Etape Caledonia Competition Winner
A couple of weeks back we ran a competition to give away two entry tickets for the UKs only closed-road cycling event this year; the Etape Caledonia.
Our winner was Ewan McDougall and he sent us his thoughts of the weekend below:
“I was happy to win two tickets for etape caledonian, a 81 mile closed road cycle race in highland Perthshire, but also apprehensive. Having started cycling 9 months previously, with my partner Hilary, both of us were nervous entering a race with more than 2000 people. Hilary and I set off early on Saturday heading South from Elgin to Pitlochry.
My race day was almost scuppered after eating an ice cream, feeling very nauseous, then being violently ill, late on Saturday evening. Luckily I felt a lot better on the Sunday.
Race day morning was lovely, bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. We were in the last group to start, “the best of the best” the
starter told us. The route was spectacular though the road a little
more rolling than expected around Loch Tummel, Loch Rannoch brought
welcomed smooth and flatter surface.
As well as the many spectators clapping and cheering the cyclists around as small group of people were not so happy about etape being the only closed road event in Britain. The protest signs “Yes cyclist, No road closure” at a couple of locations around the route can’t have convinced many riders the race was a bad idea.
Hilary and I plan to do a bit more cycling around the area. Thanks for a great day out wiggle.”
