Make that a Hat Trick

3 races in a week and 3 PBs

Todays Scottish National 25mile TT - 1:08:36....on a day when i didnt feel too good and had no energy from 15 to 20 miles... but all turned out well :)

2 Personal Bests in 2 days

Tuesday - Meigle 10 - 27:10
Wednesday - Massie 25 - 1:11:14

Two hard days of racing but 2 best times for the season, roll on Sundays National Champs!!

So the total is....

£1173

Thats the grand total, of course the donation thing via pay-pal will stay open, there is not need to close it.

A Massive thanks to all who supported me and the work of LDA, we have achieved well over the target!

Thanks!!

Timings!

The Etape People are going to work something out, but I dont know how, some people had to wait an hour some 5 mins. We all lost a lot of time on the decent.

I worked out that If (with delays) had kept my same average speed but done the full distance Id have clocked round about 4hrs 35, I reckon on some rough maths I lost around 10 mins plus on the decent, so Just a wee bit under 4hrs 30 is what im claiming!

Tick Tack Tow – My Story of the Etape Caledonia 2009

Me at the start, contemplating what is ahead

The 17th of May started vey very early, maybe before the 16th had properly ended. We awoke at 5:15am to head up the road from Perth to Pitlochry. I didn’t sleep well that night, maybe a sign of nerves or just a strange bed.

Nicola drove up the road as I tried to eat some Muesli, I was almost sick, so gave up on the eating. Arriving in Pitlochry lots of people were already there getting ready in pretty miserable weather. We trundled up to the start to see Veli from the Granite City Race Team fall off his bike before the race had begun, more to follow on this lad.

The time came and off we went, slowly to start as people found out the gear to be in and how much grip there as, the rain kept falling. The first few miles went well and I found a really good group to ride with, averaging 20mph without too much effort and everyone taking a turn. Sadly most of this group stopped for a picnic at the first feed station so I was on my own for a fair while now, I caught site of a group up the road, so spent ages trying to get on. I got them eventually and sucked some wheels for a few miles. They slowed up, so I pursued the next group, this continued for some time, leap frogging from group to group. It was clear that a lot of people were not used to working in a group. As we rounded the head of the Loch Rannoch, I started to see a fair few people with punctures. As I rode on I saw more and more, and then someone said they had seen carpet tacks on the road, but I didn’t see any.

I crossed the timing carpets and started my way up the main climb, it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as the hills I trained on, so I managed to keep up some pace and even pass a lot of people on the way up, as I neared the summit, within site if the flags, I picked up a tack! So a quick tube change and off I went, as I got going the Black Watch Army Cadets came running down the road telling us all that the race was suspended, so I rode up to the top of the hill slowly and we were stopped at the feed station, just over the timing carpets. One of the organisers came along and told every that they were going to re-start once they had checked the remaining roads. Some people had got by before the stop so will have had some realistic times.

Everyone was bunched up into the feed station, maybe 3000 people if not more, they Highland Spring people gave out lots of water and the Power Bar people also fed and watered who they could. The Mavic mechanics ran out of spare tubes quickly and were overrun helping people. The organiser told everyone that the Police were coming t escort us down the steep descent and keep us slow. They also told us that some of the route was cut off due to more tacks. The organisers, marshalls and all helping out did a wonderful job, really worthy of credit.

The Police didn’t go slow at all, well if you think 20-25 is slow then…. I was expected a 10-15mph creep down the hill. Without the ‘slow’ down I’d have descended at around 40-50mph as the road was good, smooth and easy to read.

They had quickly re-routed the course to avoid about 8 miles and sent us on the final leg back home. I knew now it was a 15mile sprint for the end, so I gave it my all and spent most of the way home passing people who hadn’t much left. I’d shuffled to the front at the stop so as to not have a massive bunch in front of me, but was boxed in at the bottom of the decent and lost some time to that.

I had checked out the last 5-6 miles the day before so knew of the killer corner into a steep hill, I swung out and changed down and powered up the wee hill, passing the house I’d marked as the marker for the last big climb. Riding back down the hill to Pitlochry I raced to get back as fast as I could, turning the corner onto the main street, I changed up and pushed every last ounce in me to get to the line, all I could hear were cheers and claps from the hundreds of people at the finish line. I was almost tearful as I neared the finish line, a lot of time and hours has been spent to do something I didn’t think I could have even attempted this time last year. I crossed the line passing a lot of people in the finish straight to come home in 4hrs 9mins for the modified course about 73 miles, distance to be confirmed. My speedo was a wee bit out on what the Etape people had for the race.

