The first test: Etape Loch Ness 2023

The forecast for today was, frankly, horrible.  6 degrees, light or heavy rain depending on which forecast you looked at, and a 10-15mph North Easterly wind blowing straight down Loch Ness creating a head wind for the second half of the ride.  Yuk. I would never choose to get up at 5am for a bike ride in those conditions... which means that it was ideal training territory.  

Training for my legs on the 105km course; training for my brain in the weather conditions. I'd paid my entry fee... rather than roll over in bed, I should really get out there and make the most of it.  

My plan was to use the Etape as a training ride for the Celtman Solo Point Five bike leg.  The Etape route is longer than the Solo route, with less climbing, but also with one big hill in it, and I expected it to take a similar-ish time to complete.  My aim was simply to treat it as a long ride training session, but to get to the end with enough left in my legs that I could feasibly set out on a run afterwards - but without doing the actual run! I also wanted to use a similar nutrition & hydration strategy, making sure I ate & drank little and often right from the start, carrying all my own supplies so I'm not relying on aid stations. 

With a north-east wind blowing down Loch Ness, the first section of the ride, to the aid station at Invermoriston 27 miles in was always going to be fast: and it was.  I found myself cruising along, not pushing too hard, and managing to work my way past quite a few riders.  A quick stop at the aid station, a bite to eat, and on to Fort Augustus; and then the start of the hill.  Plenty of folk got off to walk it; it's a bit of a beast.  Starting the climb I had my normal reaction "I don't know if I can do this".  But I've done it before, I know I can do it.  A friend had said to me a couple of days ago "Just one pedal stroke after another..." and with that in mind, that's exactly what I knew I needed to do.  A quick stop on one of the flats to adjust layers, and before too long I heard the sound of the piper heralding the top of the hill.  

Setting off on the descent the wind kicked in, and I started to notice the rain that I'd managed to ignore up to that point.  I got really quite cold.  Staying comfortable on a day like today was always going to be difficult.  Thankfully, it's not just down - and a few little climbs thrown in meant I could warm up a little.  A few familiar faces along the lochside, either marshalling or working for the Ambulance Service providing medical cover gave me a little boost when I needed it, and I was able to work my way between groups of riders, drafting a few wheels to dodge the wind.  

Pulling into Inverness and over the bridge to the finish I heard a 'Well done Zoe' from I knew not who; and then spotted my work colleague in the ambulance stationed by the finish just as I crossed the line. 

Did I have enough left in my legs to be able to start a run?  Well, I didn't plan on testing it - but yes, I believe I did.  It took me almost exactly 5 hours including a couple of short stops; 4 hours 48 without the stops: just about the time I'd hope to complete the Solo Point Five bike in.  

Successful ride?  Yes, I think so.  I stuck to my plan, didn't get carried away, and although it wasn't a fast ride by anyone's standards, it did what I had hoped.  

Most importantly, I enjoyed it - and after all that's what it's all about, isn't it? I got to ride round Loch Ness in safety, something that isn't really possible without the closed road as the route is on the A82, one of the main trunk roads to the north of Scotland.  Would I do it again or recommend it to other riders? Absolutely!