Selkirk Vitus Sportive

For the past 5 years, i've taken part in the Selkirk MTB marathon. I've done various distance over the years from 50k - 100k (although they are always shorter than the advertised distance) This is usually held in the first weekend in August, and has always been a great way to end my Summer Holidays. 

 
This year, they decided to bring it forward to Mid May.

They introduced a road sportive to the weekend a couple of years ago, and earlier in the year I thought about doing both events.  This idea was quickly quashed by my wife, so I decided to the sportive for a change, as a fiew of my friends were also doing it.

The route was a shortened version of the Moffat Toffee i did last weekend, so I wasn't expecting any difficulties.

The weather leading up to the event was dominated by long spells of rain (as everywhere else in the country) but the event day stayed dry. The wind had changed from the southerly to a northerly, so the fast finish from last weekend wouldn't be repeated. Fortunately it had also dropped, and there was no rain forecast.

It was still cold enough (in May Ffs) for tights although there were a few in bibs.

Almost 300 road enthusiasts turned up to enjoy the fantastic roads around the greater Selkirk area. The route took the riders through the Yarrow and Ettrick valleys starting with a long yet gentle climb following the Ettrick River upstream.

But it wasn’t all easy going. The course designer Pete Laing had some ‘proper’ climbs up his sleeve to turn what appeared to be a gentle stroll into a real challenge. The route made the most of the network of narrow hill roads linking the river valleys that the Scottish Borders is so famous for. The climb tot-up is, 95 mile: 8 climbs. 

None of the climbs were Alpine in scale but only one is less than 100m vertical and if you check the course profiles, there isn’t a flat road in between, so the ascent total soon builds up.

Map and Profile can been seen here

Next up - snow Roads Audax

Moffat Toffee Re-Invented 200k Audax

The forecast was dire for today and after last months efforts on the Merse and Moors, it was not looking like it would be much fun.


I'd lost contact with the main group before reaching Ashkirk and the first (info) control, as i struggled with the short sharp climbs south of Selkirk.  


I only saw one other cyclist between Ashkirk and Sayme Ling.  Even the usually fast descent down Fingland was a struggle with the strong headwind.


I stopped at the Buddhist retreat for a warming coffee and a stamp in my brevet card.  The main group were just leaving as I arrived, and I was temped to continue on with them, but really needed a break from the wind.


I quickly drank my coffee and headed back to my bike, only to discover it had blown over in the wind, bending my rear mech.  I straightened it as best i could, but it made gear selection interesting for the rest of the day.


I arrived at the next control in Langholm just as the main group were leaving once more.  I wasn't loosing too much time to them even though I was on my own.  I stopped, and had a warming bowl of soup this time before heading back into the wind towards Moffat.

Very strong headwinds and crosswinds all the way made this section very tough indeed, and my back was beginning to get sore just trying to keep the bike in a straight line.


I stopped an the next info control and had another go at straightening my rear mech.  I was joined by another two riders, and we rode together all the way to the Rumblin' Tum in Moffat where we once again stopped for coffee and another stamp.


We had made it to Moffat in the dry, but dark clouds were gathering overhead.   


The tailie up the Grey Mare's tail road helped greatly.  As we crossed the border back into the Scottish Borders, the rain started.  I stopped here to put on my waterproof, as it would be a fast descent back down the valley.  


It seemed like I hardly went below 40kph for the next 50k to the finish. 


All in all a good (if lonely at times) day.


Map of the route can be found Here


Thanks to Lucy, Dick and all the helpers.

SMBO - Achray and Callander

Round 3 of  the series saw a long drive up to Callander's Mclaren Centre in Stirlingshire.

This is a new area for the series, and also with a new event organiser.

Having biked in the area previously, I knew the terrain could be quite steep.

There seemed to be a few technical issues on the start line with the dibbers, but mine seemed to register OK, so I set off.

My innitial plan was to gather up as many of the lower-level points as possible, plus a few of the higher value points in the harder to reach areas.

That plan went out the window after taking a wrong turn early on, and i missed a 5 and a 10 pointer.

To make matters worse, my hint sheet had fallen off my wrist while climbing over a fallen tree, and i didn't notice it was gone until I was at the top of a very steep climb.  A quick run back down, and it was easily found and re-attached.

For the rest of the morning, I felt as though I was chasing points, not sticking to my plan at all, and was nowhere near on the map where I wanted to be.

After a fairly long climb up to a 30-pointer, i was descending quickly - trying to claw back some time and washed out on some loose gravel while trying to avoid a barrier.  I was OK but my map board wasn't so lucky - the 2nd broken one in two events.

I attached the map to my bars as best I could and headed off, with it flapping in the wind.

The next control was an easy 15 points.  Unfortunately it didn't register.  Whether this was due to the issues on the start line, or whether i didn't dib correctly, i don't know.

Anyway, i made it back with about 10 mins to spare with a disappointing score of 190 and a provisional 14th place (No penalties were deducted due to the start line issues, so i'm hoping to move up slightly once this has been resolved)

The scoring at this round has been far lower than at either of the previous two.  Since it has been announced that only 4 of the 7 rounds will count, i'll definately be dropping this one.

Next round is closer to home - Yarrow Valley