In my last email, I shared how Colin (my training partner) had suggested wearing compression shorts under my wetsuit was a good idea because it speeded up transition and meant I didn't have to stand naked in a car park like last year.   

Other than nudity, it wasn't actually a very good idea at all, I didn't know this until it was too late and I was already out on the ride across Scotland.

There's a saying that goes for most sports - 'don't try anything new on race day'.

The next time I enter an event I'm going to follow that advise, as so far each time I haven't I have ended u in a world of pain.

The first part of the ride goes out over some cobble stones which make you doubt if your bike is going to make it the full distance before some pretty steep climbs take you up to the foot of the iconic Forth Road Bridge.  It truly is spectacular to ride across, the views are awesome and you can get a good pace on down the opposite side.

Actually, I didn't remember how hilly the first part of the ride was.   An hour in to it I was wondering how I was going to get through another 6 hours of riding.

Partly because I had realised that the seam on the shots was starting to rub.  Steve had caught me up and we rode together for a few miles and he mentioned he could do with a pee stop.  There seemed to be a lack of suitable facilities / lay-bys so a couple more miles down the road I pulled over at the side of the rod where there was a bunch of tress for cover.

By this point I was in quite a lot of discomfort from the shorts and decided to take immediate action.

I stripped down behind a tree, hearing a couple of cheers from passing cyclists and motorists, and got rid of the aggressively seamed shorts.

Hopping back on to the bike, I realised that the damage was already done and I had merely limited further flesh wounds.  At least I only had another 90 miles to ride ;)

The next part of the ride went pretty well, there were some really enjoyable down hill sections that were made more fun by the dry roads and the speed that could be achieved by dropping on to my bars and letting the bike go.  Steve had dropped back a little, being 3 stone heavier than he is, gravity helps me with speed down the hills.

Cycling along a really beautiful section of road, the surface was smooth (not much of that), the views were spectacular (lots of that), the wind was low (quite a lot of that in the first half), the sun was out (too much of that for a pasty white Irish dude), I really appreciated how lucky I was to have the support to be able to enter such an event.

I glanced around to see how spectacular the scenery around me was, there's a picture below that can only hint at what it was like 'live'.  I thought to myself that I should really remind Steve to have a look around when he got the chance, lots of the other competitors have their heads down and rarely see much more than the road and their front wheel.  I didn't want him to miss out on the views.

As I looked back to he direction I was heading, I noticed that I had gone off target and was about to come off the road.  I was going too fast (20+mph) to take aggressive action.  I thought in a split second that I'd roll with it use the grass verge to slow don and then hop back on to the road BMX style.

It didn't quite work, there was a section of stones directly of the rad to slow cars down if they went off line.  That grabbed my front wheel to a sudden stop.  I went flying over the handle bars, my feet were clipped in so as I got to 90 degrees the bike started to follow me in the air.  Thankfully, the bush I went head first in to was quite twiggy and not solid, a few scratches was the only damage I receive for it slowing me to a stop.

I unclipped and brushed myself down, glancing behind me I thought I saw Steve's red t-shirt, I was pleased at least I had a witness of my spectacular crash.  I got back on my bike and eased back up to pace, the second head smash of the day made me a little weary.

The red t-shirt caught me up and went past, it wasn't Steve and there wasn't even any acknowledgement of my amazing tumble through the air.  Just a smile and a wave. 

I met Fran and some of the other Team Achieve supporters at the 60 mile mark and topped up my fluids and food supplies while Fran was shoving a sandwich in to my mouth to make sure I was eating enough.  She told me that Colin was an hour ahead of me but had been struggling since 40 miles and she had to give him a treatment to realise his low back. 

I checked my bike for damage, told Steve about my crash and headed off for the next section.  This was the start of the really steep and hilly section of the ride.

Fran and the others were surprised when I rolled in to the 80 mile check point because they weren't expecting me for another 15 minutes.  The 20 miles had really flown by, my legs were feeling pretty good and my shorts / intimate injury had lost all sensation so was causing no major pain.

I had a little break, waited for Steve to check in and headed off for he final and most brutal stage of the ride.  Fran had treated Colin's shoulders when he was in, I told her to get him to wait for me at the run transition area.

There's a section of the route that climbs up to Rannoch Moor, it double backs on itself; meaning that you can see exactly what is coming and how long the climb is going to be.  It was never ending but made better by several members of the Team Achieve Support Crew were in a lay-by near the top to shout encouragement.  It was greatly needed and appreciated.

Rannoch Moor itself is pretty flat but prone to high headwinds which makes riding across it pretty difficult.  It was more of a crosswind which meant handling the bike was a little tricky.  Still much more preferable to the hail storms that I rode through last year.

There was more of a headwind to cycle down the hill in to Glencoe.  It's disheartening when you are pedalling hard to to keep moving forwards rather than casually coasting down the slope.  The views were truly stunning though and made the effort needed more bearable.

I coasted in to transition to see the support crew enjoying ice creams and hear my dogs barking their congratulations.   A welcome sound to hear.

I peeled myself of the saddle, the steepness of the hills had led to more rubbing :( and picked up my running bag.  Headed over to Colin and the others to discuss the next leg, the marathon ... 

Darren 'hopes to complete a triathlon without nudity' Checkley

P.S. A few of Team Achieve are cycling in the Leukaemia Research Ride tomorrow, starting from the Brandon Oak at 10am.  If you would like to join us, let me know.  Weather dependent, we will be riding the 50 mile route with a couple of pub stops on route.

P.P.S. Good luck to the Team Achievers running in the 2 castles 10k race tomorrow.