Edinburgh to St Andrew's route
AMcD
Posts: 236
Hi, as of today I am in training for this event in June but am seriously worried about what hills to expect.
Can anyone help me out with the exact route? I've entered but don't know if you receive a route map with your number or whether you are expected to just follow the other cyclists? There's no details of the route on the LEPRA website and I didn't find any other info by googling.
I really want to know when to expect the hills and to be able to train on the actual route before the day.
I'm not really a beginner to cycling but I am to this type of distance, and being quite overweight every hill is an effort :oops: . Today I managed 11 miles but needed two stops - it was the flattest route I could find from my house and still a struggle :roll: .
Can anyone help me out with the exact route? I've entered but don't know if you receive a route map with your number or whether you are expected to just follow the other cyclists? There's no details of the route on the LEPRA website and I didn't find any other info by googling.
I really want to know when to expect the hills and to be able to train on the actual route before the day.
I'm not really a beginner to cycling but I am to this type of distance, and being quite overweight every hill is an effort :oops: . Today I managed 11 miles but needed two stops - it was the flattest route I could find from my house and still a struggle :roll: .
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http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Edinburgh-to-St-Andrews-Cycle-Ride-2007
It looks like a nice route. I saw them rolling into St Andrews a couple of years ago and everyone had big stupid grins on their faces.
What have you got planned training-wise?
Once I've copied the route to Anquet maps to get the elevations I'll know exactly where I'll be struggling
For training Crapaud, I've decided to cycle four times a week starting with a minimum of 1 hour (for me that's only 11 miles at present). I might keep two of the runs this short but increase the other two so that one is eventually my long ride each week and the other a medium ride - oh, and of course, seek out those hills. I hope I can cover at least 2/3rds of the distance by June and will have practiced going over Cleish hill and the slog from Milnathort
As for losing the weight Shamey I know that's my main problem - it's like having a large child sat on your pannier rack - and it was my main reason for signing up for this ride as I needed 'something to aim for' . I couldn't lose all the 5 stone excess :oops: by the end of June but I'd be happy with 20lbs off and so would my knees
the first stiff hill is Cleish but it really isn't that bad, there is a little puff after Kinross, rewarded by a great long downhill to Strathmiglo, the toughest climb is up after Freuchie towards Burnturk, short and horrible, but do not be ashamed to walk if you want to. The rest of it is just good riding.
The arrival into St Andrews from Ceres is my old commute and it is a great way to finish a long ride, mostly downhill, probably wind behind and the Auld Grey Toon spread out in front of you against the sparkling sea.
I'm a big fan of the Edinburgh St Andrews but I seem to have got myself embroiled in the folly that will be the Trossachs Ton the next day, so will miss it this year.
Fast and Bulbous
Peregrinations
Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
Thankfully my tourer has MTB gearing to help with the hills
I had a sneak at the Trossachs Ton - sounds like a great ride and, errr, exhausting too
You don't say where you're from, but if it's Edinburgh, or nearby, you might want to consider going out with Spokes. They do easy-going rides of 35 - 40 miles once a month (I can't link directly to the page because it's a pop-up, but the info's on the links under 'Events' on the RHS). One advantage of this is getting used to riding with other cyclists - it can be a bit unsettling if you're not used to it.
I saw a penny farthing a few years ago :shock:
As an addition to this. The descent into Cleish can be mental, but the road is pretty good. I'd still advise being cautious.
The descent into Strathmiglo is ace, but the road is shocking. My best advice is to stick to the right of the road, especially before you go under the canopy of trees. Honestly, it's that bad in places. I thought I had wrecked a wheel in one of the pot-holes last week.
Pedro
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I think I drove along the Strathmiglo route whilst coming back from Falkland a couple of weeks back - it was a single track road that we took from the back of the village (just to see where it went) and I'm sure it was posted Route 1? We eventually ended up at Wester Balgeddie before joining the A911. And yes, it was full of potholes!
Muscle memory for sure,even after all these years. But I NEVER compleatly toasted myself untill I knew I was fit enough to do so.Best of luck to ye buddy.Check out the Edinburgh Road Club web site.They are a first class club who welcome beginners very warmly indeed.Kindest regards,Shamey. Berwick Wheelers.