I almost hit the barriers as they had less than 25m to slow down before turning into the cyclists village. I was given my medal, 24 carat Steel! But it’s nice to have something as a memory for the day.

Really gutted to be robbed of the full event and the hassle of it all, I hope they can still run these races like this and that they find who did this. Some people suffered a lot, they had so many punctures they had to give up and take a lift to the end. Some came off and were injured and a fair few have damaged rims. No one was badly injured, one non-tack related crash saw a guy with massive head bruise.

I started cycling again last summer as Nicola was ill with Lyme Disease and I wanted something to do for a few hours that could help me get fit, we couldn’t got walking, climbing or mountain biking, Nicola was far too sick. I started riding with the Ythan club, who were super patient with me being really unfit and being behind, they all took a turn to help me round the short courses they did. You deserve a big thanks guys! I’m totally bowled over by the support I have been given from the words to the money we have raised, to date we have £1100 pounds for LDA to help them to educate and reform Lyme Disease care.


Me at the end, Im a lot more tired than I look!

When I’ve been training in the wind and rain, pushing the pedals down when my legs screamed, riding past my house to add more miles to the circuit and especially today when I was all alone on the road and fighting to get some wheels, each and every minute I had the words, support and encouragement of a lot of people with me.

Fundraising

Just a quick note, were up to £600 now on the fundraising, so we need to get a wee bit more to make the £1000 target (including the gift aid)

Thanks to all who have helped !!!!

The Bike

So we have just 7 days left to go before the Etape, my early season target and what all the training has been about. This week I treated the bike to a new set of wheels, I had some Xero wheels on my mountain bike and having loved how these rode, I bought a set of Xero XSR1 wheels for the Road bike.

Im riding a Cervelo Soloist team frame from 2007, Its an all aluminium aero frame, Cervelo make some of the best professional quality bikes and last years Tour De France was won on Cervelo's.

The Gearing and Braking is taken care of by Shimano Ultegra with an FSA Carbom team chanset. The gear ratios I have set up are 52/39 at the front and a 12-27 at the back.

The bike is topped off with FSA Bars and a stem and a Selle Italia Saddle.

For the Etape I have to take the triathlon bars off the front and I will add 2 normal sized drinks bottles. Ill also be carrying some food and a set of tools.

Preparation is almost there, Ill get the bike serviced at the Local Bike Shop this week, have a final test ride at the club time trial and then pack it away ready for the weekend.

Final preparation and fundraising

Firstly a big thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far, we are now over £400 for the total. Weve still a way to go and I know some people who have promised to donate have yet to do so.... go on hit the button and add a little to the total.

Donations will still be possible after the event, but ideally we would like to get them all in before, so we can take some photographs at the finish with the usual giant cheque!

The preparations are now winding down, saturday saw me racing again and clocking a seasons PB, a very windy return leg saw everyone lose a lot of time. Yesterday I headed out to do 5 hours on the bike in an attempt to simulate the ride. I planned all the food stops and the main climbs to be at the same distance. What I didnt plan for was the wind, which saw me fighting into it for the first 2 hours, only to see it die down for the return. I cut a corner off the proposed route at the midpoint as I the wind was too much to keep pushing into. I rode 76miles in 4 hrs 35 mins. So Im happy that with the added benefit of other riders and a lot less wind that a time between 4.5 and 5 hrs is possible for the Etape Caledonia.

Ive 2 more races mid week to do and Ill do a couple of short rides this week and one final ride next wednesday, then thats it till the Sunday morning. I start the Etape at 7:16 in the morning. so the target is to be back in time for a well earn sunday roast!

Raising the Cash

Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, were already over 200 with more pledged to come. I hope we can make a real difference for LDA.

The training is going well, another wee race last weekend went well. Im off to do 90 miles this sunday as the final long distance training and test for me. Ill decide on my pace for the Etape after the weekend and set my targets.

Thanks again

Fundraising Page

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/donations/hunter/

The page is finally up and running, please click to the site and donate what you can, LDA will use the money to buy a new laptop to take to conferences and events, they will also buy some exhibition stands to help publicize LDA and their work.

For every pound you donate, LDA can claim back 28p from the Brown and Darling, so please email from the site as requested.

£1000 is 100 people at £10 each... so a little from a lot goes a long way.

