Etape Caledonia.
Despite the fog and rain and crummy organization the first riders of the Etape Celedonia rolled across the start line at 8.00am on Sunday.
Amongst the 1300, the red & black were represented by Ian, Peter and banana fuelled newbie David Wilkins.
The 130k route (and around 2000m of climbing) took us from the small town of Pitlochry along the rain soaked, rolling roads on the north shores of Loch Tummel & Loch Rannoch then to the base of Schiehallion to tackle the main climb of the day.
At that point the rains seemed to clear and, after a tough start, we really got to enjoy the Highland views, the car-less roads and a long fast descent which took us down to the River Tay. The final 30 miles back to the finish were relatively flat and what climbs there were seemed to be of the sharp and nasty variety.
Though the terrain was demanding, it was a faster ride than expected with all 3 of us posting good times; first past the post was one Ed Woodhouse in 3:48:15.
Ian 4:22:47
David 4:29:57
Peter 5:03:04 and placing 19th in his category.
By some accounts this inaugural, closed road, sportive was nearly pulled before it started and had to be bailed out by the local council due to lack of funds/final entrants but with better (by that I mean COMPLETELY different) organizers this event has the potential to be a worthy annual fixture.
For me, I'm glad I made the effort to get up there, I'm glad I came in ahead to my target time
and I now wish I had entered the London event too.
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