After two years of waiting, the day is finally here.............

It has been 730 days in waiting. The Tacks attack fiasco of last year meant, in reality, having to wait two years to attempt a challenge on my PB (Bigman) from the previous real Etape. That year, 4 hours 13 minutes had proved a surprise even to me, as well as many others.

The field had widened with over 4500 entrants to this years race. Each one vying to be home faster than the Posse Ecosse, such is the brand awareness of the Posse.

Participants travel from far and wide to compete against the Posse. And the Posse continues to grow with younger members such as Skyrider, joining the ranks.

Such is popularity that we have to keep our over night accommodation a secret from the paparazzi. Whilst some were in exuberant comfort of a B& B ( Windsor Gardens), others in a hostel, others made a bed for the night in their car as a decoy from the real home of the Posse Ecosse.

And so in a damp morning around about 06:45 the Posse gathered as a virtual team amongst thousands of other participants each with their allotted start time hoping for a solid ride and the potential for 12 months of glory ahead as the Caledonian Etape 2010 posse champion.

A sparkling year of glitzy events awaits the champion. Bigman, this year was in a class of his own, in the over 50's. The chances of him at least winning this crown were high, even if the uncompetitive Ironman repeats his Col du Carnock victory to take the double.
It was a slow countdown with a range of speeches, none of which were audible.

And the then we were off.The world appeared to pass me. I had decided to race to my own pace on the climbs and join the groups for the less mountainous sections. The pipes droned as we left Pitlochry and there was much jostling for position as the teams sped expectantly out of Pitlochly for the 2010 etape.

At the left hander towards Tummel Bridge, things were starting to settle down. It was a stiff wind out of the west as we cruised towards the Queen's View with the sound of the pipes in the distance alerting riders to the proximity of the crest of the climb. Everyone was passing me however I was resolute in my game plan.

Cresting the Queens view I joined a pack and settled into the pace, chatting to fellow riders. Peleton cycling takes a surprising amount of concentration. Watching the front rider to see if they are picking up pace, whilst watching the wheel in front for any unusual movements. A rider in front reaching into their pocket for food or taking a drink from their bottle can be a warning that they are not concentrating, the risk of an accident is increased. Also riders who are unfamiliar with the corners can be taken by surprise and fly into a ditch, like the RAF team member from last year.

We flew through Tummel Bridge in remarkable quick time to cheering crowds and on a par with last year. I felt good. At the climb between Tummel and Kinloch Rannoch I was once again dropped, only to regain the pack when we were back on relative flat. The whizz round Loch Rannoch was both stunning and speedy. I was in a pack all the way round and passed the half way mark in just under 2 hours.

I approached the scene of carnage from last year with trepidation looking for any sign of inverted bikes and oodles of discarded punctured tubes. There was no carnage, just the impending climb up over Schehallion. As I climbed I showed a mark of respect to the scenes of my six punctures last year. Gladly and with rejoice, I made the junction and headed down the other side. I was pleased to have space on the road and caught some other riders to form a new peleton that carried me all the way back to Logierait and the climb back over to Pitlochry. Once again I was dropped by faster cyclists on the climb.

As I enter Pitlochry, I started to hammer down on the pedals and prepare the correct gear for the climb up the High Street. With spectators cheering loudly, I under whelmed everyone by making my chain jump off!

A quick stop and guiding it back on and I was off again to much pleasure from the waiting and expectant crowd. As I entered the finish stages I wanted to thank everyone for their encouragement and support. Waving in regal way to the crowds on both sides

No doubt the organisers were mightily concerned that there would be another ugly protest. Instead I can only record my gratitude and appreciation for the many who turned out so early and throughout the day to make this a most memorable day out in beautiful Perthshire.

And to the stats. My time was 4 hours and 4 minutes and I finished 418th, in the top 10 percentage of entrants. In my class I was 47th out of almost 600 participants in the 50-59 category. 6,118 calories burnt and 3800ft of ascent, with an average heart rate of 152 bpm.

As we said our farewells to Dorothy at the B & B, we have already booked our accommodation for Caledonia Etape 2011. Bring it on!