I had a cracking sleep at Helen and Ru's house, it felt good to be in a proper bed and my ribs hadn't hurt half as much that night, maybe because I'd managed to get in a position that didn't involved being wedged against the motorhome bathroom wall! Helen made us all Bacon rolls for breakfast! what a star! After a cracking brew we posed for photos and then left for the start.
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| Ant, Myself with Bonnie, Helen, Ru and dad after our bacon rolls. |
Yet again dad was sporting his fetching 1990's black Ron Hill traksters - slightly better than his blue ones, he was wanting to cycle with me again. I didn't bother arguing this time, there's no point once he has an idea in his head. We started our day just south of a village called Forth - I'm not sure if its named after the River Forth or not but we were heading towards the Firth of Forth and I was really looking forward to crossing it. Crossing the Firth of Forth would put me further north than I had ever been in Scotland. I'd wrote in my diary that the village of Forth was quite ugly but that the scenery was lovely. I think that was probably a bit harsh, there were lots of building covered in a really drab looking grey pebbledash covering. There were also lots of grey council houses - that was something I had noticed right the way through Scotland so far. The houses weren't scruffy, the village centre and other surrounding villages weren't dirty. They weren't ugly they were just different to the chocolate box cottages of Devon and Cornwall. The rugged countryside was some of the best we had seen up until this point.
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| We started at one of the few painted houses around. |
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| A lively scene |
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| Tucked in nice and low ready for a descent. |
When we got to the bit where on the advice of Helen and Ru we needing to go straight ahead to avoid a gorge on the route we planned there was a sign up saying the bridge was closed. So we had no option other than heading to the gorge we'd been warned was too steep. The positive spin on this detour was that it took us right past Helen and Ru's house. It took us a while to get there but when I did Helen and Ru had gathered some neighbours and brought them out to cheer me on. Ed must have phoned them to let them know we were coming past. It seemed a nice way to thank them; to let them see me in action - even if it wasn't actually our decision to do a fly past.
The next thing on my mind was this gorge we were heading for. I'd been told it was very steep and winding both down to the bottom and then climbing up the other side. It didn't take long before we spotted the signposts saying Avon Gorge, it wasn't the Avon Gorge near Bristol (thought I'd let Nick know for when he reads this). On my way in to the Gorge I had to keep the brakes on to stop me building up speed and missing the nasty bends. Even with the brakes on I struggled to keep my speed down. Just as I reached the bottom and turned the final downward corner, Bang! My back right tyre popped. 140psi escaping from the tyre makes quite a loud noise. Ed came past in the motorhome, He must have known something was wrong, he slowed down and wound the window down. We told him and he said he would find a place to stop asap. The road through the gorge was narrow so there was nowhere for him to stop until he got out of the other side. I sent dad ahead to ride to Ed and help him get my spare wheels ready and of course to put the kettle on. Ant stayed with me as I crawled out of the Gorge with the flat. I held traffic up quite badly, it was busier than usual with everyone following the same diversion as us. Two artic trucks struggled to get past. I was going as fast as I could with that flat tyre. Eventually I reached the top, one of the truck drivers had spotted the motorhome and all the spares scattered around. He'd parked up to go and make a donation and wish me luck. I'd been panicking thinking I was pissing everyone off by holding them up. That was proof of me over thinking things. That said, the work Dave from The Academy Of The Sporting Mind had got me through this little mishap. I'd expected to get a lot of damaged tyres on the trip but this was my first one at way over 500 miles, not bad going. It did happen in the worst place possible but I handled it without having a massive meltdown!
I finished the morning by crossing the Firth of Forth on the Clackmannanshire Bridge. It was stunning! There were cracking views up and down the firth and straight ahead of us the Ben Cleuch mountain, still with snow on top. Seeing a tiny bit of snow on the mountain with made it hit home just how far I'd travelled. Two weeks earlier I'd been looking at peoples gardens being extremely jealous of all the exotic plants in the gardens which would have just died if I'd been silly enough to put them in my garden at home.
