The Radar Ride - Race Report

I normally get pretty revved up for these events - but having watched the weather forecast going towards this one I always suspected it was going to be a bit of a shocker. Heavy rain was predicted & fairly strong winds & having done this last year & knowing how bad the moderate winds made it, it wasn't looking good.

3 distance options here - Mandy W was doing the 40 mile 'Baby Radar', Graeme A was doing the 70 mile 'Junior Radar' after sensibly down grading from the Big Boy. Myself, Genevieve & Colin B did the 107 mile long distance 'Radar Ride'. (Elevation profile below)

Genevieve & I started off at 9.00am from a rather cold Wanlockhead - the downhill start for about the 1st 7 miles was good fun once we had relaxed into it & ridden through the unnerving speed wobbles that we both seemed to get (due to tense cold arms at the start).

Most of our pack seemed to disappear into the distance but we resisted the temptation to chase - we were only 10 minutes into a long day in the saddle. The route takes you out to Mennock then loops around, eventually crossing the M74 before heading over the illusive 'Devils Beeftub'.

During the early stages we seemed to always struggle to keep going - first Genevieve dropped her chain on a hill then I could hear something rubbing on my back wheel. Not wanting to ride 100+ miles with a rubbing wheel we must have stopped about 4 times for me to adjust my back wheel to no avail so in the end I just had to ignore it & cross my fingers given that we had wasted about 10 minutes on not solving the problem.

All was going well for a good while after this - we were working very well with a bunch of about 8 other guys travelling at a very good pace & sweeping through all the people who had caught us on our numerous stops. Then Genevieves back went. It was exactly the same problem she had at the Ullswater Half Ironman two weeks previous - something like a trapped nerve in her lower back brought tears to her eyes, meaning that we had to stop every half hour & either stretch her out or bend her backwards over peoples garden walls. I'm sure people were going past thinking 'Get a room' but it was all we could do to keep her moving.

The infamous Talla Hill eventually loomed before us - quite a sight from the ride in alongside the Talla Reservior. We have been up this a couple of times now & knew what to expect & it actually wasn't too bad at all. A good descent off the summit all the way down to St Mary's Loch before the right hand turn & the long road to Moffat. This was the hard bit into the wind last year & was even worse this year - strong head winds & the rain blowing in too. Very tough & as Genevieves back was sore she just tucked in behind me for what seemed like a grinding eternity. We eventually made it to Moffat before remembering that we still had to climb back over the Beeftub & then there is still 20 odd miles to go to the base of the final killer climb. All the way back Genevieves back was seizing but we pressed on & kept stopping to stretch. She decided that the final climb would be too painful for her. I agreed whilst secretly thinking 'we'll get her up it - I'll just shout at her'.

So we eventually came to the base of the final climb - we 'agreed' that she would give it a go & I pressed on into the climb, actually feeling remarkably spritely. I churned through the lower sections in no time time at all before grinding into the higher, much steeper slopes & hairpins. All you can think about here as you are virtually standing still on the side of the climb is to pull one pedal over the top & push it down again. I saw a couple of guys stopping & getting off to walk - so tough to get back on & start again on the climbs. I finally made it to the summit only to remember that they had moved the finish to the NEXT summit another mile away. I pushed on into the grey swirling cloud, a short descent first but impossible to get any speed up as visibility was so poor but at long last I saw the Transmitter Station & the finish gantry.

Every one was crawling over the finish & just shouting expletives. One guy next to me just fell over on his bike, another just starting spasming over his handlebars! I just stood there & stared out into the cloud wishing there was a view. I was wrapped in silver blanket & waited for a couple more minutes before deciding to head off down the steep descent when I looked up & there was Gen coming into the finish. Couldn't believe it - true grit!

Headed off down to meet Mandy & Graeme who waited for hours for us after their rides & off to the pub for burger & hot tea.

We were a pretty disappointed in the result - really wanted much nearer 6 hours than the 7 hours plus & we were more than capable of it were it not for the issues en route. Need to get these dealt with ASAP.

A bit disappointed with the event also on reflection. Yes, it was raining but who cares & yes it was windy for mile after mile & this was just soul destroying & really made it unenjoyable. But, after all that - you climb all that way to the finish line in the sky & there is just nothing there - no one watching, no one clapping or saying well done. I was wrapped in silver by a kindly first aider with a fag in her mouth & that was it. A real let down & very different to last year when the finish area seemed so much more welcoming. Maybe the sun would have helped. A huge well done to Colin B & Graeme for their rides & a special well done to Mandy who after the initial doubts about whether she could bike the distance from the car park to the start line managed the entire 40 miles AND biked all the way to the final summit non-stop! Superb.

This was a real tough one, especially only 13 days after the hardest Half Ironman we could seemingly find. On the plus side - the Ironman Bike will be no-where near as tough as that & in a sadistic way I thought I could actually have gone for a run afterwards!