The Moors, a Cav Leadout Train and Exhaustion

Yesterday began with a very early start as I was working in Glasgow. The train journey from Edinburgh was uneventful as was 99% of the cycle to the my old mate Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome . With the building in sight, I turned onto the cycle path and nearly lost it on ice! Ffew! That was until I touched my brakes, fish tailed sideways and found myself sliding along the pavement. Fortunately, there was minimal pain. A van driver seeing me fall stopped to check I was ok. 

"I can't stand up" I said! as he jumped out to come to my assistance, slipped on the ice and found himself scrambling around on the pavement too. Not the first time grown men have done so in Parkhead!

We slid towards the roadside barrier, hauled ourselves up, laughing! The next 5 minutes was challenging as the velodrome was surrounded by a moat of sheet ice! 

Work was fun, but I was exhausted by 5pm.  I phoned Rosemary's friend Douglas as I was picking a computer hard drive up from him in central Glasgow! No reply! Gahhh. I set my GPS and headed off to the centre of town. Or so I thought. Reaching a dead end in some dodgy East End council estate, I realised there had been a malfunction and I was 7km away from town, having originally started 5km from my destination.

Still no answer from Douglas either. I passed the Barrowlands and found myself near Argyll Street, then phoned Rosemary again. She phoned Douglas and within seconds he had phoned me! As I picked up, I turned around and there he was standing behind me! Weird! A quick coffee, cake and a great chat and then I was on my way back to Auld Reekie and a 9pm dinner.

Today, Rosemary and I travelled along the coast to Dunbar to explore the surrounding Lammermuirs. The train was a bit late which meant we were tight for time, making the planned cafe trip after the run a bit problematic. R and I jumped on our bikes, pedalled through a village called Spott, went up a huge hill and then locked our bikes up behind a gate in a field and headed off on our run.

It was milder that expected but the headwind was a very strong one. Going was tough, especially as the terrain was difficult to run on and nearly all uphill. East Lothian has always been famed for it's deep red fertile soil, but I don't ever recall being in a field of the stuff. However, one such field of Gobi desert like proportions stood in our way. After a few steps, we found it almost impossible to run, with mud sticking to our shoes us feel as though we had a ball and chain attached to each foot. 

I wasn't on great form and had to keep asking Rosemary to slow down. I could tell she was a little frustrated, as was I. A magic banana helped as did reaching an awesome wind farm on the high moorland. I was fascinated by the huge futuristic impellers that were gathering immense power from the wind. 

Although I love nature, I'm pragmatic enough to realise that we need electricity. Some people (generally neoliberal bias types) argue that wind turbines are a blot on the landscape, and would prefer higher carbon alternatives or dangerous nuclear power. Me..... I say that it's in the interest of our fellow human beings to use wind and wave for power generation. A few blots in the middle of nowhere are a slight price to pay.

Going was still slow, across boggy clumpy moors, luckily still partially frozen.....not pleasant when water seeped into our trainers though. Bloody freezing. Fortunately, we soon found ourselves on the Herring Road, a path that took fishwives carrying their heavy creels from Dunbar to Lauder, and our pace was upped.

Because the train had been late and my initial pace was snail like, time was very tight to catch our train home. I was now running almost as hard as I could with Rosemary looking more comfortable. 

Total focus was required. 3km......2km..... 1km, we may just make it. My legs buckled on the final hill but no time to stop. Rosemary managed to keep running and got the bikes unlocked and just ready. 18mins and over 5km to the train station. 

I was on a folding bike, not really designed for fast descending but we would miss the train if I slowed. Coming into Dunbar, I found myself in my big gear, tucked over the handlebars like Cav in a sprint and pushing it all the way! We got to the station with 2 minutes to spare.....me exhausted, Rosemary slightly tired! Bloody hell.....the sign was showing that the train was delayed by over 20 minutes!  A bottle of coke helped revive me and I was relatively undead on the train. I even managed to stay awake and watch a whole film when we got home. Another epic day!