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| Clackmannanshire Bridge, not my photo but you get the idea! |
I'd now got myself further north than ever before in Scotland. I'd covered 33 miles, a whole day's worth of miles in just the morning session. I was made up with myself. It was day 15 and rather than being the wrecked shell of a human that Brian had suggested I would be if I attempted 33 miles a day I had just done 33 miles in one push. I was obviously tired and my ribs were sore but I certainly wasn't embarrassing anybody with how useless I was like the scenario that had been talked about at that meeting.
We stopped for lunch just after the bridge in what has to be one of the most scenic laybys in the country - We'd visited quite a few of them by this stage so I feel well qualified to say that! We weren't far from Stirling or Bannockburn and as a massive history geek I could feel my Scots blood stirring. It would have been great to go and visit some of the places so pivotal in Scottish history but I had a world record to break so we had lunch instead. Again, it's another area I want to go back to.
Day 15 Morning Stats
Miles: 33.56
Time: 2:50:55
Average Moving Speed: 11.8mph
Top Speed: 40.9mph (fastest yet)
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 21 - 11:12
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 8 - 1:57 (fastest ever)
Total Ascent: 1219ft
Average Heart Rate: 138bpm
Max Heart Rate: 158bpm
Day 15 Morning Progress Maps
Day 15 Afternoon
Ed and I checked the map during lunch, mainly to reassure me that we weren't heading for the bloody great lump of rock the road was aiming straight at! Luckily we didn't have to break out the ice axe just yet. We were keeping to a road that passed between the mountains and the Firth of Forth heading for somewhere called The Crook of Devon, this was another one of those times I missed Nick, I wanted to hear his views on passing through The Crook of Devon and the Avon Gorge.... in Scotland - I imagined him saying something like "Can they not think of their own names up here?".
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| Thankfully we were heading around the mountains not over them! |
The afternoon was another damp one, I was struggling to with getting my gloves to stick on my wet push rims. I still had my spare wheels on the chair as we hadn't changed the popped tyre at lunchtime. We hadn't modified the spare wheel's push rims with tape for extra grip in the wet like we had done with my best wheels. After 10 miles I'd lost a lot of speed due to the slipping but also the bearings in my spare wheels were old and stiff. I decided to stop and change the tyre on my best wheels so I could use them to squeeze an extra few miles from the day. With leaving in a hurry at the start of the challenge my spare tyres only got delivered the day before we left for Cornwall. Normally I would blow a new tyre up to stretch it so it would be easier to put on, I hadn't had time to do that this time. Getting a tub tyre on a carbon disk wheel is a nightmare. Ed and Ant hadn't even seen it done before let alone tried to do it. Dad and I both have a hereditary condition with our hands that stops our grip being quite as strong as it should be and alters the way our fingers moved. There wasn't enough room for all four of us to wrestle the tyre in to place so Ant resumed his role of tea maid, He was very skilled at it after all! Ed, Dad and I worked up a proper sweat trying to get the tub on, I don't think Ed believed how hard it was to change them up until that point! You end up with blisters on your thumbs, bruises on your fingers and hands and pouring in sweat. I'd already told Ed about getting a puncture in a race, you have to change the tyre yourself and without taking the wheel off the chair. Many wheelchair athletes choose to push home slowly instead of trying to change the tyre. Quite often your arms are too tired to get a tyre on by yourself, especially if you are new and inexperienced. You also have to deal with the spectators trying to help you. They mean well and they have no idea that if you accept help you will be disqualified from the race. People just don't listen when you ask them not to help you, especially when you are struggling and you need help. The frustration of not being able to accept the help you need, the panic that chairs are going to come streaming past and the fact you are pissed off that all your training has gone to waste as there is now no chance of breaking a PB all adds up to wheelchair athletes looking like arseholes telling people trying to help to go away. After beating the tub tyre in to submission and finally getting it on my wheel I think Ed had a much better understanding of how frustrating punctures in races are.
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| We started to pass lots of tree plantations. |
Tyre changed I managed to get my good wheels back on my chair with the push rims taped up, after our brew we got back out on the road. My speed was now much better, we pushed through The Crook of Devon and headed for Loch Leven. I think the damp had got to Dad and Ant, they were both pretty quiet again.
