Last weekend I cycled my bicycle to Scotland. We were staying for the weekend with friends near Glasgow, so I took Friday off work and rode North, setting off at 4am. Pam and The Boy would drive up, setting off at a more reasonable hour, meet me somewhere along the way for a refueling stop, and then I would complete the journey.
In fact, I ended up climbing into the support vehicle at Lockerbie for a number of reasons. I was happy enough with 240km in my legs, and I had at least achieved the brief of riding to Scotland. The problems that made me decide to call it quits were entirely logistical, providing important lessons for future endurance events, and food for thought as we prepare for the Quin.
Firstly, I had two punctures – the second of which occurred on the approach to Gretna when I was literally fifty metres from the Welcome to Scotland sign. I felt like Scotland itself was rejecting me! These caused a bit of a delay – new tyres meant the tube change was a bit more fiddly and time consuming than I’d have liked – but it also meant that I no longer had any spare tubes with me. I should have put some in the car with my food resupply, but I didn’t.
The big problem for me though was that all my batteries were running out. Not the metaphorical batteries in my legs – they were okay – but the actual literal electrical batteries in my phones and watch. Now I can already hear the old schoolers out there telling me that all these watches and computers are a waste of time, and what’s wrong with an Ordnance Survey map and a thoroughgoing knowledge of the sun’s position in the sky?
Well back off, granddad. I’d love to say that these things are not important to me, but they are! Here’s what I ride with:
· Garmin watch tracking distance, speed, cadence, HR etc.
· Phone on top tube with live map using GPS as a route planner.
· Phone in back pocket as my actual emergency phone, but also playing podcasts into my ears in the quiet stretches when I need some distraction.
I had tried to ration the power on the GPS phone, and hadn’t even switched it on for the first two hours as I rode through the early darkness across Leeds on familiar roads. It was only after I left Ilkley that I needed some navigational guidance.
Meanwhile, my main phone hadn’t been used anywhere near as much as usual. I generally have a podcast playing in my left ear as I ride along. (I don’t want to open up a debate about listening to stuff while on the road, but my reasoned position is that listening to people talking is safer than listening to a wall of music, and that’s how I’ve rationalized it.) This long ride, I had tried to ration the audio, and only switched on when I needed some distraction.
None of that worked, I was running on vapour by the time I reached the border. Even my trusty watch was giving me the Low Battery bad vibes.
At the Quin, these problems will be easier to solve because of the lapped nature of the course, meaning that we return to a central point very frequently. No navigation required, and a readily available pit stop. For longer rides, though, I need to have more charge. I have bought a couple of recharge units, and need to figure out how best to use them without constantly stopping to plug and unplug. I also need to work out how to do all of that in the rain.
Positives… I felt physically strong and could certainly have completed the distance. Nutrition worked well, and apart from about 25 minutes when I ran out of water before finding a garage to refuel, there were no moments when I felt hungry or thirsty. The new bike was great, with the rubbing disc brake teething problems now fully resolved. The Yorkshire Dales are gorgeous, with the 80km stretch from Bolton Abbey to Kirkby Stephen being among my best experiences on the bike.
Negatives… I let all these problems get into my head. They could all have been solved, overcome or ignored. I can admit to myself that I had become a little obsessive over having all these things working and as I like them. On reflection though, I can’t just “get over it” because it’s that obsessive nature that keeps me going. I can’t just “not sweat the small stuff” and then do a Quin. They are two sides of the same obsessive troubled coin. So I will solve the problems and keep riding. That’s how I roll.