They're out there...

It was the Dunkeld autumn training camp this week. To kick it off I took myself and mrs mac to Bo’ness, the centre of Scottish UFO sightings, if reports are to be believed, but which they never are.

Why Bo’ness I hear you ask? Had I been drawn there by a secret force? Have I been mysteriously stressed and been found modelling a small mountain of mashed potato on our kitchen table in the wee small hours? No; instead it was another of those very terrestrial cyclo-cross events. 

We got parked up some way down the hill at Kinneil House, quite a grand setting for the event. I picked my number up and nodded to a few riders I’ve begun to recognise over the course of the season. At 10.30am we got on the course for a warm up and it seemed flattish, with no stretches where running would be required. Worse luck. The course tape wound its way around a section of woodland which was interesting. Elsewhere, the surface was very divetted (if that’s a word). With my mild improvement continuing at these events, I have begun to pick up league points, but not enough seemingly to feature in the gridding at the front, so its left to us losers to battle our way from the ‘very back’ to ‘nearly the very back’ of the peleton. 

It was a moderately muddy 40 minutes of intense cardio and I was well pleased to have remained upright throughout the whole affair. Mrs mac provided some solid support and took any number of photos in the low morning light. After loading a clagged up bike into the back of the car and chatting to a guy from Prestwick, we sat and discussed the aerial light show we had witnessed and the odd oval eyed  and almond skulled locals who were gathered around the street corners. Later, we repaired to a café in Kinross for a steak sandwich and pot of tea before heading north. Among other highlights so far this week, we’ve jogged 15 miles to Pitlochry along part of the Atholl Path and clocked up 10 miles around Tentsmuir; that is before ruining all the good work with ingesting a huge tray of chips from the Salt and Pine crepe hut. Its 2 steps forward and 2 steps back. With the cross country at Kilmarnock on Saturday and then more cyclo-cross on Sunday back home, It’ll be a busy weekend. In the meantime, I'll have a go at trying to extricate the strange metal probe I've found inserted into my privates.     

Scottish CX Champs, Camperdown

 

I found myself in Pathhead on Saturday with both the Condor road bike and Moda cross bike in the back of the car and the sun beginning to wane. It was evident that by the time I would get to my accommodation in Perth that the sun would be too far below the horizon to spare me ninety minutes on the bike. So an executive decision was made to ditch the car in Dalkeith and take a lap round Musselburgh and surrounding countryside. 

It took my a few minutes to dig the bike out and get my shoes on, but I was soon off and heading north. The traffic was very heavy and making my way toward the coast, my ride was hampered by traffic lights and people in cars living their retail lives. After Musselburgh High Street, I worked my way round to Wallyford and back to Dalkeith and then ended going up towards Lasswade. By the time I returned I had 20 miles on the clock and my daily thirst for mileage was sated. 

It was a quiet Saturday night in the Perth Travelodge and I was up at the crack on Sunday for a 2 mile jog around Huntingtower. The mist was down and it was atmospheric and damp as I jogged around this fortified house with only a few crows for company. After a shower, it was porridge in a plastic tub and a yogurt for breakies. Donning my distinctive zebra-zigzag arm warmers, my monogrammed cycling gear and diamond cufflinks I was soon ready and it was off to Dundee for the 2022 Scottish Cyclo Cross Champs. When I was asked last week why I do cyclo-cross but not road racing on the bike, I answered that its because there are age related fields. With eighty or so 50's and 60's, there is no chance of coming up against some of the young guns and finding yourself out the back and isolated after 2 minutes. Instead, you get an experience that lasts long enough to enjoy and maintain the illusion  that youre still a  'player'. 

There was no commissionaire at the sign on tent to interrogate me as to why there is no photo on my licence card. No dramas. I collected my number after parking on the grass. Camperdown was chocca. It was cool and grey, but sheltering in the trees with the grey squirrels looking on perplexed by the whole affair, the course appeared straightforward with a couple of sandpits but no obvious bits for running. 

After the kids, we were on, mid morning. I was gridded near the back and were soon off and belting down the finishing straight. There were a couple of other guys from the club riding, and one nipped in front of me shortly after the start. The sheer temerity of the move made me smile as did the white rimmed googles he was hiding behind. However, I was soon back in front and chasing Jim Foulis (Dundee Wheelers) whom I'd met at Irvine the previous week. I nearly stayed in touch with him, and even managed to pass a Falkirk rider just before the finish. It was a most enjoyable 40 minutes of off-roading and I'm sure my confidence at attacking off-camber bends and slippy bits is rising with every race. I still managed to derail myself in one of the sandpits, but I'm learning. If I trained I might improve, but reports of my impending retirement were premature -  I'm still ploughing that dull furrow during the week. 