I've been off the bike for about 15 years too - before that I commuted every day, cycled to my running club, ran, cycled home, cycled to the shops etc etc. If I wasn't cycling somewhere I was running. Then I stopped running due to injury, bought a car for my new job .......... and the result is 15 years of piling on the pounds
One thing I did learn was to listen to my body, have rest days, and pace myself so hopefully there's little chance of me 'toasting meself" in training
6 months on the bike and back to racing is quite an achievement. You must've been very single-minded to achieve that and good on yer. Did you quite smoking at the same time? Did the cycling help the cravings? Luckily I don't smoke, and wouldn't miss the drink but cutting out the cheese on toast and chocolate is my cross to bear
Good on yer again! Just don't tire your Mrs out
It's daft -when I ran and cycled I too could just eat what I wanted and don't really know why that logic evaded me for 15 years whilst I piled on the lbs! I'm 42 now too. I suppose it was just motivation I needed to get out on the bike consistently - and it's not easy trying to find cycling gear that fits and doesn't hug the curves too much :oops: .
This morning I did another 10.5 miles - kept the gears lower than the last run, although I can't say I pushed it then either. I found it much easier until I hit the wind at the end, but don't have that exhausted feeling this time. Plan another 10 on Friday (can't wait to get out again) and next week will do the same. Think I'll start increasing my longer run on week 3 and add a fourth easy ride in week 5. Don't want to do too much too soon.
The Edinburgh ride is on 20th June. I've already woken up in the night thinking about it - how sad
Hope this helps.
The plan seems perfect for what I had in mind, thanks very much - pity the Edinburgh ride isn't a few more weeks away to give me that extra time. I've already got the bug and am planning next weekend's route tonight! Today's ride was just perfect - lovely weather, great views and hardly any traffic - you can't beat it.
Today I managed 14.7, feeling as good as I did on the 10-11 milers I have been doing. My overall heart rate and calorie use is decreasing whereas my overall mph is increasing slightly so all looking good. Still only at just over 11mph but spinning the gears so it feels easy and sustainable. I'm not bothered about my speed as such, just want to cover the miles. My only goal is to complete the 67 miles without feeling totally wasted. I realise 2/3rds distance in training will probably make the last 27 hard so will do my best to get that bit closer.
As it is I've got the bug and will be wanting to do other longer events (perhaps something less hilly than the Trossachs) later in the year. I'd have to pick charity events without a time limit though. And then perhaps sportives next year
Just posting to offer some encouragement
I've signed up for Edi-St. Andrews in June, and like you am concerned about the hills. I tried to drive what I percieve to be the route, from St. Andrews down but it got dark by the time I got to down to Kinross
I didn't do a lot of proper training for PfS (15-20 mile runs once or twice a week... more often once! Kept this up over winter tho), but want to change that this year, as I was struggling towards the end of PfS - first 30 miles were easy peasy, next 15 were more challenging, and the final 10 were a struggle! I was doing it on an MTB last year tho, this year I've got a skinny-tyred fast hybrid thing so hoping that'll help. I've reached the stage where I can do my 15 mile tun in one go, whereas when I started out I was doing 8 or 9 miles and having to stop 3 times!
As it is I've done a 45 miler to North Berwick last weekend, and again was struggling at the end, so need to do something. The wind didn't help (coastal, not flatal - it was in my face all the way home from Berwick - no fun). My work's an 18 mile round trip from one side of Edinburgh to the other so even doing that once a week would help. Need to sort out the clothing logistics tho!
