Chasing Dreams

Yesterday's Elite Ladies Road race was epic and more Belgian beers were enjoyed! 

Many years ago I started using Strava and have made a number of segments in the area where I live. This is obviously far from unusual and it's now difficult to see segments of old in the sea of Strava. Back in 2012, I made a segment on the Crow Rd called 'Over the border Crow Road'. At one point I was in the top ten, but as Strava users increased, I moved further and further down the rankings. Not to worry, I still had the dreams of chasing the numbers and the imagination of floating up the climb before descending into town and being the 1st across the finishing line. Well, dreams do came true, but not for me. Today was a day of chasing dreams, riding bikes in your 50th year is probably going to be just that, dreams. It’s maybe time to set new goals, or create a few sneaky segments on trails that no one uses.  

Setting goals started on yesterday's evening pedal. On the approach to the Crow Rd climb, Eleanor Butleer's beautiful crafted Highland Coo deserves a special mention.  The climb was deserted, road art and the odd gel sachet being reminders of what has recently taken place. 

Earlier in the day, my wife and I walked up to the Crow Rd Carpark. the excitement of the Elites and under 23 Ladies race was building, but we decided to head up the hill to another vantage spot. If anyone is interested, The chosen spot for pics and cheering the riders on featured in a previous blog post. Today could have been the day for local star Anna Shackley. It was not to be, but a bronze in the under 23 category and 17th overall on your local roads on the world stage is still a hell of an achievement.

We initially heard the noise of the helicopters, followed by cars, motos, and of course, the riders. Prior to any velo action we enjoyed a lovely chat with a Police Moto rider. He informed us that it was his 14th day straight, and he had loved every minute of it. He was also saying the the cornering speed of the velo riders in town was so high, that they had to gas it on the straights to keep up. I’m sure a few front wheels were pawing the air on Scott Street as it goes across Renfrew Street. A word of thanks to all the emergency services, support crews, film & broadcast crews and volunteers that made these worlds such an excellent experience - chapeau!

If you ever on the Crow, please stop at the Jamie Wright's Well

Let’s return to Scott Street for a minute. It was the spot for Lotte Kopecky's decisive attack and escape for World glory. The road surface from the climb up from Sauchiehall St is shocking. The super smooth new surface improves after Renfrew St and continues down the hill beyond the course and the 90 degree right hander. When I first saw the repair, I couldn’t help but think that the repair crew had their instructions upside down. Sticking with the roads, the anti-slip ‘grip tape’ on drain covers was a sight to behold. A slight nod to a Belgian Waffle? If rumours are to be believed, they ran out of yellow and black danger tape for the others!

Back to the ride, pushing against 45mm gravel tyres, pumped to approx 30psi isn’t exactly ideal for the road. The sections of smooth tarmac (bliss) were accompanied, on every pedal stroke by a noise not too dissimilar to Wheezy from Toy Story. The route was on a variety of surfaces and I couldn’t be arsed inflating and deflating tyres. However, I did pass a striken South African Team car that was somewhat deflated. Stuck on the side of the road with a double puncture wasn’t an ideal way to spend a Sunday, or any day for that matter. It was on a section of the course that suffers from a really crap surface and patchwork treatment of ‘amateur council’ road repairs. I feel for the locals that were probably rejoicing when they heard of the UCI investment and the result being the end of punctures and damage to vehicles. Add to that, diversions due to roads that have been closed for over a year due to bridge repairs and they have more reason to complain than those that grumbling about the worlds. The social media warriors typing in a frenzy about not to being able cross the road and dealing with diversions due to ‘bloody cyclists’ in the city should have a look at the official UCI facebook, a big thanks to Glasgow, Scotland and wonderful supportive comments from fans and visitors. The size of the crowds lining the Glasgow Streets, the frenzy of excitement, the noise and response to the best of the best putting on a show on the last day of the Worlds does make you feel proud to call this City home. Yes, the majority of People Make Glasgow. I can only imagine what will happen when Le Tour comes to town. Visitors to this blog will know that we do like our predictions & dreams.

The allure of less faff and the immediacy of running has been the go to fitness fix in recent years and it’s now time to make a plan and get back out on the bike more frequently.  Maybe I need another singlespeed for the coming winter months, set-up 29x3 to build the fitness levels and float across the rough sections of road that lead to those yet to be titled Strava segments……

Stay upright