Ultracycling

Hi,

Thanks for allowing me to join the group! I have been a member in the distant past and do follow what’s going on. I’m not the greatest contributor on these things (consider me reprimanded by self and looking to improve!) but follow with interest people’s views, experience and opinions.

So, a lot of you have heard about the PanCeltic Race and that’s great and yes, I am the Race Director. It has been a long-term vision to organise such an event and has been in detailed planning for the last 14 months. We are a four-person team and we are genuinely dedicated to delivering the best possible event that we can. We all work full time and so this has had to be a labour of love for each of us, fitting it in amongst professional and family lives.

We take our responsibilities in organising this race with the upmost importance. For me, the driving factor in doing so is Rider Safety. I would not expect anybody to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I have to be comfortable and as confident as I can be in any given situation, before I advise someone else to do the same.

Like some of you reading this, I was following Mike Hall when the tragic accident occurred. I was numb for days and couldn’t believe that such a force of nature was gone. Months later, I was starting the TCR and was fortunate enough to speak to Pat (his mum) and spend some moments talking about our losses (I had lost my younger brother). I was riding down the Rhine the following day when news came through about Frank and I’ll never forget the impact that had on me and other riders who I came across that morning. Seeing Mike’s brother, Russell, at the finish in Greece and seeing how he was trying to keep things together despite the enormous loss he was coping with. These things impacted on me and made me appreciate how remarkable Mikes family is and one I hope to aspire to in some ways (I later saw Pat at TINAT and we caught up and it was a humbling experience).

Thank you for the comments and discussion you have had about the PanCeltic. All of it is very constructive for me and does help the team shape and develop the best possible race. Essentially, the PCR is a framework. The Team and I have added our bits and pieces to it and in many ways the rest of it is added to by you guys. Your feedback, your comments, your insights and experiences. If you think we are missing a particular Rule, or the route can be improved, then we want to hear it.

A brief history on the route. It was conceived in my head. Then I looked at maps and started my research of which roads were best suitable, most scenic and above all SAFE. I wanted to incorporate some aspects of the NC500 and we did. We avoided the busier roads and stuck with the more scenic, more quieter sections. I am lucky enough to have two good friends and one expert who know the area very well. One of them, Al, worked and lived all over Scotland for over 10 years. The other friend, Gary, spent his childhood and early adult years growing up, moving around and getting to know Scotland like the back of his hand. The third is Alasdair who has written and published the book Scottish Cycle Routes.
Between them, their advice, feedback and knowledge helped shape the route and we then spent 5 days driving and riding the entire 638 miles. We recorded everything we saw and the notes alone that will form our risk assessment currently stands at 38 pages and is continuously being added to as we learn more. And yes, Strava Heatmaps were also used.

We did ride the section between Tarbet and Luss and despite it being narrower than liked in sections, it was no more different to similar roads and paths where I live in Wales. The riders will be routed on the cycle path (No.40) that runs from Tarbet to Luss and from there staying on the path all the way to the Erskine Bridge. The occasion we rode it, neither myself nor Pete felt at risk. However, despite our experiences, we do appreciate that this is a snapshot of the section and may not represent what the path is like at the majority of times.

@gillies has been generous in reaching out to us on our Facebook page and raising his concern and I’m grateful for that. That discussion can be seen here.

The race is a living, breathing entity, currently in its early stages. It will need nurturing, feeding and developing and that is where I am hoping you guys in the community will play a part. The route is not finalised and will undoubtedly change (hopefully not much 😊) as we go forward. The three things that drive any changes are RIDER SAFETY; Road closures/ Diversions etc and if we happen to miss out on a secret bit of awesome tarmac known only by locals (they have to be truly awesome though 😉).

It will be open for refinement (hopefully not by much) all the way up to a week before the race start. Even after that, depending on the circumstances, it potentially could change (though hopefully by that point ALL possible influencing factors will have been ratified).

Taking on board the suggestions put forward, I am going to look at possibly doing a re-route between Tarbet and Luss/ or Arden via Garelochhead. This will require me to pop up to the area (a 700 mile round trip) to check the road first hand but that's fine with me - Scotland is breath-taking.

I’ll keep you guys updated.

By the way, here are some pics we took of the cycle path. You can see why we found it safe to ride and some of it is the old A82

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