Good luck with your training, keep us up to date
I too am concerned about the hills, and the wind, forgot about that :roll: . I'll be following, as much as I can in theory, the Trossachs ton training Crapaud posted but this weekend I'll be 3 miles short of the projected long ride. I've decided to do the Rosyth - Cleish route (17 miles from home) and my husband has agreed to collect me in Cleish
After that I plan to join a Spokes run to get used to riding in a group. I have a bad habit of changing my bar end gears by looking down - not good if someone suddenly stops in front of you
I've got a decent steel tourer with wide tyres for extra comfort. It's strong and sure footed, just what I need
I only had a short run today - only 33 mins but was feeling a little tired in the legs from Sunday's marathon 14.7 miles
My works only 10 mins by car so it's hardly worth getting on the bike, especially as it takes longer to pack the bag, change when you get there etc etc. In two weeks I start a new job 20 miles away so bike commuting will be out of the question. As it is, getting organised is the key and perhaps picking a less direct route to avoid Edinburgh's traffic. Let me know how it goes!
It's really good when you can get someone to pick you up at the end of longer runs. Apart from meaning you don't have to ride the same route twice (which can be tiresome!) it's great to think that if you get a puncture or anything like that you can get picked up. I've only been caught out once with a puncture, but fortunately I had tube/tools with me to sort it out. I knew that saddle pack thing was worth the money
The wind isn't that much of a problem unless it's howling, I've been caught out a few times near the coast thinking "hmmm no wind at all, completely still air... great" even tho I'm doing 15+mph, then wonder why I appear to be cycling into a gale on the way back! I can only assume when I'm cycling with the wind behind me that I'm in a sort of windless bubble, will have to watch out for it in future... But in my recent cycling history the wind has only been a problem once or twice, so I wouldn't be too concerned. My biggest current problem with long cycles is soreness of the posterior region - my new bike came with a Charge Spoon-esque saddle on it, which was murder after 20 miles, but I think I've got it sussed with a Specialized BG seat. Hopefully anyway. If that fails I'm going to fit the seat off a 1980's Raleigh Chopper :shock:
Having been inspired by this thread, I've printed off the training regime that Crapaud posted (many thanks for that!) and butchered it a little... decided to pretty much follow the first eight weeks as normal, then skip to the final two. The last two weeks appear to be a sort of "keeping topped up" phase rather than actual training, and all the time up to that seems to be staged increases. There's a short, nasty hill local to my house, it's ridiculously steep but not long at all, am going to try and fit that into my 5/10/15 mile training runs. I wasn't "for" the idea of training until now, but it'll get me out on the bike 3-4 times a week, and I think that's probably most important at this stage!
ROFL - that's exactly what happened to me last week! Didn't realise it was windy till I returned the same way - doh!
I'm glad you're inspired too. I also have a very nasty hill if I ever cycle home from work. It's great fun though as it makes me feel kind of daring - it's pitch black without street lights (as I finish at 10pm) but thankfully there's a wide cycle path separate from the road. I have to go up it in my tiniest gear and swerve from side to side just to keep upright
As for the saddle, being a girl looks are all important. I did have a Specialised Jett on my bikes. They are very comfy but boring looking. So I treated myself to a brown and blue retro looking one (think it's a Charge) to match my blue frame - unfortunately after a very painful 14.7 miles on Sunday I decided it would never do (doesn't have the centre cut out) and ditched it in favour of my tried and trusted Jett. Such a shame - it looked great on the bike
I'll think of getting a lift to Arthurs Seat when I'm stronger. I know it's a continuous smooth climb and part of the New Years Day triathlon route (yes, you've guessed it - something I'd like to aim for in the future
Strangely, I like the idea of being a bit focused and "in training". Tomorrow I'm going to drive the Cleish route just to make sure I know where the turnings are for the weekend. It's definately stopped me worrying about starting my new job - I now wake up in the night worrying about hills, exhaustion and potholes
It is a reasonably smooth climb at about 5-7% gradient according to my garmin. it increases to about 13% ish for about 50 yards before going back to 7, 6 , 5 etc before getting flat. It is a nice ride once you get in the zone and is just enough to get me tiring before it flattens out, it does get easier once you keep repeating a route.
Try and set a route to time trial yourself. Take it easy first time out and set an easy-ish time for your self. Next time out you should aim to beat the time and shouldn't have too much difficulty for the first couple of rides. Once you stop improving at that distance then add another couple of miles and time yourself over that route...rinse and repeat. I personally get a buzz out of beating my times if I know I have worked hard the previous time out! It doesn't happen the same way for everyone though.
