was also doing other stuff to keep myself entertained like “Mooing” at cows, “Baaing” at sheep, and shouting “ESCAPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” when an appropriate Motorhome goes past (it’s a family holiday-trip game).

Over the moor and a long decent took us into Lauder, where I was flagged down on the High Street by Brian and Ian for another café stop – cake this time. Brian was talking about an 8:30pm finish which was a lot later than I had assumed, but he knew how much climbing we still had to do.

Off again the road was “lumpy” and seemingly never-ending but we eventually made it to Duns and our final Control at the 152k point at around 5pm. The guys all opted for chips but I really didn’t want a full stomach so went for some chocolate instead. The kids in Duns Square eyed us with amusement for a moment, before carrying on with booting their rugby ball towards the parked cars – must be a Borders thing…

(the lads with their chips)
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The 4 of us left Duns with a silent agreement that we would finish together – I was feeling good and with only 50k to go I reckoned no matter how bad it was we were on the last leg. A long climb out of Duns took us towards Longformacus, though it seemed to take an age to get there and by this time the group had fractured – occasionally glancing round I could spot figures behind me so knew it wouldn’t be long until I was surpassed. Through Longformacus the only sign post was for Gifford 13 miles away, so this had to be where the bulk of the climbing would be, and I wasn’t to be disappointed. The route took us up over the Lammermuirs, which were just a series of climbs, false summits, short descents followed by more climbs – it went on and on with nothing but desolate, empty moors for company.

I could occasionally hear voices behind me and after about the 5th climb to another false summit I started to feel a bit light-headed so decided to stop, eat and let the guys catch up. At this point I was in danger of hitting the wall, though my legs felt ok and really what were my options? No point turning back, so onwards it was – all I had to do was keep pedalling. After about 5 minutes of eating and drinking I felt better and with no sign of my chums I headed off again. Seeing power lines marching across the top of the moor gave me hope that I was nearer to civilisation and at the next summit the Forth Estuary and Fife hove into view in the distance – I’d done it! I wasn’t done by any matter but I could see the finish and was convinced it would be downhill from here.

(the view over the Forth to Fife, and the road to the finish!)
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My joy was short-lived as joining onto the B6355 a 17% sign appeared – “WTF – where did this come from?!?” It was only by the next turn I realised it was a DOWNHILL, and the joy returned. Some light rain made a quick appearance but this was a celebratory champagne spray rather than a soaking.

Finally passing through Gifford at 7pm the road sign advised 10 miles to Tranent, and I estimated around an additional 5 miles to the finish – could I sneak in before 8pm AND finish in under 10 hours? I set myself the target. Hitting 200k was another milestone met with a loud “WOO-HOOOOO!!!” and all the aches and pains were melting away, though getting caught in the lights through Tranent made me convinced I wouldn’t reach my target.

I was giving it full beans and as it was now dark I thankfully couldn’t see the clock ticking towards 8pm – reaching Musselburgh High Street the lights all started to turn green, just for me! I raced over the bridge looking for the finish and pulled up hitting the stop button on the Garmin – 7:59pm!!

Happy, Happy, Happy.

Martyn was waiting for me in the hall and instantly I was presented with soup, coffee and a Macaroni Pie – they were all piping hot and I was burning my tongue not knowing which one to eat first, chattering away to Martyn about the ride even though he’d probably heard it all a million times before. Soon after the 3 other guys arrived having finished together – I did feel a pang of guilt about riding off on my own but had been convinced they would catch me at some point before the end. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be any hard-feelings, and we all congratulated each other on completing a tough, tough ride.

(the all important card)
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All in all it was a well organised event, with some great company, I hadn't got cramp, the bike had performed well and it was a route to rival anything else I’ve done. Will I do another? Who knows…:whistle:

Well done Mr Fu
Cracking write up
 

Rasmus

Without a clever title
Location
Bristol
@Fubar now cross-posting with print media! The full meaning of the fingerpost remark likely lost on a wider audience :laugh:

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