Royal Albert Cycling Club

stevenbrennan · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 371 Location: Larkhall

Keith and myself went up to Aberdeen to ride the last 100 of the year. Alec had kindly arranged to pick us up "the back of 5". True to form he arrived at 6.10 but Alec's van can fairly shift and the lost time was soon made up for. After a quick stop at Dundee for a tea it was on to the Ashgrove in Aberdeen for the best fish supper on the planet. It was then on to the hotel and down the bar for a couple of drinks before our early 5am alarm. The shock of being charged �3.60 for a pint of watery draft coke was also a good excuse to move onto the Peroni.

When we got up in the morning, it was rather cold, 6 degrees, but more important, it was clear blue skies and very little wind. After a late change of course, we had 30 miles to travel to the strip. A quick warmup and Keith and me were off at 7.11 and 7.14 respectively. At the end of the first lap(50 miles), I was about a minute up on Keith and our times were 2hrs 10 For Keith and 2hrs 9 for me. On the straights I could see Keith in sight, however at about 65 miles, we hit about a 20 mile stretch of headwind and either Keith got faster, I got slower, or we both got slower but me at a faster rate and Keith was soon out of sight. Relief finally came at the 90 mile mark where we turned and had the wind at our back. It was then flat out back to the finish.

Our times were as follows

Keith Anderson 4.26.21
Steven Brennan 4.30.41

More drama was to follow back at the strip where I stated to feel a bit unwell. I had felt a wee bit sick late on the course and didnt really feel like eating or drinking. The next part is a bit of a blur but I nearly passed out on the floor with my body in spasm sufferring from dehydration, low blood sugar and hyperventilating. After getting attention from Graham Hay from Stirling BC which mainly involved getting fluid and food into my system, within 30 minutes I felt human again and it was back on the road to Larkhall. A great weekend and also a lesson learned regarding hydration!

A massive thanks goes to Alec Douglas for his generousity in driving us up to and back from Aberdeen, folllowing us round the course handing out food and drink and support and also for putting us up in the hotel for the night.

What's next, I fancy a 12hr TT Shocked

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It never gets easier, you just get faster.