111 MILE SPONSERED CYCLE

Craig Moffat and Stevie Dunn decided to do a sponsored cycle to raise money for Forth Valley Disability Sport to help send athletes to The Special Olympics 2009. We decided on the route well in advance and just hoped the wind would be in our favour, head wind up and a tail wind back. The course would be starting at the Falcon Bar at St Ninians 10am, we would then head to Crianlarich via Callander.From Crainlarich we would head to Tarbert then down through Loch Lomond to Balloch, then homeward bound to Stirling vis Bucklivie.

We had been monitoring the weather and everything looked good apart from the wind, it was going to be a tail wind to Crainlarich and a cross wind all the way to Balloch then for the last part of the journey it would be a very testing head wind. There would be five of us start from the pub Myself, Stevie Dunn, James McPake, Martin Coopland and Stephen Dickson. The plan was for Martin and Stephen to go as far as Callender and James would go to Crainlarich where he would keep going to Tyndrum where another adventure would continue. Stevies Mum, Isabel and Dad, Andrew would meet us at certain points along the way to give food out and extra bottle’s if needed this also took a great weight off our minds if we had a mechanical we had spare wheels etc in the support car. We had decided to make an effort on the cycle and to put our hardest efforts in for this great cause.

From the start the spells were fast with the tail wind helping us a good average speed all the way to Callender, when Martin and Stephen peeled off we decided to start wheeling about with 15 second spells through and off. At this point we were cruising through some great scenery at high speeds and I felt great! Just after we passed through Strathyre we met up with 2 Stirling lads who were going as far as the junction to Killin, they joined in our chain gang and we were flying. We went trough Lochearnhead and started the climb up the Glen, it was steady and with the tail wind you could nearly enjoy the scenery without being too much in the red. The 2 from Stirling peeled off then it was a straight run to our first stop at Crainlarich where we would depart from James. When we arrived at Crainlarich Andrew and Isabel had the boot open with a great selection of food and coffee. We had completed the first leg of the journey in 2 hours! But we knew the next leg would be tougher and then the final leg a nightmare. We stopped for ten minutes until the scourge of the midge was too much to bare and bid our farewells to James and our supporters.

We decided we would keep wheeling about as to get the best time at the end of the ride, it was comfortable all the way to Tarbet and the traffic did not seem to be too heavy, once again the scenery was breath taking as we travelled through Ardlui and Inverglas where we saw a nice pub with loads of people outside enjoying a pint and eating chips, but we were on a mission not even that would stop us lol.

As we turned at Tarbet we knew the long wide road down the Loch side would be busy with traffic, very fast traffic and the cross wind would start in to me more in the face and boy were we right. As we cycled up the drag just after the Duck Bay Marina I could feel my legs heavy and this was a worry as we still had so far to go. Big Stevie was a gent and let me sit in for 5 minutes to get my strength back. After Balloch it was a Grind to Bucklivie our next rendezvous with Andrew and Isabel. The head wind was now very strong and especially after the efforts we had put in thus far.

We stopped at Buchlvie and restocked our bellies with fizzy juice and bananas and sat for a few minutes contemplating the next 14 miles back to Stirling. We started off fairly strong but once coming in through the flats we were hurting, not so much because of the mileage as we both have done runs like this before but it was the constant effort and speed, we had managed to pass the 100 mile mark with an average speed of just under 22 miles per hour.

After what seemed like an eternity on the flats we finally reached Stirling and rode to The Falcon Bar happy and proud of completing the cycle with as much effort as we could give. When we reached the Bar there was a welcoming committee there to see us back and in true Fawkirk fashion we were off the bikes and within 1 minute I had a bottle of Bud and Stevie had a Guinness in his hand. We finished the ride in just over 5 hours.

I would personally like to thank all who sponsored us and to Andrew and Isabel for driving round and taking care of us with food etc with out that it would have been a lot more difficult to complete within that time. Finally good luck Rosie who is competing in the Special Olympics in Grass Bowls, I will keep you all posted with her progression through this website.