Good luck with the training.
Training regime commenced: went out on my training run on Tuesday night, despite the 15-20 mile Sunday runs 5 miles seems hard after work! That said, I'm sure I'll strengthen up as I train. Two problems - headset has come loose, but I obtained a spanner and tightened it up, and my rear mech has been getting progressively worse at jumping out of gear (bike is only 3 month old, probably got about 200-250 miles on the clock) so that's annoying the pants off me on climbs/pulling away from lights. Disgruntling :evil:
Last night was so cold and miserable that I decided to go to the council gym instead of the 5 mile cycle - done 10KM on the exercise bike, 20mins of 6.5KPH fast walking, and a few thousand metres on the rower, which was nice
The idea of being "in training" is becoming more appealing, gives me more to talk about with my workmates who'll (hopefully) be sponsoring me, as opposed to PfS last year when I just ate slightly less cakes and went for slightly longer Sunday runs :oops: I am about 2 miles from Arthurs Seat fuzzynavel, but it's one of my pet hates! I done a charity cycle last year (Big Bike Ride) which involved one lap, and I failed to make it up the Duddingston/Commie Pool side and ended up walking bits of it! I've attempted it once since then, but it was on the way home from a 30 mile cycle, maybe not the best judge of whether I'm capable of it :? I'll try and incorporate it into my training... do you go up Duddingston side or the Meadowbank side?
I've never tried to go up the Duddingston side as the traffic comes down that side. There aren't any no entry signs but that doesn't fill me with confidence.
The only way to make the hill your friend is to ride up it. If you can't get all the way up then make a mental note of where you got to and then try to get further the next time. I couldn't always do comfortable laps of the hill.....Before I got my road bike and some motivation I would do one lap and then ride home. Now I will do three laps and home in less time than it used to take to do one lap. Practice, Practice, Practice...
I'm planning doing Edinburgh to Montrose next month if I get some decent weather so I'm slowly building up the miles in my legs too....only done 62 miles in one go so far....need to get another 35 on top of that if I am to make it....Will add another 5-10 miles every week until I am up to about 90ish. I will probably go up via st Andrews direction and across the Tay bridge to Dundee....not exactly sure what to do after that as they changed the Dundee-Arbroath road to dual carriageway...There is a cycle path though..Should be fun!
So what you're telling me is I need to get a road bike? I can go with that
That sounds like a monster ride TBH, well beyond my present capabilities... but good luck with it! I think 100 miles is not within my grasp in the immediate future, but maybe sometime soon
The reasons I was motivated after buying a road bike were:
1. I was quite fat....at 17 stones and 5'11" I was no lightweight....now stabilised at 15 stone but my body shape is still changing.
2. I had spent £500 on the bike and another few hundred on extras and I wasn't about to waste that money (and prove my wife right in the process!!).
I regards to the 100 miler.....it will be my first and I will meet my wife at the in-laws in Montrose for a lift home the next day.....she's not even vaguely interested in my cycling and thinks I am a lunatic for pushing myslef so hard which is annoying sometimes! I still have a lot of work to do but I see 1 month as a decent time scal to double my distance. I have been easily coverng the 50 miles for a while now and it was easy to get up to 60 by adding a few laps of Arthurs Seat on the end of my 50 mile run....For my next trick I will extend my weekly run to 60 miles with a few laps of the hill at the end for fun.
Thanks for the info fuzzynavel but I don't understand gradients :oops: . How do work out a gradient - do you need a Garmin (I could borrow my husband's
I was quite sure I'd really struggle today as all my other rides have been flattish and fairly cool. It took me three hours to pluck up the courage to head out the door! The first flat 6 miles flew by and all was great until I headed through Crossford up to the Carnock road. A super fit Dunfermline CC rider flew past up the hill with a cheery good morning. I was overheating at this point (still wearing a winter top!) and stopped to take off my superflous gilet. After that the only two stops I had were to swap over empty water bottles (the spares in my pannier) and to arrange my lift home just as I set off up the hill to Cleish. This hill was such an anticlimax in terms of effort - yes I was tired, hot and in my granny ring but nowhere near stopping