Finishing toward the back again, the bike wasn't too mucky and I retired to the Tartan coffee shop on Perth Road for a haggis and mango pannini (yes, really) and a pot of steaming tea. Top trip. Its Bo'ness next weekend after the Cross Country at Durham.

XC then CX - Kirkcaldy & Irvine.

 

The week fairly flies these days. The Scottish Short Course Cross Country Championships at Kirkcaldy last Saturday seems like a distant memory.  Three of us arrived just as the rain departed and assisted with the tent before having a jog around the short 4k course. Speedy Joe was on first in the womens race and struggled in the 2nd lap to finish around 35th, no doubt feeling the Alpine training in her legs. There was a surfeit of University Student runners in the race and the short course although heavy going was nonetheless little more than a sprint. The men's and vets race was not significant other than withdrawal of Anton after the first lap. I chased two Bella team mates and overhauled both before being caught in the last 500m by one. I knocked around a minute off last years time, but still ended up around 300th out of 500 or so. Maybe it was a bigger field or a faster day. I enjoyed the race though and gave it full beans. 

We took off shortly afterwards to Irvine and got there around 5.30 to the guest house by the harbour. It was fifty quid for the night, the bedroom was tottie, but it was clean and nicely laid out and even came with a caramel wafer. We repaired to the nearby Niche eatery and sat outside in the terrace. We then went to the Carrick Hotel past the Riverside for a pint and via Vanilla Joes for an ice cream cone. 

I was up and out the next morning for 4 miles, running along the coast toward Troon. After a Greggs sannie and tea, breakfast of would-be champions, I took the car the 300 yards to the car park for the Irvine Cyclo Cross. Boasting a record entry of 100 M50's/M60's, I rode a lap of the coarse and took my place at the start. The sun was out but low and it was a cool breeze blowing across the dunes. I am glad to report that all the new kit held together well and I finished an awesome 63rd out of about 80 or so starters. Came down once trying to be smart. It was a quality 40 minutes. Speedy and Anton provided some great support and took some cool snaps. I am looking forward to Dundee this Sunday and the Scottish CX champs. The course there looks pretty heavy, so the bike won't be coming back quite as clean as it was after Irvine.      

New Boot & Panties

Sat in the mid-morning sunshine armed with a mug of hot tea, I am feeling righteous. The bike wheels have been trued and came back yesterday, so I have spent the entire morning (so far) stripping the rear cassette (the wee group of cogs that sit on the rear back wheel), cleaning them, then re-assembling them. I’ve also mounted new tyres on both wheels. Tidy. The tyres are knobbly Continentals.  Shelling out fifty quid for the 2 tyres, I reasoned that they will provide me with better traction than the old ones at the forthcoming cyclocross in Irvine in bonny Ayrshire. Truth be told, if I had reduced the pressure from 40psi to about 20psi last time around at Herrington, I might not have had to be so tentative at the tricky bits during the race and probably wouldn’t have needed to splash the cash. Let's not talk about the new mountain bike shoes, but you’ll agree that they will give me a further edge across the sandy beach course. I think I counted a field of 100 over 50’s when last I looked at the British Cycling entry list, so I won’t be alone, one way or another. There could be some horrible congestion, though.

I used to spend hours riding and cleaning my bike when I was an eager young chap back in the eighties when the world was full of possibilities, and, as Scott Fitzgerald once wrote ‘don’t go out unless you’re doing at least 20 miles’. This was later confirmed when Duncan McHardy (RIP), erstwhile part time coach in Dundee said ‘less than 2 hours on the bike is a waste of time’. Times were hard. Standards were high. I used to think that I could ride with the best of them (well, at least in training). Might just be selective amnesia. My VO2 max has slumped like Bitcoin since then and my heart rate can only daydream about what it used to do, but I’m grateful that I can still go out and enjoy a good beasting, whether it be a run or a ride. 

Getting new tyres on wheel rims is a right faff. They’re too tight and it takes technique not to nip the rubber tube. It is a technique that I do not possess. It’s no wonder that the kids send their bikes to the local shop for any little thing. I paid twenty quid for the wheels to be straightened and most probably I could have done it myself, if I’d watched a youtube clip or three. My mother used to get exasperated when she’d find my polishing my spokes in the hall with silvo or bathing my nuts and washers in turps on the kitchen floor. Nutbath city limits. I am slowly rediscovering my old love of the bike and just need to complete negotiations with Mrs Mac as to where in the house they can reside. There is something atavistic about men and their ‘little collections’. I am not very patient when it comes to hoarders, but I concede that I have a blind spot for my own transgressions. There's been more than one visitor to the house who was agog at the bikes all over the place. I should add that they’re not all mine. The garage is too damp for the lovies, and who wants to over-winter with the mice or leggy spiders and listen to that tumble dryer doing its best to destroy the planet. I would really like them (the bikes, not the mice) in a room downstairs. A shed might be an idea, but the garden’s not that big and we might lose the onions Mrs mac has recently planted. So, for the time being, they are a persistent fixture at chez al.  