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| Causing a mini stampede was fun, I could feel the vibrations they caused! Beautiful Cooos! |
To try and stop myself switching off I was doing sums in my head, I do this in races to take my mind off how much things are hurting or how far I have left to go. I try and work out my finishing time or what speed I need to push at to get a certain finishing time. Paula Radcliffe used to count to 100 when running to take her mind off the running itself. I'd spoken to Dave my sports psychologist about this and he said if it was a tool I found worked for me to go ahead and use it. On this push I couldn't predict finishing times as I didn't have a set finishing point so I started working out how far I thought I could go and what distance would give me some nice numbers for the day. I settled on going for 20 miles in this push, that would mean 53 miles for the day which seemed to sit right as I was pushing for The 53 Foundation. It would also mean a total of 100 miles over the last two days. That's what I aimed for and that's what I achieved, maybe it wasn't just the rain that had quietened Ant and dad down again maybe they were just knackered!
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| Ant looking proud of his 100 miles in 2 days, me looking knackered! |
We headed for yet another free campsite, Gallowhill Campsite was in the fields around a very old farmhouse. It had breath taking views in every direction, views that worried me for the next day as it seemed like there were mountains in every direction. We weren't much above sea level at this campsite so I knew we'd be climbing on Day 16. Ed went inside the farmhouse which doubled up as reception to ask them where to hook up for the night (the motorhome you mucky lot). He came out crying laughing. Apparently Grandma of the family was sat at her antique desk working the reception, Ed had told her who we were and she had called one of her grandsons to come and take us to the pitch. Granddad had overheard Ed thanking her for the free pitch and jumped right in to the stereotypical Scottish tight arse role. In a thick Scottish accent he'd shouted through from the other room
"Two pounds Mhairi, two pounds. They can have a free spot but get two pounds off them for the electric!"
Obviously Ed wasn't going to argue over two quid so he paid it and then the grandson arrived to take us to the pitch. Ed told us the story on the way, him and dad had some sort of competition in thick Scottish accents over who could ask Mhairi to charge people for the most ridiculous things.
"fifty pence Mhairi, fifty pence. They can have a free pitch but get fifty pence for the air they will breath! see you jimmy!"
More and more ridiculous! The grandson made sure we were ok with the pitch and pointed us in the direction of the showers and other facilities and then shot off on his quad bike. We were still giggling like school kids over granddads Scottishness when the grandson reappeared with the two pounds, clearly he'd been back to the farm and heard from granddad that he'd got a couple of quid out of the cheeky English buggers wanting a free pitch. He was really embarrassed by it bless him, we said we didn't mind and we'd had a joke about it. He threw a bit of change in the collection bucket, wished me good luck for the rest of the journey, apologised again and shot off on his quad.
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| Gallowhills Campsite. |
I went for a shower, entered the cubical, stripped off, then couldn't work out how it switched on until I spotted a notice that said coin operated, place coins in correct slot near the door. The door in question wasn't the cubicle door it was the door of the male changing rooms, I had to bloody crawl past the showers, past the changing areas, past the sinks and past the toilets to put 50p in the slot. I had to make the journey twice more during my shower! You can imagine the comments when I got back to the motorhome and told everyone the shower had cost £1.50! We were all in stiches laughing at how Granddad had found a way to get a bit more money out of his campers. The site was lovely though and I'd have no second thoughts about going back and paying full, even with all the extras it would be a cheap place to stay.
For the rest of the evening dad and Ed would randomly shout out 'two pounds Mhairi, two pounds'
Day 15 Afternoon Stats
Miles: 19.85
Time: 2:03:39
Average Moving Speed: 9.5mph
Top Speed: 25.7mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 8 - 8:54
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 14 - 4:00
Total Ascent: 949ft
Average Heart Rate: 140bpm
Max Heart Rate: 157bpm
Day 15 Afternoon Progress Maps
Total Daily Mileage: 53.41
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