Well, we’ve done it – 56 miles of hills through the Borders. This so makes up for last year, and I’m very relieved that we didn’t have another joint did-not-finish. And I only had four hour’s sleep! (Perhaps it was the spinach and lentil curry at the Prince of India – but I needed carbohydrates to keep me fueled and rocket-powered.)

I don’t recall much ascending about the first hill (‘Mountbenger’, aka ‘Paddy Slacks’), just the descent to the first feed station at the Gordon Arms (where the B709 crosses Yarrow Water). I was wearing a thin base layer and my Lifescycle jersey, so the relatively fast descent was a tad chilly.

The second hill, ‘Berry Bush’ (aka ‘Top Swire’) was a just a long upward slope – shallower than Lothian Road or Bruntsfield, I think but much, much longer – and far more exposed to the elements. The sign saying I’d reached the highest point of the course was very welcome. Then a cattle-grid and what should have been a very fast descent but Lev felt restrained. Still chilly, though. The 50 km to go sign was quite welcome.

The final hill, ‘Witchy Knowe’ (aka ‘Bottom Swire’) was a bugger. I could see the top, way above me, and many cyclists grinding their way up ahead of me. It was here that Caroline passed me, but with a friendly ‘keep pushing’. But she was on a road bike and using her gears – I have a point of pride about staying in the big ring, no matter how much it saps my speed and momentum. I was very close to dropping towards grannydom though. (Having said that if I had changed down when I wanted to, I’d probably have lost momentum doing so and fallen over. Moral: change just before you absolutely need to. Going down was scary – I had both brakes on all the time, while others passed me at quite a lick. I might have let myself go a little faster but I was behind a couple riding abreast – they were going just fast enough that overtaking safely (there were lots of bends) would have required an uncomfortable speed.

After that, the route basically undulated – what felt like only a few upward slopes but lots of fast descent. Despite having basically drained my legs on the ascents, I kept up a reasonable 15 mph. This was despite a few miles being on the sort of road surface that looks smooth but saps momentum and replaces it with arse-pain. Thank goodness for two layers of padding, relatively new shorts and any anaesthetic that was smuggled into my arse-cream.

As the route passed Selkirk, I began to realise I could complete 50 miles in under four hours. (I’d thought I’d take nearly 6 hours for the whole event.) In fact, the 50 miles came at 3:48:35. The actual end, however, took quite a while to arrive. But turning into the Traquair estate was indeed welcome. JPhone may not have recorded it properly – cyclemeter says I took 4 hours 19 minutes, while my official time was 4 hours 23 minutes. Here’s the map, and here’s a screenshot of it:

As we reached Peebles town centre, the rain and wind came on. We stashed the bikes on Bug (Elly’s car) and meandered back into the town centre in search of sustenance. Fortunately the County Inn provided both beer (which didn’t touch the sides) and – after a noticeable delay – large portions of smokey bean chilli, salad with roquito pepper drops and potato wedges. Thereafter, a soggy drive back to Edinburgh, to collapse in front of the TV.

This was an enjoyable and worthwhile ride – I want to do it again! I know I had more miles in me, and Elly’s just pointed out we did over a Munro‘s worth (3615 feet) of ascent. So next year – either I aim for under 4 hours on the same hefty touring bike or I do the 77-mile version. Yeehah!

If you’re sick of the schoolboys knocking verbal lumps out of each other and simplifying to the point of lies*, and of all the other adversarial shite around the independence referendum, then I can heartily recommend a day of independence dialogue centred on respect and reconciliation.

Run by Collaborative Scotland – a brainchild of John Sturrock QC, a tireless worker for mediation and a lawyer combining brains and compassion – this day brings conversations with

• Douglas Alexander MP, shadow foreign secretary
• Andrew Wilson, former SNP MSP and journalist
• Peter Lederer CBE, Chairman of Gleneagles Hotel
• David Melding AM, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly
• Conor Murphy MP and former Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Dan McDonald, businessman and sponsor of N56
• Alastair McIntosh, ecologist and writer
• Rev Richard Frazer, minister of Greyfriars Kirk

More details here!

*I had to walk away from the TV this evening. Elly had to suffer through it because it’s ‘work’.

I’d devised a few cycling ambitions for this year. Because Elly and I will be cycling in Bavaria at the time of Pedal for Scotland, it looks like I won’t achieve a 100-mile cycle (preferably a sportive) this year. Nor will I get to do a triathlon. But yesterday I achieved the third ambition – cycling to Glasgow and back.