Thanks in Advance, Ill try to thank everyone who donates individually!!

Updates and results

A report on my race at the first Ythan confined 10 is at the link below -
http://ythancc.forumup.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=692&mforum=ythancc

Also, the race calender has been updated to include the GCRT evening series.

Penultimate Long Distance Training Ride

Evening, today saw me head out to Inverurie, via the wee hill at the back of Kirkhill, then onto the Lords Throat, then down onto the Alford rd and off over to Floras, that was 50miles, I was worn out!

I then headed back home via kirkton of skene, blackburn and hatton of fintry. Back over the wee hill and home for a round trip of 71 miles, 4hrs20 mins, so given how rubbish I felt all of the way, I'm fairly happy with it. I could not drink enough, kept drinking all day and was still wanting more.

Happy Days

Race and Ride Calender

Here is the current Race and Ride Calender, mostly skewed towards time trialing, with the longer distance focussing on the Etape Caledonia in May and the Blackpool Sportive in August.

July may see an attempt on the Bealach Na Ba with some friends, we will see how many chicken out of that one.

The season should end with the AC Yule 10, which will see me back to where I started last season, where I came home last with a time of 35:52.

Other races and rides are sure to be added.

14-Apr Ythan CC TT - Result = 29:34
26-Apr Culloden 10TT - Result = 29:30
28-Apr Ythan CC TT - Result = 29:17 (Broken TriBar)
02-May Billy Christie 10TT = 29:04 - PB
07-May GCRT Evening 13TT = 39:03 (very windy)
12-May Ythan CC TT 15TT = 45:12 (chain came off twice)
17-May Etape Caledonia 81RR = approx 4hrs 20mins
21-May GCRT Evening 12TT = 37:04 (roughest roads in Aberdeenshire)
24-May Drumlithie 25TT = didnt ride
26-May Ythan CC TT = 28:47 another PB for all 10s!
06-Jun Neish 25TT = 1:12:33 My first ever 25, so happy with that time.
09-Jun Ythan CC TT = 1:13:14
11-Jun GCRT Evening 20TT = 1:04:14 - Great course, hilly, happy with that time
13-Jun Cairngorm 50 = 2:55:19 - 35th
14-Jun Great Inverurie Bike Ride 25 - 1:21:44
16-Jun Dundee 10 = 27:10 - PB by 1min 56 for opens.
17-Jun Massie Shield 25 = 1:11:14 another PB
21-Jun SCU National 25 = 1:08:36 this is becoming a habit.....
23-Jun Ythan CC TT - Cancelled
25-Jun GCRT Evening 14TT - Cancelled
07-Jul Ythan CC TT
26-Jul Ythan Open 10TT
01-Aug Blackpool Sportive 86RR
04-Aug Ythan CC TT
06-Aug GCRT Evening 14TT
08-Aug Forres 10TT
13-Aug GCRT Evening 10TT
18-Aug Ythan CC TT
01-Sep Ythan CC TT
13-Sep Ythan APR
19-Sep AC Yule 10TT


TBA Alford Bike Ride
TBA Stonehaven Bike Ride
TBA Bealach Na Ba Challenge

Bob Souter Memorial Time Trial

Last sunday I raced for the first as an Ythan CC member. I came in 35th out of 45 riders, but I beat my 30min target to come home in 29:18 seconds. I was technically the winner on handicap, but due to some creative time keeping I didnt win the prize. Anyways its all about competing and improving really.

So now Im back to the long distance training!

Training 1

Hello

So ive been training for the Etape ride since new year, starting small with 20 miles rides with the Ythan club, building up to 40 miles.

Earlier this month I headed out to Deeside and did 60 miles up and over the biggest mountain pass out that way, Cairn O Mount. I managed the 60 miles in 4.5 hrs, so I was fairly happy.

This last weekend I did 78.5 miles from my house to Alford and back via another steep hill, I clocked just under 5 hrs, so really happy also.

So its all looking good, this week will be a quiet one, with a reccy of the 10mile time trial course on wednesday, ready for my first race of the season, man against clock for 10 miles, Im hoping to come in under 30 mins, the winners will be much closer to 20 mins.

What is this all about?

Last spring, my Girlfriend Nicola was bitten by a Tick on the Isle of Rum, Scotland. At the time we didn't think anything of it. As you can read below in Nicola's Story, our world change a lot that day.

