It better rain this afternoon now 😅

if(ahead == rain) turn();

Zwift - VO2max repeats on Watts of the Wild in Watopia

Zwift - Tick Tock in Watopia

Zwift - VO2max efforts on Jarvis Seaside Sprint in Watopia

Made it home 🙌 - that was in the balance for the final 40 miles though 😂

Got on the road after a fistful of breakfast at about half six. Not a hint of light in the sky. Town was mobbed - raisin weekend? I quickly regretted my clothing choice, one tog too many in the jacket and gloves dept. I had a change of gloves, jacket would have to do.

Scoot over to Dundee, and a new way out, Liff over to Knapp and drop into Coupar Angus. Lovely. Will ride that one again. Oh this is my October DIY audax, so grabbed a backup receipt from the Co-op, the box of biscuits I got merely facilitated the receipt - honest! Nom.

Faster road out of Coupar Angus, it was immediate I noticed the wind had gotten up. And it seemed to just get stronger and stronger as I approached Glen Clova. It would do as I was now facing it heading up the glen. Seemed to have some rain and a rainbow up the glen, but with the Clova Hotel as a defined control point I wasn’t backing out. Actually in fact the rain mostly exited the glen northeastwards (odd in such a strong northerly wind) as I battled along.

Pleased to reach the hotel I made a nuisance of myself - I don’t think they were really ready for customers at 10:50. Anyway after a coffee I got going again and the wind threw me back out of the glen. Montrose next and a tricky crosswind once I turned east.

Montrose nothing special as I wanted a know what you’re going to get and get it quick at Subway. Happy to be turning for home I tackled the climb out of town and bang. No. BANG. It was quite a violent puncture. Eek. Tyre had split along the tread. Booted I put a (brand new) tube in only to find it had a hole in it too. Luckily carrying two tubes on this bike the second was ok (also got patches as a last resort).

40 miles or so, a decidedly dodgy tyre, this was now a limp home. I started feeling a bump in the roll of the wheel, slight at first, but quite pronounced towards Dundee. I checked it at the bridge lift and it had split more, worn through the boot and running partially on the inner tube. Cue the electrical tape for an external boot.

I got to Tayport and looked again, while thinking of other options if this was going to blow - I was pretty convinced it was. In the end I got two bar wrappers from my pocket and booted them both again on top of the external. And, I rode standing from here, weight over the front end. Oh and a friendly chap stopped, enquired and gave me a spare tube. Hero. Thankfully didn’t need it though.

Torture on the hands and feet. I paused for a break at Guardbridge. When the hands stopped tingling I pressed on - with renewed crossed fingers, nearly there!

Made it. Didn’t bother with the cobbles, so walked out of the Westport before the last little bit for home. Fun times.

Mostly Cloudy, 8°C, Feels like 5°C, Humidity 75%, Wind 11mph from NNW - by Klimat.app

Top Sports

Richard Sanderson

Clova for coffee, and other adventures

9 Photos

15 Comments

Segments

Sign up to view more activities from Richard Sanderson

It better rain this afternoon now 😅

if(ahead == rain) turn();

Zwift - VO2max repeats on Watts of the Wild in Watopia

Zwift - Tick Tock in Watopia

Zwift - VO2max efforts on Jarvis Seaside Sprint in Watopia

Want to see more?

The #1 app for runners and cyclists

Sign Up for Free. Track your progress and reach goals. Join 100 million active people on Strava.

See More from Richard