Congratulation to James MacDonald who set the Scotland S-N record in the following categories: Solo, Male, 50-59, officiated, non-fixed gear bike.
This is also a new Guinness World Record
Rider Report: Scotland South to North
We had been watching the weather for a couple of weeks. It had deteriorated significantly from warm and sunny with southerly wind (favourable) to cold and wet with southerly wind. We planned to start at 8am but the weather forecast showed a rain front heading in the direction I would ride. If I was to leave at 8am I would essentially ride in a rainstorm the whole way. We opted to wait for it to clear. At around 9.30am we set off from the Mull of Galloway lighthouse, the most southerly point of Scotland. Target: John O’ Groats, some 625km north east.
The first part of the ride was hilly with small twisty and dirty roads, the road bike with disk brakes was a sensible choice. I headed off, the support vehicle followed me. I settled into a pace based on what my coach Joe Barr set for me – under 130bpm.
The roads were still wet and the humidity was high, I noted that I was pretty wet inside from the dampness in the air. It was pretty uneventful for the first few hours, the roads dried up somewhat and the wind was favourable – behind me.
I stopped after 3 hours to switch to the Time Trial bike and get rid of the wet and heavy winter clothes I wore at the start. The TT bike got me all through the busier (but drier and warmer) parts of the central belt of Scotland – Ayr, Paisley etc. It was quite busy with traffic and people but this made it more interesting.
Once north of this I knew it would be quiet all the way to the end, at least from a traffic point of view. We arrived at the base of Glencoe around dinner time, stopped for 30 minutes to change back into warmer winter clothing as the climb up and over Glencoe was going to be brutal and it never disappointed. I switched back to the road bike as it was going to be hilly with a cross wind.
The climb itself was fine but once up on the high ground in the dark the rain and the crosswind was severe. I just needed to keep my head in the game and remember that there was a support vehicle behind me with my crew who were amazing. At one point I needed to put a more waterproof jacket on, just the simple task of zipping up the jacket was challenging in the strong wind, rain and in the dark. Toby had to zip it up for me, I was just unable to do it!
The descent off of Glencoe is usually fast but the headwind was so strong I never even realised I was down until I recognised the road approaching Fort William. I couldn’t wait until I turned again to get a tail wind. The section along Loch Ness was pretty challenging due to the heavy rain, I had to stop a couple of times to change clothing completely but this is necessary if you want to go long.
Once past Fort William I ascended into the hills, I’d forgotten how steep and long they were but as I was back on the road bike it was fine. The 15% climbs certainly warmed me up but the roads were deserted in the early hours of the next day so we made good quiet steady progress.
I remember having to stop in a lay-by to get gloves or something from the crew, I rode through a puddle and almost went over the bars – it was DEEP. “Oh man that was close!” I thought, anything can take me out now. I needed to be super careful from now on.
I reached the east coast and joined the A9 at 6.30am, it was daylight by then and we were approaching Dornoch bridge that spans one of the estuaries. There were several warning signs informing road users of high winds and that the bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles. We weren’t sure how bad the cross winds would be for me so I rode towards the bridge with curiosity. The wind wasn’t that bad actually, in fact what I didn’t know was that the wind would be much stronger later. I was suffering a little nausea at this point so a little bit of solid food and a warm soup and coffee was in order. I had a short break here knowing this would be the last push towards the end, only another 100 miles battling the wind.
The roads were dry and the sun came out, when the wind was behind me it was fantastic, when it wasn’t it was very challenging. The road on this section is very hilly as its coastal, I was very familiar with this section as I have ridden it a few times, most notably on the Lands End to John O Groats and back world record in 2017. There’s a few very big descents and ascents on this section, I hit 82kph on one of the descents and overtook a tractor on the next, I was having fun with this tailwind!
But later it was so windy from the side that it was impossible to eat anything while riding, the crosswinds made it impossible to ride in a straight line and I had to stop to eat small oat bars to keep me going till the end. The final few miles were fun, it was hard not to compare it to the end of JoGLEJoG (the UK end to end and back record in 2017.) More and more people on the road were aware where I was heading, it’s pretty obvious when there’s a support vehicle behind a rider with flashing lights on the roof and a spare bike on the back and you are only a few miles from the famous John O’ Groats landmark. The support on the roadside was fantastic.
I rode the last few meters still zig zagging due to the wind, even the last bend to the stone wall that marks the finish line was more like a drunken rider trying to get across the road. I stopped in exactly the same place as I had in 2017 after my end to end to end ride. This time I wasn’t totally destroyed. I made sure the Garmin was stopped and the ride saved. My computer seemed to stop doing anything, I was staring at it for 10 seconds, it was saving the long ride. Saved, now I can celebrate! The team came over and we congratulated each other, took photos at the famous pole that everyone else uses as proof they rode, walked or drove there. Time for a coffee and cheese and ham toastie I think.
Many thanks to Toby, Tim and Chris for such amazing support. These guys drove hundreds of miles to even get to the start of this ride nevermind the ride and then the drive home. I am so appreciative of their support. Chapeau gents, another GWR for the team.