Capital Trail 2016, anyone doing it?

[Ray Young]

Any Bear Boners planning on doing this? Think it's going to be first week end of Oct.

[Taylor]

Was thinking about it but probably not going to be free for it sadly.

[fatbikephil]

Maybes aye, will see how my back goes plus I'm not in a hurry to do it if the weather is crap....

[Blair512]

I fancy a shot at this but don't think I'm fast enough at the minute, something to aim for next year maybe, how would this route fair as a first ITT?

[fatbikephil]

It would make a good first route as the going is generally fine and there are plenty of places to get food on route. There is a lot of climbing however.....

[padonbike]

The flesh is weak and so is the spirit .... But, I'd really like to do it.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Hopefully, but it's too far to drive if the forecast looks dire.

[Ray Young]

Markus reckons there's about 50 people signed up for this now and with good weather forecast for the weekend hopefully most will show up including myself and pushbikemike.

[RobMac]

How did it go Ray?

[Ray Young]

How did it go Ray?

Hi Rob, I had a great time but did not complete due to a return of tendonitis in the left achilles. The weather was superb but the trails were muddier than last year. I met some fantastic people on the way round. Pushbikemike and I set off together and were soon joined by Jim who had driven down from Torridon on the west coast of Scotland. We rode together until The Three Brethren when Mike pushed on ahead. He lives in Peebles and had hoped to get there in time to meet his wife for something to eat in a pub. He didn't get there in time arriving at 11pm. He got a chippy and kipped in Glentress. A fantastic effort from Mike, a fifteen hour day and very possibly 100 miles covered. Jim and I made Inerleithan and had the misfortune of ordering food from the worst Chinese in the world, we hardly ate any of it. How can you spoil plain boiled rice! We slept in a small orchard just up the Inerleithan/Peebles railway line. We set off at 7am but I was holding Jim back due to the tendonitis. Just before Glenshiel Bank I told him to press on without me. This was his first event like this and he was riding well, he also had a long drive ahead of him that evening so we shook hands and parted company. From here on I regularly met five other riders, two pairs and a solo. I decided to miss out Glentress and took the drove road to West Linton then rode into the Pentland Hills. At Bavelaw Castle I headed for home. I'd nursed the tendonitis all day walking most hills but the downhills were a blast with the trails being muddy but not too muddy so fast but slippery, a real test of skills.
I spent a lot of time that day trying to diagnose the cause of the tendonitis and my conclusions were born out after searching the internet Sunday evening, Sheldon Brown's site was the best.
1) My seat height is too high, I need to drop it, I'll start with 1cm.
2) My feet are too far back on the pedals but that is where they feel natural, I need to consciously move them forward.
3) I drop my heels to much on descents, another conscious action required to correct that.
4) I need to alternate my leading foot more when standing, I'm getting better at it and it doesn't feel so odd now.