Moving on to running, I managed to improve my placing at last Saturdays Lambton Cross Country and nearly managed to breach the top 100. As I flogged my way with 450 other runners around 3 laps of a country park near Washington, I mused that this time of year is (without fear of contradiction), my nearly favourite time of the year to run. The autumnal colours are stunning. Running in the snow cannot be beaten though. My mileage is already up to 32m this week so I better reign it in. Its Kirkcaldy tomorrow for the 4k. Wish me luck. I’ll have the cleanest sprockets on the course! 

Postscript: 'I now read that selective amnesia may be a sign of impending memory loss. Ironically this research was published by University College, Irvine, but not the Ayrshire Irvine!' Who said that?   

Herrington Park, Cyclo Cross (16th Oct)

Its been a busy few weeks back here in allymac towers. Speedy Joe has gone over to the dark side and got married and so folk have been a bit pre-occupied with all the arrangements and what not. As Anton the groom pointed out, the criteria for being selected as a bridesmaid was a sub 20min 5k! What with her new surname, I imagine that she'll have to re-invent herself! In the meantime, I have clocked up 40 running miles last week and also managed to shoe-horn in another full-on cardio session cyclo-cross a fortnight ago.  I inadvertently described the cardio workout at Herrington near Sunderland to my running companion earlier this week as a 'cardiac' session, and that's probably nearer the truth. There's two leagues in the north east here for cyclo-cross and this time it was the larger, moderately more expensive CXNE league event  that I signed up for.  

The start was seeded, and if you haven't paid the extra forty quid for a full licence, you don't get points and so are always destined to start at the back of the pack. Pathetic in a small minded way, really. There were around 50 over-50 men in the field, with the women setting off about a minute behind us. I had come down in the warm up and it took a good few laps before I began to become more confident with the various twists, turns and adverse cambers. I managed to stay upright throughout finishing around 38th or thereabouts. One of my shoes plates had got stuck in the pedals with a screw working loose, so I was pleased I hadn't crashed otherwise I would have struggled to get back up without taking off the shoe. Mrs Mac took a pile of photos so that was something. I have now stuck my name down for the Scottish Champs in Dundee in mid November. Its really just an excuse to get back up to Tayside to see the geese and enjoy the banter.  Its the local cross country this weekend and I wouldn't mind improving on my previous performance. I haven't done Lambton before, so it should be a good workout. 

Druridge Cross Country 2022: All Aboard..

 I managed to remain dry and relatively unsullied during Sundays Cross Country race. There was a big field at Druridge Bay Country Park near Amble, hosting the second of the NE harrier league xc events. It was 2015 the last time I did this, and I recall I had a hacky cough even back then, before coughs were invented and inflation was a thing of the past and a lingering spectre of the future. The women were off first in this handicapped affair and I jogged around some of the course with the Nikon looking for a few good locations to take a few pictures, snapping as some of our lot came past. Soon it was the men and I snuck into a pack of around 450 who together made up the slow pack (the 100 others joining the medium and fast packs). I didn't bring the camera! The ground was firm with just a little yield and it was a fairly straightforward, if breezy, 3 laps. Starting near the back, I worked my way through plenty of folk before my progress stuttered a little in the 3rd lap, where I still pulled a few in, but more bodies from the medium and fast packs came blustering by. I was happy to avoid the ditch as the marshall helpfully stood and shouted exhaustively about the one main feature of the race. 'Watch the ditch'....Finished 218th out of 550 and at the line I managed to remain upright and walked with feign composure to the tent. This must have translated into a steady run, so I need to coax a little more of the old competitive spirit out of the carcass on the next one if I'm going to get near Hemy, Merrison and the likes.

I nearly drove to Manor Water for the hill race the day before, but I read only 30-odd ran; I think the rest were all doing the Skyline on Sunday, a true leg-bender. My next foray north might be the Scottish short course cross country in November. This year its in Kirkcaldy, and I hope I'm in better shape than I was at Lanark last year when I was nursing a hip injury and slacked my way round (http://runnerwanderings.blogspot.com/2021/11/lanark-short-course-xc.html ). I'm back at the weights, but only squatting with 20kg, which is the weight of the bar alone. No weights. Reminds me of how truly puny I am (as if I needed reminding). 

