On Sunday 9 August I completed my 1st ever sportive the 2015 ‘Tour o The Borders’ which started and finished in Peebles. The route was a 120km (74.6 miles) with 4722ft of ascent. My Official race time was 6hrs 35 though my moving time for the event was 5hrs 21 the difference being due to an hour and 15 minute delay due to an accident when two of the leading riders crashed within minutes of each other on the descent form Talla. Most riders were then unable to progress and spent a very cold 1 hr 20 on the Talla summit in strongish winds and showers waiting for the road to be re-opened.
Whilst this was an inconvenience the sight of the Air Ambulance collecting one of the injured riders was a sobering one and a reminder that one’s own inconveniencing was nothing compared to those who were injured.
I had journeyed down to Peebles with Alex, who would be starting in the 1st wave, on the Saturday as Registration was open from 10am-8pm on Saturday only on Peebles Tweed Green. Here we collected out race chips and I moved my start wave from 12 to 7 based on the improved time I now expected, having been in training since May. I had booked accommodation in plenty of time at Innerleithen but with just 3 weeks to go this provider cancelled our booking due to a cock up on their booking system so at the last minute we ended up in Hawick at the very friendly North Bridge Street B&B (but 1 hour away) where we were welcome to put our bikes indoors overnight. Sadly we couldn’t wait for breakfast as we needed to be on the road back to Peebles at 0430.
The 1st wave of riders was off at 0645 and I got going at 06:59. After 1:15 hrs my Garmin Edge froze so all other timing was done by Strava on the iPhone which turned out to be lifesaver with its autopause function. The course is an interesting one, pretty hilly all round with the 2nd main hill - Talla - being the Beast of a 1 in 20! It was here that we were all delayed on reaching the top. From Talla to the food stop at the Gordon Arms it was possible to really fly and overtook a large number of riders. There are plenty of food stops though I only stopped twice – when passing the old Gordon Arms Hotel for Jelly Babies and Macaroni pies.
Two big hills come on the 32km loop that the 120km course riders were doing that starts and ends at the Gordon Arms. The first of these was directly into the strong SW wind whilst the second ‘Whichyknowe’ had the timed climb (11min 55.57 secs for me). Just before ‘Whichyknowe’ another rider pointed out that my rear wheel was wobbling badly. I couldn’t see it myself at first but when climbing Paddy Slacks another rider called me to stop the wheel was really wobbly. On inspection almost all the spokes were loose. With no mechanics close by and no phone signal I was now stopping often to tighten spokes with my fingers and going reasonably slow downhills as I didn’t want the wheel to collapse. I reckon this problem probably lost me 10-15 minutes on the final time.
My Final position was 1132 out of 1403 finishers on the 120km course (228th in the M50-59 Category out of 282). Cash raised for the Matt Hampson foundation (so far) £495
Lessons Learned
1 – Get an early start, this will help with parking, preparing the bike and get you into the loo with plenty of time to spare
2 – Try to get accommodation nearer to the race (not always easy given 2000 entries)
3 – Check over the bike again – I reckon my loose spokes cost me around 20 minutes as I nursed the back wheel home for the last 30km or so.
4 – Carry a lightweight poncho or similar, my teeth were chattering on top of Talla when the race was delayed
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