Caledonian Etape; Tack Attack
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 5:24 pm
I beleive there were 3 of us from Clifton who did the Caledonain Etape yesterday; Alastair Swales, Trevor Julian and I. It was a great day. The weather was far better than any of us had dared hope, the route is truly beautiful and there were families in all the villages and hamlets cheering us on and waving flags. The ride starts in Pitlochery, goes around 2 lochs (Tummel, Rannoch) and then up the main hill (Schiehallion). Total of 81 miles and 1.949m ascent.
The exilleration of the first 40 miles was a new expereince for me. Closed roads! After 10 miles I got used to cycling on the right without expecting a petrol head coming round the corner wiping me out. The atmosphere was good. The rain had stopped.
Suddenly the road was full of cyclists stood still. Chinese whispers told me the race had stopped because activists had scattered tacks all over the road. Chaos! The race was stopped for 90 minutes during which 3000 cyclists meandered around a tiny village watching the air ambulance and trying to loacte friends. Cyclists were slowly moving in different directions. Everyone was very good humoured - amazing as we were all fired up on caffeine gels as the "big hill" was just round the corner.
Eventually we were told by megaphone that there had been tacks on the road, the road had been swept and declared safe by the police so to proceed with the race with care. It takes a long time to get 3000 cyclists going again - but eventually we started our ascent.
Carnage! The sides of the road were littered with people mending punctures. Like Russian Roulette I picked my way to the top - but ineveitably my back eventually went flat. The tiny carpet tack was sat there in my rear tyre - which I expertly repaired as well as any man!
I continued onwards - having met up with a mate - and eventually returned to Pitlochery hours later than I had hoped.
It was, however, a great day. Loads to talk about in the pub later. In my group of 8 cyclsits we had 10 punctures (my husband managed 3!) so projecting to the whole field I imagine there were thousands! Word on the streets of Pitlochery are that the police know who it is and he went round the course on a bike immediately after the course was cleared by the organisers at 06:00 chucking tacks over his shoulder.
The organisers were faced with an absolute nightmare; I beleive they handled it as well as possible. I could have been so much worse - if raining or cold. No one was injured.
Lessons to learn? Carry inner tubes AND patches. Don't chuck your inner tubes away if you puncture as you may need them again? Have a pump and CO2 cannisters. Cyclists in a fix manage to have a laugh and help each other out.
The exilleration of the first 40 miles was a new expereince for me. Closed roads! After 10 miles I got used to cycling on the right without expecting a petrol head coming round the corner wiping me out. The atmosphere was good. The rain had stopped.
Suddenly the road was full of cyclists stood still. Chinese whispers told me the race had stopped because activists had scattered tacks all over the road. Chaos! The race was stopped for 90 minutes during which 3000 cyclists meandered around a tiny village watching the air ambulance and trying to loacte friends. Cyclists were slowly moving in different directions. Everyone was very good humoured - amazing as we were all fired up on caffeine gels as the "big hill" was just round the corner.
Eventually we were told by megaphone that there had been tacks on the road, the road had been swept and declared safe by the police so to proceed with the race with care. It takes a long time to get 3000 cyclists going again - but eventually we started our ascent.
Carnage! The sides of the road were littered with people mending punctures. Like Russian Roulette I picked my way to the top - but ineveitably my back eventually went flat. The tiny carpet tack was sat there in my rear tyre - which I expertly repaired as well as any man!
I continued onwards - having met up with a mate - and eventually returned to Pitlochery hours later than I had hoped.
It was, however, a great day. Loads to talk about in the pub later. In my group of 8 cyclsits we had 10 punctures (my husband managed 3!) so projecting to the whole field I imagine there were thousands! Word on the streets of Pitlochery are that the police know who it is and he went round the course on a bike immediately after the course was cleared by the organisers at 06:00 chucking tacks over his shoulder.
The organisers were faced with an absolute nightmare; I beleive they handled it as well as possible. I could have been so much worse - if raining or cold. No one was injured.
Lessons to learn? Carry inner tubes AND patches. Don't chuck your inner tubes away if you puncture as you may need them again? Have a pump and CO2 cannisters. Cyclists in a fix manage to have a laugh and help each other out.