The day for the big 100 mile challenge had arrived…
Back in January during a lunch stop on one of our regular Monday rides, the subject came up of what challenges we might be attempting this year. After completing the 10 miles a day challenge last year, I suggested attempting a 100 mile ride sometime in 2015. I wasn’t all that sure whether it would be physically possible for me, but after several of us agreed to try it together, Willie (who had already passed that milestone) offered words of encouragement and agreed to take charge of the organisation and training.
The original plan was to build up through the spring to 50-60 mile rides, which most of us had experienced before, then do a 75 mile training run before the big day in July. However, when Fiona, one of the original instigators of the challenge, found that she would be out of action in July due to a hip replacement, the date was quickly moved forward to the start of June. That meant that our planned training ride was now going to be after the event, and that was why I did the 75 mile Duns circuit by myself last month.
I learned quite a lot from that ride. I needed to be more careful about pacing (I fitted a cycle computer to the bike so I could monitor my average speed) and about feeding (I packed plenty of snacks to be eaten at regular intervals and concocted an isotonic energy drink to keep me from flagging later into the ride). Everything was as ready as it could be. All we needed now was good weather…
Nine of us gathered together at Musselburgh railway station car park for the ungodly start time of 8am (it takes quite a long time to cycle 100 miles!). The route for the day was one concocted last year by Alan Hardie of Lothian Cyclists for the faster “sportive” riders in the cycle group. It consists of two loops reaching out into East Lothian. The first loop returns to Musselburgh after 60-odd miles (100 km) allowing those with less lofty ambitions, or who might be struggling, to pull out early. Then a second loop of 40-odd miles carries on, ending back at the start point with exactly 100 miles elapsed.
We all set off from the car park and followed the route 1 signage through a residential area, where we somehow managed to lose the back half of the group. Willie scooted off to round them up before we were eventually back on track heading along the cycle path to Whitecraig on a sunny but quite chilly morning. Both Colette and I had dressed for temperatures in the low teens so we were feeling the cold early on, but only until just after Whitecraig, where we hit our first hill.
On the few days prior to the ride, we had all been anxiously looking at the weather forecast, as high winds were expected. On the day, they were still quite strong but blowing from the west, the wind was actually in our favour to start with. I’m sure that helped us with the climbing that continued to East Saltoun, where we stopped for Susan to buy some essential water after forgetting to pack her water bottles. It was a good opportunity to drink and have a snack.
We found lots of good luck at East Saltoun!
From there it was on to Gifford, where I crammed in another snack before heading out on the Haddington road. There was a flyer of a downhill there, before we turned right off the main road and went past the tiny village of Morham. The route took us past Traprain Law on our left, looking splendid in the sunshine. With the wind at our backs, we were speeding along nicely. After a good number of easy miles, we took a right turn and were into a fairly steep hill climb, which I took very gently in low gear, trying to conserve as much energy as possible.
“You’re not seriously going to take a photo of this are you?”
We regrouped at Pitcox crossroads before enjoying another good freewheel going down towards the outskirts of Dunbar at the eastmost point of the loop. Great fun, but tempered by the thought that we were just about to turn into the face of the wind. Well, the wind certainly didn’t help but it wasn’t exactly stopping us in our tracks either. We turned away from Dunbar and followed the old A1 westwards. We were actually riding on the road, whereas any time I’d gone along there before I’d used the dual-use pavement on the other side of the road. So when the road was clear, I hopped across for a slightly less stressful ride, and joined up with the others when we took the right turn for Tyninghame.
Our morning cafe stop was close by – the old Tyninghame Smithy. We arrived and grabbed a few of the small tables between us in the coutyard. Buildings on three sides sheltered us from the wind, allowing us to bask in the sunshine. The blueberry scones were great, keeping up our energy levels, and the ladies behind the counter very helpfully refilled all our water bottles.
Lovely blueberry scones at Tyninghame
From there it was mostly uphill towards North Berwick, which had the effect of stretching the group into a very long line, depending on our ability or desire to cycle quickly uphill. We gathered together at Auldhame, where the view out to sea was perfect, with the distant Isle of May being clearly visible in the sunshine beyond Bass Rock.
Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle with Isle of May inbetween in the distance
We cycled through the outskirts of North Berwick taking the roads running closest to Berwick Law, almost completely circling the imposing conical volcanic remnant before being slung back out into the countryside. Despite the slingshot analogy, Colette and I found ourselves a bit off the pace, struggling against the wind as far as Kingston. From there however, we had a slight downwards slope to help us along going past West Fenton and reaching the coast again at Aberlady.
From there, we kept to the coast road all the way to Cockenzie, and despite going into the wind, various features, such as the walls of Gosford Park, helped to protect us from the full force. Before long we had arrived at Cockenzie House, where we were going to have lunch in the tea room recently taken over by Falco Konditormeister.
Post-lunch coffee at Cockenzie
It was about 1.30pm and we had arrived at the tail end of an unusually busy lunch time. There wasn’t much space available, apart from the tables outside. I suppose it was a bit nippy in the wind, but we were still feeling warmed up from our ride thus far, and the inside felt oppressively hot. The brunch menu had been severely depleted by the preceding rush, but the cake selection was still very impressive. All of us found something that we liked and we enjoyed a lovely lunch out in the sun, after which Willie asked for a show of hands for carrying on to the full hundred miles. It was about half for and half against, with Colette in the latter category. Her neck problem meant that she had to call it a day after the first loop. Sheryl also joined us here, planning to just do the smaller second loop.
So the two groups parted company and I followed the rest of the would-be 100 milers uphill again, heading for Tranent. I was very conscious of not wanting to tire myself out, but thankfully that wasn’t an issue for long, as after Tranent we gradually descended towards Pencaitland and after that we were wind powered past the southern outskirts of Haddington, past Hailes Castle and on to East Linton. In fact, it didn’t feel like long till we reached our afternoon cafe stop. This was at Tyninghame again, reached from the opposite side compared to our morning visit. Time had marched on however, as we arrived shortly after 4pm. Luckily the place stays open to 4.30!
At 75 miles, this was a good time to take stock of how we were feeling. The general concensus was good, and I was in agreement with that, though I was beginning to feel a bit weary. Well, we had been on the go since 8am after all. This was where I was hoping my home-made energy drink was going to play a part in keeping me going. I moved it to the front bottle holder and once we got on the road again, took regular sips.
The road going north past Binning Wood has a sting in its tail, with a very steep finish. My ascent felt very slow, much slower than normal for sure, so the miles were beginning to tell in my legs but at least I was still going and still had some energy left. After a little more uphill, we went down towards East Fortune before more steady climbing through Athelstaneford towards the Garleton Hills. The wind had helpfully moderated noticeably by this time, and I found I was still really enjoying the ride, along pleasant, quiet country roads with the scenery looking glorious in the late afternoon sunshine.
The idyllic theme continued on the downhill and carried on till we crossed the level crossing at St Germains, close to Seton Collegiate Church. That took us out at a dual carriageway busy with rush hour traffic. We decided to cross and use the footpath on the other side, heading west. That was a good idea to start with, but then we came to a roundabout where it seemed to take about 10 minutes to get us all across to the pavement on the other side. In retrospect it would have been easier just to ride on the road.
Sticking to the pavement, we found it getting very bumpy in places, and at one point we all had to crunch through a massive patch of broken glass. It was a miracle that nobody got a puncture! Eventually we took the hint and got back on the road, making our way closer and closer to Musselburgh.
We cycled past the racecourse and through the town till we reached the cycle path alongside the River Esk. It was now seriously close to the finish line and I was beginning to feel euphoric. We stopped at the footbridge to check our cycle computers. We all had 99.something – we were so close!
The intrepid 100 milers: (l-r) Susan, me, Fiona, Janette, Willie. Thanks to Susan for the photo and Sheryl for taking it.
My computer went over 100 and I gave a wee cheer. It wasn’t long till we reached the car park, where I checked my phone and found that Strava put the distance at 99.9 miles. Darn. So I did a few laps of the car park till Strava said 100.5 miles, when I felt it was safe to stop the recording and call it a day. With high fives all round, we gathered together and posed for a picture, with Fiona taking pride of place for managing the feat on her dodgy hip. As for me, I was exhaused, a bit unsteady on my feet and dying for a pee, but most of all, I had a whopping big 100 mile grin on my face.
Well done Alan et al!!