Nicola's story is still ongoing I hope to update how the treatment is going as things change. At the time of writing there is at least another month of treatment still pending, beyond that we have yet to see what will follow.

Lyme disease is an increasingly common infection in the UK, the rate of increase is staggering. The potential consequences of untreated Lyme disease can be severe and lead to a significant loss of quality of life.

We have been lucky, we were informed and were able to see beyond the closed minded NHS specialists. We had the resources to find alternative treatments and we have had each other to get through all of the battles and suffering. Many people are not so lucky.

So we come to the cycle part of this, on May 17th, I am riding 81 miles in Perthshire. The ride is the Etape Caledonia (www.etapecaledonia.co.uk). This is the largest closed road cycle ride/race in the UK. 3000 people will take part from those aiming for sub 4hr race times to those in fancy dress.



I am aiming to complete the ride in under 5hrs and am looking for sponsorship to raise money for Lyme Disease Action (http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/).

LDA are "Striving for prevention and treatment of Lyme Disease and associated tick-borne diseases" which is something that needs attention. They rely on the time and generosity of individuals to raise the funds to lobby parliament, health professionals and advise those suffering with tick born ailments.

My aim is to raise £1000 this year for LDA, the first of my events is the Etape Caledonia where I hope to raise at least £500 for LDA.

This blog will detail the fund raising as it progresses ad my preparation for the ride. The next planned event is July-August, I will ride 4 x 25 mile local charity rides in under 90minutes each. The final event planned will be a climb of the Bealach na Ba, Scotland's very own alpine ascent, I plan to cycle this as a conclusion to the fund raising project.

Thanks to all for taking time to read my words Ill post a link to the fund raising page as soon as it is live. Please give anything to LDA that you can spare, if a lot of people give a little, then we can make a difference. I will try to post about how LDA plan to use the money raised.

Nicola's Story

My name is Nicola Seal, I have Lyme disease. This is the story of my illness and the shocking ignorance and attitude of the NHS to this disease.

I am an Ecologist and got Lyme in spring 2008 from a single tick bite on the west coast of Scotland. I have had lots of tick bites before, as an outdoor enthusiast and field worker, it is an occupational hazard. I had heard of Lyme disease but believed it to be a rare and none-too serious disease and I never imagined I could get it.

10 days after the bite, I felt ill at work. I had strangely painful knees, headache, stomach pains, swollen glands, stiff neck, aching muscles and I couldn’t stand the light. I had remembered that Lyme disease goes for the knees and can cause meningitis, so I was a bit suspicious. I went to my GP the next day who didn’t think it was just flu and rang the local hospital who said to come in the next day.

By the time I reached the hospital, my legs had started to buckle underneath me and I couldn’t hold my weight. A lady in the car park had to help me into the building. I saw the doctors in the infection unit and they were so concerned they admitted me immediately. I couldn’t walk, was drenched in sweat, hot and looking very ill. When I told them about the tick bite they suspected Lyme disease in the nervous system (Neuroborreoliosis) and put me on oral antibiotics. They did a lumbar puncture and blood tests but the lumbar puncture showed nothing unusual and the blood tests merely indicated that I had some infection. I was in hospital for 2 nights, during which time, my legs regained some strength, so that I could just about walk if I held onto furniture. I went through several pairs of pyjamas due to the night sweats. I kept the blinds closed as the light hurt my eyes. I more or less insisted that they let me home, no-one likes hospitals. They sent me home with 21 days of 200mg doxycycline, an antibiotic. This dose and duration, I have since found out, is totally inadequate for neuroborreliosis and may have caused the bacteria to form cysts which are then resistant to further antibiotics.

I spent the next 20 days with very weak legs, migrating pain in muscles and joints, continuous headache, rib pain and bad fatigue. I was getting no better. I could not work or even walk round a supermarket. I went back to the hospital, as I realised that I was still quite ill, despite the Doxycycline and had read that this dose and duration was not enough. The registrar told me that I had been given enough antibiotics and I would be fine. I found the number of a Lyme disease specialist and asked the registrar to phone him for advice and to discuss my case. He refused and referred me up to his boss, the consultant. After some discussion, the consultant reluctantly agreed to prescribe a months’ worth of Doxycycline at 400mg.

Symptoms temporarily worsened after 3 days on this dose, but then I slowly improved, my muscle pains, joint pains, headaches and dizziness became less severe and my legs became more stable and I went back to work. I felt so much better, I even went climbing and went for a long weekend away on the west coast. 3 days before the Doxycycline was due to end, I was at work and suddenly relapsed. I had a headache, became very dizzy and the leg weakness returned. I didn’t want to believe it and told myself I was imagining it. I had to accept it was back when I could only limp across the lab.

