Etape Caledonia

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  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    Rokkala wrote:
    Any advice on how long to give myself then to ensure i get away in my allocated 'wave'? An hour, half an hour?

    I'd imagine missing your start time will screw with your time?

    If you have an early start time (say pre 7:20) then you might have a lot of folk to squeeze past. If you're off at 7:40, then most folk will be away anyway. I'd allow up to 20 minutes just in case. You can always sunbathe while you wait. :D

    You time starts when you cross the start line - not at your allocated wave time.
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    neilmacd wrote:
    Anyone planning on going for a wee spin late tomorrow afternoon or on Saturday to loosen the legs before the main event on SUnday.
    I'm travelling up tomorrow and staying over until Monday so reckon I've got a fair bit of time to kill

    Not leaving the shop until 4pm on Saturday (we're closing early just this once), but hoping for a wee spell on the turbo 1st thing Saturday morning in the shop :P
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Just read that Graeme Obree is going to ride
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    bompington wrote:
    Just read that Graeme Obree is going to ride

    Well I might see his back then :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • Snoppy
    Snoppy Posts: 37
    It is great that Graeme Obree is doing it. Cant wait for Sunday! Anyone suggest a good pub to watch the Scottish Cup Final on Sat afternoon?
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    daviesee wrote:
    bompington wrote:
    Just read that Graeme Obree is going to ride

    Well I might see his back then :wink:
    Not for long I expect.
    Is he going to race it? By all accounts he's not past it by a long way - how fast could he go? The Aberdeen boys who've been up the front the last few are clearly not slow, can they keep up or is he going to do a solo 81 mile break?

    Which makes me wonder, how fast could a pro team do it? If the average for the TDF is over 40kmh, presumably quite a lot faster than 3 hours for one 130km stage that can't count as hilly by TDF standards?
  • thecrofter
    thecrofter Posts: 734
    Judging by the PR they are expecting him to be really going for it, could be an awesome time
    You've no won the Big Cup since 1902!
  • kelsen
    kelsen Posts: 2,003
    thecrofter wrote:
    Judging by the PR they are expecting him to be really going for it, could be an awesome time

    Or it could go the way of his last hour record attempt! :D
  • Alain Quay
    Alain Quay Posts: 534
    Anyone suggest a good pub to watch the Scottish Cup Final on Sat afternoon?

    Dinnae bother - the old firm team wins. It's enshrined in Scots Law.
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    Alain Quay wrote:
    Anyone suggest a good pub to watch the Scottish Cup Final on Sat afternoon?

    Dinnae bother - the old firm team wins. It's enshrined in Scots Law.

    There's no Old Firm team in the final....
  • fenski
    fenski Posts: 119
    neilmacd wrote:
    Anyone planning on going for a wee spin late tomorrow afternoon or on Saturday to loosen the legs before the main event on SUnday.
    I'm travelling up tomorrow and staying over until Monday so reckon I've got a fair bit of time to kill
    Haven't decided on a route yet, but I'll be going for my usual Saturday morning spin out from Perth doing about 60 miles. It'll be interesting to see if there's more bikes on the road than usual!

    I rode along part of the Etape route about 2 weeks ago (Strathtay to Weem) and was amazed at the number of folk out recceing the route. I'm used to meeting one or two other cyclists at most!

    Oh, if you're looking for gentle leg loosening routes, there's some tough climbs to avoid - Kenmore to Glen Quaich and Lawers to Glen Lyon roads being the obvious ones:) Also the road out from Pitlochry out on to Moulin Moor has some steep bits.

    Enjoy your day on Sunday!
  • sam-antha
    sam-antha Posts: 11
    At the end of the ride, food, cooked food is necessary and if you have a great appetite and cannot stand the queues at the two chip shops and three pubs, then I sugest that you ravel south on the A9 for five miles to Ballinluig. There go left and left again to the Petrol station where there ia a cafe and lotsa long distance lorry drivers.
    It might not be the original greasy spoon caff, but it is good.. I found it the year before last.

    ~Samm
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    DO NOT GO TO THE CAFF AT BALLINLUIG. IT'S REALLY, REALLY RUBBISH. THE COFFEE AND TEA IS SO BAD THAT THEY GIVE YOU FREE REFILLS TO GET RID OF IT. SAME WITH THE FOOD - MAHOOSIVE PORTIONS BECAUSE IT'S SO BAD!!!

    HEAD NORTH AND GO TO THE HOUSE OF BRUAR INSTEAD!!!!!
  • sam-antha
    sam-antha Posts: 11
    edited May 2010
    It did not use to be, in my memory, it provided food in quantity, edible food. Aah well. Bruar is excellent but it shuts down around 4.30, it is ten miles north of Pitlochry, on the right of the A9. It really operates as an expensive tourist trapfor clothes.
    Buffet style good food, hot or cold.
    ~Samm
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    edited May 2010
    That should do it. I hate queues.....

    :wink:

    28983_389402058506_535078506_4172753_636718_n.jpg
  • thecrofter
    thecrofter Posts: 734
    Dr U Idh wrote:
    DO NOT GO TO THE CAFF AT BALLINLUIG. IT'S REALLY, REALLY RUBBISH. THE COFFEE AND TEA IS SO BAD THAT THEY GIVE YOU FREE REFILLS TO GET RID OF IT. SAME WITH THE FOOD - MAHOOSIVE PORTIONS BECAUSE IT'S SO BAD!!!

    HEAD NORTH AND GO TO THE HOUSE OF BRUAR INSTEAD!!!!!

