Plockton Perfection, Pedalling and some Pre-Fling Tapering

On the way up the Bealach na Ba

One of my favourite weekends of the year is our annual trip to Plockton for the Bealach Beag sportive. I'd originally planned to participate again this year after a couple of years off, but the date was moved from its usual end of May slot to mid April, and that was just a little early for me getting bike training factored into my training plan.

I have however been on my road bike twice in the last week!  First time since April 2014 (oh the shame)!  And it has re-kindled a love of the bike, albeit my bike fitness is somewhat lacking!  The good weather has helped with the motivation...I've always been more of a fair weather cyclist....



View back down, from the hairpins

So, after spending Thursday/Friday in Oldmeldrum with work;  quality time learning about whisky, and pairing it with cheese, Clark came to pick me up and we (he) drove the epic cross-country windy roads to Plockton to meet up with my big brother, sis-in-law and 'wee' nephew, in our usual haunt of Duirinish Lodges. 

This year, Steven was the only one taking part in the event as Clark has been ill....both Clark and I felt a bit gutted (Clark moreso) that the forecast was for near perfect conditions for Saturday,when several times over the last few weeks the Bealach na Ba pass has been closed due to snow!  However, we had a plan, that I was going to 'run' up the pass with Cori-dog, and Clark would accompany me on the mountain bike, getting up there in time to see the riders up the hill, and we were pleased that the conditions were going to be in all our favours!

And that's just what we did...slowly!  The time is irrelevant.  It's a 6 mile climb of just over 2,000ft, and it was hot!  And very enjoyable!

It was nice to be able to bimble up, with little traffic (the road gets closed for the race), and just stop and drink in the views whenever we fancied.

View from the summit

We got to the summit before the riders, took some pictures of the views across to Skye, and then assumed a suitable clapping, whooping and photographing spot in the sunshine at the top of the hairpins....just when the riders are suffering the most!

When they thinned out, we made our way back down, a quick alfresco kit change and then drove along to the finish in good time to see Steven cross the line, definitely earning his post-race Guinness!



Posing on the way back down

The other reason I love a weekend in Plockton is the quality dinner we always have in the Plockton Inn, and last night was no exception - the seafood platter is to die for!  And with very little trouble..and not justified with my tapering, I had starter of langoustines in garlic butter, and desert of sticky toffee pudding!  Oh, and an oyster shooter!  Most of which was scoffed before the camera was poised!


Plockton Inn seafood platter main course

So, elsewhere in training this week...

Another ease off in again terms of distance, in order to get something primed in advance of next weekend's Hoka Highland Fling.

I've run 27 miles (c3,500ft of ascent, 4 runs (3 fairly short, and the long run of 12 miles)), cycled 11 miles (1,400ft of ascent), a couple of rest days (needed after the recent bursts of training), and probably eaten and drunk a bit more than I should have (having been 'mostly' on the wagon for a while)....but heck, I've enjoyed it!

I'm starting to formulate some goals for the Fling...I'm not going out to 'race' it as I can' afford the recovery time afterwards eating into my final stages of WHW training.  I'll be looking to set some motivational targets (less faffing and fannying at the checkpoints for one!), but things will depend on the weather (if it's too hot...), and all the usual 'what happens on the day' stuff.  I'm also going to be testing one of the trackers that was posted on FB earlier this week, so that might be interesting....

This time next week...we'll know whether it worked out or not!