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Rich's excursion to Scotland

When I heard that this year’s family holiday was to Scotland, one word came to mind... HILLS!

We were to spend two weeks just over the Scottish border on the east coast, 6 miles from Berwick-Upon-Tweed. I had decided that although I was probably due a bit of a rest after just finishing my dissertation, the opportunity was too great to not fit some training in as well. The plan was to go on a number of rides which would build up in distance over the two weeks, as well as doing some long distance runs with a weighted daysack in preparation for my participation in the OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) in October with Trevor Aslan.

My first training session consisted of a 30 mile ride in the rain to orientate myself, find some nice roads, and of course to pick up the Sunday paper for my dad. Over the next 10 days I went on a number of rides from, 40-60 miles in length, and really got a taste of some real hills, especially in comparison with the “hills” which are few and far between when training in Norfolk!

From my rides I had found some nice routes which were quiet, had great views, and would therefore be ideal for running. After a few days in the saddle it was time for a run, so after raiding the “store cupboard essentials” for some tins of beans to use as weight (and emergency rations), I set off for what turned out to be a two hour run. This was slightly longer than intended, partly due to the slight issue of a ford which was 3.5ft high due to the recent rain. Now I love a challenge as much as the next man, but common sense stepped in just in time!

The riding and running at the beginning were good preparation for the long ride at the end of the holiday. I had chosen a route which included loads of hills, as well as what turned out to be some great views across the Langmuir Hills. It was chilly at 0630 when I set off, but I soon realised that staying warm wasn’t going to be an issue as after only 15 miles I hit some long steep hills which had me up on the pedals and working hard; a sign of things to come! The 105 mile ride included four 17% climbs, which meant I was actually relieved to find a climb in the latter part of the ride that was ‘only 14%’. Thankfully the ride, along with all of the rides I did in Scotland, was puncture-free, which is always good for morale J.

As well as all the training, I did actually manage to have a holiday, with some of the highlights being the Edinburgh Festival, a chilly swim in the sea at Bamburgh, a few visits to The Barrels Ale House in Berwick, and walking across the causeway at low tide to Holy Island. All in all it was a fantastic holiday, which included some valuable training. Bring on the VTCC!!

Annual Camp....

For the uninitiated, every year TA soldiers go on a two week excursion to another part of the country and engage in military training. This is referred to as "Annual Camp" and this year CUOTC journeyed to Folkestone, Kent to stay in St Martin's Plain. Whilst the rest of us were comfortably sitting in our coach, holding rifles and catching a pre-camp nap; the VTCC team decided to put all the hard word and training to the test and cycle from Cambridge to Kent. 

The day itself was rather murky when they left Cambridge bright and early, and team members Hannah, Tom, Trev, Katie, Huffie and Alex were all ready to face the journey ahead. Some had already, the day before, cycled from Norwich to Cambridge and seemed in good spirits when the rest of us caught up with them. Riders Tom, Katie, Huffy, Alex and Rich had cycled from UEA to the Cambridge TA Centre so another big ride to Folkestone seemed good preparation for the VTCC. 


After the rest of us watched breathlessly as the team devoured what seemed about twice the amount of food that we could consume comfortably the team embarked for Kent. RSM Shaw rode nearby in a van as a precaution but also to provide the team with much needed morale and food to sustain the grueling pace needed to get to the camp before nightfall. 


Those of us who had already arrived could only wait for them to arrive hopefully still maintaining the good spirits that they had enjoyed in the morning. Our first arrival was Hannah McInroy-Naylor who unfortunately had suffered illness the previous day but had made it to the majority of the route before being brought in using the team van. She brought news that Tom Betts had taken a minor fall and subsequently shredded some of his team uniform but other then that the team was unscathed! 

Then the others arrived, and after being shown an impressive array of sunburn (especially Alex Yorke who seemed to be imitating a candy cane in his stripey complexion) they were fed and showered and promptly fell asleep to what I presume was a much needed rest. 


This was the first big test of the team for the kind of distances that they will be facing on the Challenge. Not only did they face up to it, and continue on with good humor but also managed to have a turbo-trainer session the following week as well as completing all of their military training. 

This bodes well for raising plenty of money for ABF and Combat Stress and hopefully a victory for Cambridge!