    I take it you'll be in the cafe at Ballinluig then
    You've no won the Big Cup since 1902!
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Cunning. You almost had me posting perplexedly and peevedly that it wasn't the cafe I remembered...
  • Soreknees
    Soreknees Posts: 68
    +1 for Ballinluig.
    Stop there regularly as it's one of only a couple of places you can get a truck into on the A9. Reckon Newtonmore's better but a tad far away if you're from the south.
  • Pict
    Pict Posts: 108
    The start of the final climb at Logierait is a short sharp shock for weary legs. A very tight left hander onto a narrow road, get the granny gears at the ready.
    Come back with your bike or upon it.
  • Uncle B
    Uncle B Posts: 25
    Massive respect to everyone today! SWMBO and had a great ride and met some fantastic folk, both locals and entrants :-)

    Felt sorry for whoever dropped their chain 2 miles from the end :-(

    Safe journies home!
  • Spender45
    Spender45 Posts: 78
    Just home,


    Cracking day out really enjoyed that. Time was texted to my mobile before I even got my breath back. how good was that.

    My goodness that sharp hill at 76 miles and the lumpy bits after that certainly did my poor legs in.

    Good weather and ice locals out cheering all the way.
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    Excellent day in the saddle, managed what for me was a very decent time, and loved it! My first organised event of this type, and got pulled along well, and also got the chance to pull others along. Superb part of the country, great atmosphere, and brilliand support from the locals, that gave me a smile and eased my aching muscles!

    Roll on next year, or maybe next challenge.... Trossachs Ton anyone?
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • TallBlondJohn
    TallBlondJohn Posts: 14
    sam-antha wrote:
    At the end of the ride, food, cooked food is necessary and if you have a great appetite and cannot stand the queues at the two chip shops and three pubs, then I sugest that you ravel south on the A9 for five miles to Ballinluig. There go left and left again to the Petrol station where there ia a cafe and lotsa long distance lorry drivers.
    It might not be the original greasy spoon caff, but it is good.. I found it the year before last.

    ~Samm

    There's a nice cafe at the craft centre in Dowally, 10 miles or so south of Pitlochry on the A9. There is a lovely ride for Pitlochry up to Tulliemet then down to Dowally, a proper wee climb and descent with a quiet rolling road through lovely countryside in between. If you miss the turn you end up in Ballinluig. Takes less than an hour
  • themightyw
    themightyw Posts: 409
    Very very impressed with the organisation. Took about 2 minutes to pick up my chip the day before, and despite the inevitable chaos at the start there was tons of space forr cars and it was as good as you can hope for.

    Brilliantly stocked food stops, amazing route, weather held up well, and great welcome from the locals that really made a difference - many of the residents along the route had pipers in their gardens and were dishing out free treats / sweets.

    I was hugely impressed with the marshalling - I'd say around 8/10 of the people I saw stopped with mechanicals had an official helping them out.

    Brilliant day, made even sweeter by being 30 mins faster than I expected to be!
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Definitely a day for going fast - weather could only have been better if the wind had actually followed us all the way round! I think that's the first year there hasn't been either sub-zero temperatures or at least some rain. If you've got to go into the wind at all, the first leg heading west must be the best - big bunches to take the pain out of it, and then you've got the wind most of the way home...

    Great to meet some forumites out in the real world, good bunch of guys and everyone seemed to have a good time - and have a good time too, I think everybody came in faster than they expected.*

    Great support from spectators (claps, cheers, horns, bells, pipes) and they were still out there cheering right when the back markers came through. Great buzz around the whole area, real sense of being part of a big event.

    I was beyond chuffed with my time - I really didn't think I would get anywhere near the time I did, basically 30 mins better than my estimate - makes me wonder why I did all that training the last couple of years...


    *Except Doogee - with a bike like that you really should have come in faster... :wink:
  • sam-antha
    sam-antha Posts: 11
    Pict wrote:
    The start of the final climb at Logierait is a short sharp shock for weary legs. A very tight left hander onto a narrow road, get the granny gears at the ready.

    To quote another competitor who passed me by at the top "Ay, yon wus a wee buggerrr wuzn'tit ?" It was and the next one was worse.

    It was a real good day.

    ~Samm
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    I reckon there were a lot of personal bests set today on account of the weather. Nice to see so many folk out cheering us along, but I thought a lot more of the riders could have made an effort to acknowledge them. Most seemed to be just keeping the head down and hammering on.

    I see we're all being a bit coy about our times, so I'll mention that I was hoping for sub-5hrs and got round in a staggering 4:12. Just couldn't believe how fast I was going and managed to get in with some nice fast groups.
  • TallBlondJohn
    TallBlondJohn Posts: 14
    Did anybody see the ducklings in the road at Strathtay? Hope they made it. The hedgehog at the A827 junction didn't.
  • Dr U Idh
    Dr U Idh Posts: 324
    Saw a red squirrel saunter across the road near Strathtay - then just sit on the wall watching the bikes go past!
  • doogee
    doogee Posts: 82
    edited May 2010
    bompington wrote:
    *Except Doogee - with a bike like that you really should have come in faster... :wink:

    Ha, well I see that the 2011 entries are already open... It'll have to be sub 4 hrs next year which might be a tall order!! Well pleased with my time though and had a thoroughly good time.

    Also nice to meet some other forumites!

    Edit: I managed 4h 4m, I was hoping for around 4h 30m so managed to take a large chunk out of that! The route was fantastic and I was really pleasantly surprised with the huge amount of support from spectators and other riders. Just checked the results and I came 183rd in the KOM with a time of 22m 2s.

    And a big thanks to Bompington for the accommodation, without it I doubt I'd have driven up on the morning to take part.

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