After my self-styled 'awesome' performance at the 3 peaks, I've entered a cyclo-cross at Sunderland on Sunday. I'll try not to be last, but there may be some perverse glory in it If I do finish with da wooden spoon. I also tried to enter a national league event at South Shields, but apparently you need a 'proper' licence, which begs the question 'what have I paid British Cycling fifty quid for'? and should  a question mark go before an apostrophe or afterwards? and does anyone care about grammar anymore. On the reading front I picked up Ali Smiths 'Autumn' yesterday after finishing George Martin's early novella 'Nightflyers', but soon realised that I'd read it earlier this year, and a good, evocative read it was too.  On the same theme, I read 'Midshipman Bolitho' earlier, my first tentative step into the maritime historical fiction genre of Alexander Kent. It was light and enjoyable, slightly more easily digestible than Falkners 'Moonfleet'.   Bought two more of his efforts at the charity book fair last week. What am I like!   Still working on which  next epic event I should grace with my presence....    

A Guid Dookin' at the Yetholm Shepherds Race

 

I’m a week behind the times. Looking around at most of the blog sites written by my peers, I find that very few have had the stamina to continue to keep their blogs up to date. I’m not sure what that says about me. Saddo. Anyway, I digress. Me and Speedy Joe travelled up to the Yetholm Show last weekend for the Shepherds Show Race. It's just over an hour's drive and just over the border. It was a Scottish Championship race this year, so we expected the field for the hill race to be swollen, a little like the burn crossing that had filled with the previous days rain. Around 80 turned out including Wild, Douglas, Marwick, Marshall, Mudge as well as the local Norham, Gala, Wooler and Teviotdales that frequent the annual races held in the Cheviots. We paid our 10 quid for entry and returned briefly to the car to change. After a good heavy shower, it began to dry, and the temperature rose. I was happy that we were going to stay dry and discarded my t-shirt, going for the vest-only look. I had dug out my old Canon sureshot which is light enough to run with and still had a good lense. I had decided that I wasn’t going to flog myself mercilessly up 'yon big hills', but, instead, take the arty photos during the race that no other photographer could possibly manage. As the course leaves the show ground it takes you up one hill to a turn, returning the way you came, back through the show ground, across the burn, then up Staerhough with a wee loop at the top before returning. If I played my cards right, I could photograph the whole field, or at least most of them, at some point.  A woman arrived with two dogs just before we were about to go and she hurriedly pinned her number on her pink t-shirt. I wondered who she was. But soon we were off with me click, clicking to my left and right, then running on. 

The first hill was short and not too steep, and I got a few decent shots, as Wild and Douglas hoofed past me on their first return leg. I put the camera away on the way down, but on reaching the stream crossing, I stopped and dug it out again and let a couple of lads go past so that I could get the ‘shot’ of them splashing across. After the second guy crossed I thought I’d better get on with it, and began to cross, while at the same time stowing away the camera. However, I was not concentrating and tripped, falling headlong into the gushing rapids. There was a hoot of glee from the onlookers, one or two who had their camera phones out. I got up, got to the opposite side and shook the camera. It never stood a chance. I battled on and passed a couple as I ascended Staerhough. It was super windy at the top, but we were not there long enough to get cold, and an Edinburgh Uni girl passed me, before I re-passed her on the way down. At the second crossing of the stream I took it canny and Edinburgh Uni waded past me with confidence and at the finish line she had taken a couple of seconds out of me. Les, the organiser said he would have liked to have witnessed my dooking, and I guessed I was going to be able, at some point, to see the photo taken by one of the on-lookers. What if one had video footage…would my fall from grace go viral. No matter: dispensing with the warm down I got back to the car and changed and poured myself a hot coffee. What a plonker. It was fifty something placing and forty something minutes for the race. 

Surf n' Turf

Speedy was second to the pink shirted runner from down south who goes by the name of Emily Cowper Cowles…look her up. Holds the solo record for the ascent of the UK 3 peaks, including cycling in between them. Crackers.

Getting home, at least the memory card hadn’t been ruined and I stuck the photos on google.

 (link  https://photos.app.goo.gl/p2eSa8GSewasDzp9A )

 The photo of my 'baptism' was found on the Norham facebook site.  The next morning I was off early to Dundee to ride with the Thistle. It was a fine day out for the 7 intrepid riders as we contrived a 55 mile ride that included 3 climbs around Kinnaird and Abernyte. It was the Taybridge and Speedwell bars and a house special chow mein in the evening and an earlyish night before a 25 miler to Errol in the morning gloom. Not a bad weekend all told.