Edinburgh to St Andrews

Saturday 18th June

This has got to be the most difficult cycling event I have ever endured. It was the longest at 68 miles but it was the weather that made it a lot worse than any other. I joined fellow participants of the forthcoming Malawi trip in Edinburgh where we set off at 8:45am. There was over a thousand riders and we started at the back as we only just arrived on time. The first part if the trip was through the busy roads in Edinburgh as we headed to South Queensferry.

One of the most iconic parts was our journey over the Forth road bridge before travelling through Fife. The route didn’t take us up the scenic coastal road, but instead through the countryside. This is where the weather turned worse with heavy rainfall. There was also a difficult climb up some large hills into some dense woodlands. It looked great but felt cold and wet, and we were greeted by the most bizarre scene of an ice cream van parked up there in the wilderness. It didn’t stop a few of us grabbing a 99-er cone to celebrate our achievement thus far! There was a good downhill from here and then we had a proper rest stop at Kinross where the organisers had set up a community hall with food and hot drinks.

The weather then turned better as we travelled through the beautiful Fife countryside and things felt better. There were some excellent climbs along the way which were good from a training perspective, although it didn’t feel like that at the time! We travelled another 20 miles before the final stop and had a cup of tea and cake from the local Kirk. The last 20 miles to St Andrews was fun. Rain, wind, hills, more rain, stronger wind, and a sore knee. It was a great test of mental attitude and will power. It was after 5pm that I arrived at the beach road in St Andrews and it was a great feeling. Soaked, tired and sore but still with a smile on the face as I entered the pub for a well deserved pint!