There was a nasty headwind on the way to Glasgow – I think I turned it blue swearing at it as I struggled to maintain 10mph. As ever Uphall was nasty – why is the main street made of concrete slabs with huge expansion gaps? Despite wearing two layers of padding and copious arse-cream, I had severe arse-pain between there and the West Lothian/North Lanarkshire border. (I don’t know how entering NL cured it: maybe the nerves in my backside just gave up, maybe entering NL meant the end was in sight.) Whatever, I’m very grateful to West Lothian Council for the smooth cyclepath beside the A89 from Dechmont to Bathgate. Having cycled that stretch of road a few times, I know that that stretch of tarmac – which looks smooth – is a real bum-breaker.

My only stop on the way, except for traffic lights, was at the far side of Blackridge (so I was over halfway there) to water a farm gatepost and munch a couple of energy-chews. Here’s the cycle meter link, and here’s a screenshot of the cyclemeter map:

At Glasgow, I couldn’t cycle to Queen Street Station – there were some barriers and crowd. Has something unusual been happening there, apart from the usual partying?*

So I walked from Merchant City to Queen Street, bought some fried carbohydrate and a diet fizzy drink, had my photo taken by a random passer-by** and set off again.

This way I had a much-appreciated, which took almost an hour off the ride time (cycle meter link). Most of the way I was fearful that I’d need to drop out and take a train back to Edinburgh. Not because I couldn’t make the journey but because I had a meeting at 7:30. However, after an energy-chew stop at Bathgate, I realised that if I pushed hard enough, I would be home by 6:30. So pushing happened.

Given the cycle to and from the meeting, I did 90 miles. It might have been nice to cycle to Musselburgh and back to break 100 miles in a day. Next time – no stops! And I know this is nothing compared to racing 100 miles non-stop in the pouring rain but I’ve got 20 years on the winner and ride a hefty mid-price touring bike, not a carbon-fibre road-beast (yet!).

*yes, I know. But I’m a cyclopath – I generally plough my tarmac furrows alone.

** I was dressed something like this but with SPD shoes, swirly tights, a black long-sleeved base layer under the cycle jersey and a helmet with high-visibility cover.

(Several links in this post are to Facebook pages. They’re marked ^F)

A wee jigger of coffee before spinning^F, led by the always infectiously energetic Andy^F. I can’t remember all of it but there was lots of climbing and out-of-saddle action to a dance mix of New Year’s Day* at about 20 minutes. Just right to transition into the length of the session when we might be coming down from the initial post-warm-up mayhem. Then lots of runs – I’ve still not got the technique to stand and turn the pedals at high cadences without holding myself rigidly to the handlebars YET. Thanks to Elly^F on my left, Colin on my right for the good examples, and to Jeannie^F in front of me on the stage for showing how it’s done. Jeannie – it was great to follow your feet! All in all, ace – and I left with a wild grin on my face.

Then home, wash, change into fresh lycra and to Hendersons to meet up with friends from St Andrews. They cycled to Edinburgh on their tandem yesterday, and will return the same way tomorrow – respect! Al is a complete cyclopath, full of ‘see cyclist, chase cyclist’ stories from all around Scotland, including 250 miles across Scotland’s widest, hilliest bits in 2 days. His fastest recorded downhill speed – 52 mph – beats mine by 20mph, and he says he wasn’t pedalling when he did it. I was when I did mine. However, he thinks that Elly and I were insane to do the A82 south from Fort William. I just think it’s tarmac, we’re not banned from it, so I’m going to use it. And I have the right to do so – see here.

More stories and laughs with Al and Sheena over soya-milk lattes, vegan tiffin and tea at Affogato and back at Servants’ Quarters. After Al and Sheena left, Elly and I tiptoed through the raindrops to go shopping – en route I phoned my parents, who seem to be doing OK. The only current issue is that their washing machine has broken down after many year’s faithful service. Back at Servants’ Quarters, I washed steaming and sweaty kit from this morning while Elly cooked. After dinner my endorphins and caffeine ran out and I into a post-prandial torpor. My revival was aided by a delicious mango – juicy and just a little bit tart.

OK, so this is all very trivial but I’m in a happy mood and so I’d like to share it – maybe it will help someone else know there are good times to be had. Roll on next week’s Tour o’ the Borders!

* something like this, only even more storming