http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2288208
Today marked an important milestone of the ride. For the first time I became an international cyclist as I crossed from England and into Scotland. I say first time I have previously ridden between England and Wales so second time would be technically more accurate. This is still important as although my regular commute to work crosses two hemispheres but remains in a single nation.
Thanks to some quick thinking by our Directeur Sportive, Brendan we managed to get the jump on the pro-peloton this morning and were actually in Scotland a good five minutes before them. That was the last we saw of them all day as usual they were in bed in the hotel hours before we got back.
We had been expecting a mere 90 mile ride today so got a bit of a shock when we were given 100 mile route cards, that makes it 3 century rides in as many days. As I believe is normal in Scotland the weather was grey and later started to drizzle. There was also more or less f-all to see all day or placed to have lunch / rest stops, leading to a marathon 40 miles between coffee and lunch and a further 40 between lunch and the hotel. Not really so much fun. Our coffee stop did have this interesting sign:
Sadly our bums are way beyond being saved by a cushion, a point hammered home when after lunch and to the delight of some passing locals we all rode along the (bumpy) road making noises like a monkey entering a hot bath as we tried to ease back onto the saddle.
There were a few bright spots during the day, at one point I spotted a bit of blue sky for starters. Other interesting spots were an eagle hovering over the road and a few houses with solar panels fitted, surely the definition of optimism given the locale.
A key part of a long and dull ride is arsing about and today was no exception, games include passing each other in an 'aero tuck' pose even when going 2 mph or the classic trying to keep your feet clipped to the bike until the lights go green. Darren and Brendan were enjoying a game of the latter when they went down like a very small game of domino rally, upon confirming they were OK I laughed a lot. Actually I don't think I bothered confirming they were OK first.
During some of the longer bits of the ride and seeing some signs to Irvine I was able to see some signs for Irvine which put me in mind of the Proclaimers hit 'Letter from America'. Which then got me thinking about their other hit 500 miles, specifically if one brother would walk 500 miles and the other 500 more were they both chasing the same young lady and if so why team up to sing a fairly upbeat song about it when they should be having a fight to the death for their love. Also 500 miles is much less distance than I have cycled so far this trip.........
Finally a bit about what is keeping me going this trip. There are actually a few things:
i) Riding with a great bunch of guys and Clare, even in the rain we are usually laughing.
ii) It is a challenge
iii) Every so often as I ride along my watch vibrates and I see the following image:
Tomorrow is a short day at 76 miles or so so it will be a bit more relaxing with any luck. Apologies the blog is not up to my usual standard today, I am knackered.
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