I rang the hospital and they said to go back in to see them. They admitted me for 5 days and did further tests. These included and MRI scan, a nerve conduction test on my legs, a neurological examination, a lumbar puncture and further blood tests. The MRI scan showed ‘hyperintensities’ in my white matter- which can be indicative of neurological Lyme disease. The nerve conduction test doctor said I had numbness on my thighs which, along with the leg weakness, was consistent with irritation of the nerve root coming from my spine. This is often seen in neurological Lyme disease. The blood tests showed negative for Lyme disease, but I have since found out that they are notoriously unreliable and were not designed to be diagnostic tests. The lumbar puncture was normal, but again, this is often seen in patients who have central nervous system Lyme.

Despite being unable to walk properly, having constant headaches, dizziness, muscle and joint pains and being barely able to get round the shops without collapsing, I was told that essentially, they thought that I was either mad or had post-viral fatigue (they couldn’t quite decide which). They referred me to a psychiatrist. He later came to the conclusion that I had no psychological issues. They took me off the antibiotics and discharged me.

I went downhill fast. My leg weakness worsened to the where I needed to use a stick or hold onto another person to get about. The joint and muscle pains worsened and the headaches, nausea and dizziness became worse. I could no longer stand upright with my feet together without falling over. Most frightening of all, I developed cognitive problems. I nearly ran over a motorcyclist on the way back from a hospital appointment, because I was unable to concentrate for more than a few minutes. I stopped driving. I am normally a near touch typist, but I could only type very slowly, with one or two fingers. I could not keep the thread of a conversation, my attention wandering off all the time, forgetting what I or the other person was saying. I forgot the names for everyday things, a daisy became a ‘white thing’, a satchel became a ‘brown thing’. I became clumsy, dropping things when washing up and knocking things over due to lack of spatial awareness. I had a thick ‘brain fog’ where I could not think clearly and mental processing was slow. I also had dental pain on one side, numbness on my thighs and shins, and severe fatigue. I had gone from being a fit hillwalking, mountain biking, rock climber to having to get a wheelchair through Luton airport because I was unable to make the distance to the gate

I went to see a private Lyme specialist, because I was now convinced there was something seriously wrong with me and thought that maybe I did have Lyme after all. She examined me and took a history and diagnosed me with Neurological Lyme disease. The bug was in my brain after all. She ordered blood tests and told me to come back to have a second opinion with another specialist doctor at her clinic. The blood test came back positive for Lyme. Out of curiosity, I looked at my blood down the microscope at work and found long wiggling filaments that looked a lot like the Lyme bacteria pictures I had seen on the internet. I went to see the second private doctor and he agreed with the first. He saw my ‘Lyme bacteria’ videos and confirmed they did indeed look like Lyme bacteria. Both doctors were concerned at my severely abnormal gait (They took a video of me walking) and prescribed me oral antibiotics. They recommended a 12 week course of intravenous antibiotics (Ceftriaxone), necessary because the oral antibiotics don’t easily get to the brain, where the bacteria now was. As this would be expensive privately, they wrote to my NHS hospital to ask that they provide treatment. Whilst I waited for this decision, the oral antibiotics began to help and some symptoms improved.

After some argument, the NHS consultant agreed to provide 4 weeks of intravenous antibiotics, the maximum which is allowable under NHS guidelines. After a few days the brain fog lifted and I began to be able to think clearly again, which was a huge relief. The other symptoms all slowly improved, and after 4 weeks, I only had a few headaches, a little dizziness and nausea and a small degree of left leg weakness remaining.

The Lyme bacteria is a tough cookie though, and hard to completely eradicate. So to complete the treatment, I took the advice of the private Lyme specialists and commenced a privately funded course of a further 8 weeks intravenous Ceftriaxone, followed by three months oral combination antibiotics. I am hopeful of a cure. Now, at the end of the IV therapy, I still have the leg weakness intermittently, but am much improved and feel thankful that I have been able to afford the expensive private treatment. I have spent nearly £10,000 to date. I am proof that the current NHS guidelines of ‘30 days antibiotics and you’re cured, no matter what’ is wrong. If I had listened to the NHS registrar, I would probably severely (and possibly irreversibly) disabled by now.