Elgin to Edinburgh, Day 2, 12th June

RHiders Jamie Green, Peterborough Office & Steve Truluck, Chertsey Office

The alarm sounded at 5am, heralding the start of another day of the RHide for Stuart. The kettle went on and I opened the curtains to be welcomed by a glorious sight (clearly not Montrose) of a multicoloured sky. Just maybe we might be on for a rain free day!

We had heard the good news that Team Rochdale had completed their ride and that Team Newcastle were at Leeds safe and sound. We were in good spirits as most of our kit had dried overnight and we were keen to succeed on our leg.

With bags packed and squelchy shoes put on, we tip toed downstairs to set off and leave Montrose at 6am. What a glorious morning! We kept to the quiet main roads keen to make solid early progress but only 1 hour in  and my right leg was not moving well. A brief stop for some breakfast and to readjust my seat (again!) soon sorted out the niggle.

Springroll for breakfast!

Jamie had lifted my spirits the previous day by telling me that Arbroath was worse than Montrose. He admits now that that he did Arbroath a great injustice! We did see it at it's best in the early morning sun though!

Sunny Arbroath

We then belted it along the main road to Dundee where we had to cross the first of our main bridges of the day -  the Tay bridge. Jamie had done his homework and checked out the route on Google Earth beforehand to make sure we knew where the cycle routes were on both bridges. The cycle route on the Tay bridge runs through the centre of the bridge.

Before going up onto the bridge we paused for a gel stop.

Tasty energy gels!

As we approached the bridge, there were roadworks forcing us into one lane. We looked around us for the route to the centre of the bridge and eventually realised that the cycle route was inaccessible from the road. It was behind full height railings with the access being from a lift somewhere below. With no route back (we were now on a dual carriageway with no footway), we pedalled on and suddenly found ourselves engulfed by a group of boy racers, 'cruising' and posing in their lowered street cars. This was far from ideal! With no way out, we continued hemmed in at the side of the bridge with waves of cars racing past us. As the Fife massive raced each other across the bridge, deliberately revving up to show us how big their (insert a word of choice - engines?) were,  we couldn't help but admire their tasteful bodykits and paintjobs just inches away from us. We cringed at the sound of each big bore exhaust as it approached, waiting for the dump valves to go off right next to us as the wee young lads tried to scare us - bless them they succeeded! We eventually made it to the farside in one piece cursing the lack of signage and our very wee friends.

Tay Bridge, Dundee

Undaunted, we continued on in the sunshine, stopping at Cupa for a well earned pie and hot chocolate. From Cupa the route became decidedly hillier and on one of the hills my back locked up, a result of stupidly having my seat at the wrong height for the previous day! Every now and then I had to dismount and stretch and I ended up resorting to taking painkillers to see me through to the end.

Jamie was particularly patient whilst I tried to sort myself out until the pain killers kicked in. On one of the subsequent big downhills I had a scary moment when I changed into top gear and at about 30mph my chain came off and tangled around my pedal. I shouted to Jamie ahead but he didn't hear me and pressed on downwards. It was a few minutes until we were reunited, who knows what he was thinking had happened!!

Soon though, it was Jamie's turn to flag as we went through an old mining town. Another foodstop was necessary. The terrain then got steadily steeper and hillier and his heavier bike was having more of an effect on him whilst I was riding my Ibuprofen wave.

What's that coming over the hill?

Behold the Firth of Forth!

The approach towards Edinburgh was stunning. The Firth of Forth was in view and you could see the Forth Railway bridge away in the distance.
We continued along the coast road and unwittingly caused chaos at some roadworks which were on a steep hill. Some tree work was being done and the traffic lights had fixed timings. We had let through most of the traffic by cycling in the cones but as we approached the men at work we went back on the road and ended up slowing traffic behind us as we climbed the steep hill. Suffice to say that by the time we had got to the far end there were cars heading in both directions in one lane despite me waving frantically at the car heading towards me to stop and go back! They were unable to reverse as one of the cars behind them was towing a caravan! OOPS!

We progressed through some small towns towards the Forth Road Bridge hoping to avoid another chaotic bridge crossing. This was to be the highlight of the whole event for me. We looked for the way onto the bridge which I found but when I called out to Jamie he didn't hear me and continued along in the bus lane - oh sh*t! I paused and waited to see where he had gone and as he disappeared out of view I followed the route we should be taking, hoping he would realise and be able to join me. Fortunately he did and catastrophe was averted!! Phew!

We went up onto the bridge and the expanse of the Forth appeared around us. It was amazing! An emotional high. After the soaking the day before we knew we had earnt this. We were smiling away knowing that the end was nigh and sucking in the euphoria of riding across such a stunning landscape. Gusts of wind pelted us sideways as we thought about what we had nearly achieved.

Crossing the Forth - the high point of the ride

The Old Lady of the Forth (the bridge not Jamie!)

Plain sailing from there on of course? Nah! That's never the case! I think the high of the bridge lulled us in. We still had 10 miles to go to the office in Leith.

Jamie proceeded to bonk and was rather worryingly wondering if he was going to continue with his plans of a cycle holiday around Scotland as soon as we had finished. His holiday had been planned for ages and I knew how much he had been looking forward to it. The fact that he had sacrificed 3 days of his holiday to do this ride showed what a true gent he is. He was a great companion on the ride and luckily we were never failing at the same time so were able to keep each other going.
True to form he recovered but then my painkillers wore off and when I lay on the floor to stretch my back some kind drivers pulled over to see why I was contorting myself on the ground whilst my friend stood there and watched!!
Shortly before 5pm we arrived at the office where we waited for Jennifer Trendall, our back up for the day, who had kindly offered to come and meet us and take our picture. Jamie grabbed a quick nap!

Time for a celebratory nap!

Jennifer then turned up and surpassed all our expectations by presenting us with chocolate cake and a bottle of Talisker (Whisky at last!!). Another Haskoning employee and yet another lovely person. How do we do it?!

Time for a celebratory nip!

It was a fitting end to our RHide for Stuart. It had started with two colleagues in Whisky country. It ended with two friends with Whisky.

Steve Truluck