Two repeats: Mayar and Dreish - Glen Colva Duathalon 2017
Route: Cycle loop from Glen Clova Hotel to Glen Doll, run up Corrie Fee, up Mayar and Dreish, down via Kilbo Path, cycle back to hotel
Height: 928m, 947m
Date: 16 September 2017
Time to summit (from Glen Doll): 1hr 5mins, 1hr 35mins
Total time: 2hr 15min (just the run)
With: Dominic, Mhairi, Dave M, Jen, Colin, Ed
Weather: Windy, rainy, cloudy
After a night camping that involved a 1am taking down of the tent and retreat to the car, the day of the duathalon dawned windy and cold with the threat of rain - quite a contrast to the sunshine of the previous year! Undeterred, we handed in our transition boxes and got ready for the race.
We set off cycling in waves of 20, separated by a few minutes. The first cycle of the day went from the Glen Clova Hotel, doing a loop around the lower part of the glen on the road, back past the hotel and then on to the Glen Doll carpark. For the first part we enjoyed a powerful tail wind blowing us along the undulating road, but paid for it when we turned around and headed back up the other side of the valley. During the final stretch from the hotel to the carpark the rain started, making cycling not that pleasant.
A quick change of waterproof at the transition point and it was time to start the run. Although I’d beaten him in the cycle, Dom quickly disappeared off ahead. We first made our way up the track towards Corie Fee and once across the bottom began the steep climb up its headwall. Everyone was walking at the point! On the ascent it was relatively sheltered, but at the top of Mayar the wind came back with a vengeance, and turning towards Dreish it was hard to stand up, let alone run!
Despite the weather, I was please to pass Dom at pretty much the same point I had done the previous year, part way up the steep section from the bealach. The weather continued to be quite unpleasant going up Dreish and back down to the pass, but at least we would be out of it sooner than the bedraggled looking walkers.
It was then carefully down the Kilbo path, where I managed to overtake a few people who, sensibly, were being a bit more cautious, and then into the woods. Here care had to be taken to avoid slipping on the mud and branches, but it was reasonably sheltered from the wind. Quite soon we made it to the river and it was a fairly short way along the flat back to the bikes. Last year I’d cramped up terribly at this point, but this year my legs were still working.
With the wind behind me I jumped back on my bike for the final stretch back to the hotel, trying to catch the person ahead of me, who I’d been following most of the way down. I didn’t quite manage it, but I was quite pleased with my time. After getting changed, me and Dom warmed up with some soup while waiting for the others to come in. We then all warmed up by the fire inside the hotel, before heading out to listen to the prize giving - someone had set a new course record despite the weather conditions. The sun had, of course, come out by this point, and the wind dropped - if only the start had been delayed!