Cloudburst

My word! What a day... Sheer hell. It began as it meant to go on. Rain, sleet and a ridiculously strong headwind to match.

We came down for Breakfast to be greeted with the ominous news that the Met office had issued a severe weather warning for the Grampian region. It advised not to take the route through to Glenshee which is at the summit as the conditions were meant to be atrocious. Unfortunately, we did not have any choice in the matter. We had to take a gamble and carry on regardless to Edinburgh or else it would shake us wildly off our daily schedule. This contrasted to the weather forecast for down South where it was Mad dogs and Englishman.

For the initial 25 miles of this 93 mile day It is safe to assume that It is highly unlikely that we will ever cycle through the conditions to what we experienced. The wind was directly traveling with intent into the path that we were traveling into. We could hardly make any headway, just briefly exerting all our efforts in slow motion one bit at a time. Twice this pushed us over to the ground. The rain was one mass orgy of thick icy droplets that sand blasted our face continuously without repent. This drained us physically as on top of this we were cycling up a 11% gradient which is a feat in itself.

We finally made it to the top of the summit, where the Glenshee Ski Centre is based. This says it all really. It had taken us 2 hours to make just 8 miles. A pitiful 4mph. It was time for a team meeting huddled in the cafe with only one conclusion. The show must go on...

The remaining miles installed a belief inside us that if we can get through what Glenshee had to throw at us, then anything else we can face head on... as nothing will ever compare to the wrath that we faced this morning. Finally made it to Edinburgh battle hardened 13 hours after initially setting off in Braemar after 9.5 hours in the saddle.



Hours in Saddle:9hrs 34m
Miles:93
Max Speed:32mph
Average Speed:9.7mph

TOTAL MILES: 330/970