Phil would complete the last leg on Monday as he had his partners Dads 80th birthday bash to attend near Berwick over the weekend but would have his partners brother Murray to accompany him on his bike back up the road to Edinburgh.
Thankfully I had Steve and Martin who got the train down to Berwick the day before to give me company up the road.
Unfortunately we had to leave at 0530 due to Hearts v Rangers being shifted from a 3pm kick off to a 1215 kick off so the game could be shown on telly and if there was any chance of seeing this game in the final stadium I would have to cycle like an express train to get there in time.
So off we went at 0530 on the dot. Gave Garmin one last reboot and woohoo! It worked!
Not sure why... maybe just giving it an extra charge from 97% to 100% did it but who knows... who cares... what is important is that it would shave off about 20/30 mins through some back roads and missing out Duns.
The road was damp but the sun was on our backs as was the wind for a change. What a difference that made.
We cracked on for 10/15 miles until we saw the welcome to East Lothian with a 14% incline - I wouldn't call that a welcome - I would call it "get up here if you're hard enough"
Well, I had my granny gear and leaning over the handlebars I managed to make it to the top without stopping.
Time to crack open my pack breakfast get the deck chair out, lie back, munch away and take in the beautiful scenery while I waited on Steve & Martin to catch up with me. I was just finishing my breakfast when they arrived at this particular summit. Once everybody was fuelled we were off again.
Not to be outdone by a hacker loaded with several suitcases and a signed fitba they belted up the next hill with great aplomb. However I did see Steve get a push from Willies wife as they had driven up to see us at the final summit where Edinburgh, the Lothians and the firth of forth could be seen. It was a cracking view from nearly 1,500 feet.
From here it was all downhill to Portobello promonade especially for Steve.
Head down and hands on the brakes I managed to hit 45mph - but with cattle grid coming up I didn't have much time to straighten up and felt my back wheel slide a bit - scary, very scary, a warning to come...
Martin was giving it laldy down the road but I was in control decent mode as there were sharp corners.
However with Steve about 15/20 feet behind me and with the road still damp, as we turned a corner all I could hear was 'Ohhh shit' from Steve as he misjudged his speed and flew over the handlebars and into a ditch. I think his motocross experience helped him decide on the style of aerobatics he would apply landing in a mud ditch on the other side of the road (just as well there wasn't a car coming in the other direction).
As he stood up he looked more like a mud wrestler with a small graze on his chin and finger.
Once we got to Gifford we cleaned him up as best we could and carried on. Time now 0900
Still downhill we went and pitched up at Portobello promonade. At this point Steve was feeling a bit poorly and no wonder so Martin escorted him home while I carried onto the 2/3 final stadiums. Once Hibernian was done I took the opportunity to fit in Edinburgh City at Meadowbank just in case they make it up to the SPFL 2
And finally to Heart of Midlothian 1130 where large crowds were gathering to see Hearts lift the Championship trophy.
Parked up my bike, got changed, put 4 layers on as it was getting colder by the minute and took my seat in the stand where Hearts were very kind to give me a seat to watch the game.
Game ended 2 - 2 then once the presentation was over it was back into my cycling gear and the last 5 miles back to home via the pitch at Balerno High School where it all started 12 days ago.
Met up with Phil and Murray on Monday on their bikes at Easter Road. Apparantly they had a headwind all the way - nae luck!
Managed to get the bikes up the tunnel at Easter Road and took some pics before we headed off to Edinburgh City and onto Hearts where the stadium appeared to be shut. So quick pic outside and it was time to head home.
Summary
1,000 miles covered
42 clubs visited (43 if you include Edinburgh City)
More Sponsorship raised for the 2G pitch
Felt 21c down to 0c
Felt sun, rain, sleet, hail, snow, bitter biting winds
Felt tailwinds, headwinds, crosswinds
Heard thunder but didn't see lightning
Garmin satnav worked when it needed to
Live Track worked where there was mobile reception
Sore arse
Sore knee
Sore ankle
No punctures
No broken chains
No broken spokes
No tread left on Phils back tyre
Completely and utterly knackered and going to bed.
Phil in the HOME dugout
Graeme in the AWAY dugout
No comments:
Post a Comment