After an aborted entry two years ago, Stewart and I realised we had fresh run out of excuses not to make the long drive north at the weekend to compete in the Applecross Duathlon. We were both injury free, the weather forecast was good, child-minding had been taken care of, and Stewart had even dusted down and been out on his road bike a couple of times in preparation. The chat in the car on the way up was a little presumptuous. Stewart had printed off the official start list and leafing through it we decided that current record holder Al Anthony seemed to be the main competition, although we did discuss the fact that ‘some fit local usually turns up to this sort of thing and does well’ and, seeing someone having ‘Army’ as his team, I pointed out another potential contender. With hindsight we should have laid some bets. Adam Ward had the course record (1.50) in the event until last year when Al took a full five minutes off it, but with Adam keeping the v40 record, there was still plenty to aim for. After a night in the Ledgowan bunkhouse in Achnasheen (recommended), we dropped our bikes at the changeover at Arrina on the north coast of the Applecross peninsula on what was a gloriously still and hazy morning. We then drove down to Applecross, registered, pitched the tent and jogged along to the start with a group from HBT who were out in force for the event, many of whom were sporting brand new, and I have to say quite smart, brown polka dot cycling tops (‘KOB’). The race itself is made up of a 9 mile northerly run on a good trail with ascent of around 400m, followed by a 15 mile road bike with similar ascent on the undulating coast road southwards to finish back in Applecross. After letting it be known on the start line that he only had a mountain bike waiting for him at the changeover and that he ‘couldn’t cycle for toffee anyway’ no-one was too worried when Chunky went off like a bullet on the run, and after a couple of miles I found myself at the back of a chasing group of four with Stewart, Al and the ‘local’ (and previous winner) David Wilby. Several miles of relatively fast, and not too hilly, running later and not much had changed with Chunky out of sight but the four of us hitting the final mile road section of the run within 45 seconds of each other. A decent transition saw Stewart and I on our bikes just behind Al and David. Maybe it was the ‘double espresso’ gel I’d just forced down but at this point I had a surge of something and, after we had all past Chunky toiling on his MTB, I powered my way past David, then Stewart and finally Al to the front and carried on powering, opening up a decent gap. This was going to be an easy win. Alas, as quickly as the surge had come, I got to the top of the next small hill and all that power fell away in an instant and past came Al and then Stewart. And so the next 5 miles or so played out with the three of us all in close contact (although making sure to abide by the ‘no drafting’ rule) swapping places as one would have a surge and then another, and continually at a pretty ferocious pace on the up and down course. At around 10 miles David, who’d been biding his time just behind the three of us, joined in the fun, now there were four of us swapping positions, and the pace if anything just seemed to increase. At around 12 miles we all got a shock when another rider came past, smoothly pushing a big gear on an expensive bike, and sure enough, he was wearing a bib with ‘Army’ written across the back. As he cruised by it looked like we were no longer racing for the top spot but there were still the minor places to go for. Unfortunately, while Stewart and I had been gaining on any hills, the last part of the course was flat to downhill, and David and Al edged ahead. It was then all about the v40 and as we closed in on the last few hundred metres, Stewart showed his cycling pedigree as he snaked through two tight corners to open up a couple of seconds gap on me that was ultimately too much to close. It was only after we crossed the line that we realised what time we’d all finished in – all five of us just 36 seconds apart and all around four minutes ahead of Al’s previous course record, with Ewan Taylor winning in 1.41.01, David Wilby 2nd, Al 3rd (1.41.31), Stewart 4th (smashing the v40 record by around 9 minutes), and me 5th (1.41.37). On a day of undoubtedly good conditions, Claire Gordon’s ladies record was also broken, by around 6 minutes by Stephanie Provan (Deeside) in 1.52. Carnethy’s Lisa Gamble, a previous winner, also did well on her first race back from injury. Results to follow. We stopped off at the Applecross Inn on the shore for a cheeky post race pint on our way up to the community hall for tea, cakes and prize giving, and then it was back to the Inn for some fabulous seafood and several more of those pints with the HBT crew, first inside, then outside, then back inside for boozy Jenga. The night ended with a drunken and unfruitful search for Stewart’s bag containing his race shoes and the v40 trophy, happily enough to be found the following morning sitting in plain sight next to the benches where we’d been sitting. A plan had been hatched the night before for Stewart, Al and me to tackle the Bealach Na Ba road bike climb on the Sunday morning, with some of us (me) claiming that the previous day had really just been a warm-up/qualifier to this, the main event. After one false start, Stewart did a good job of leading us out before he found himself needing a few more sprockets than his small straight-through cassette provided, and did well not to get off and walk. Al and I battled on ahead, and all three of us ended up finishing in the top 20 of this official ‘Classic Strava Segment’. For once though, with such glorious weather and outstanding scenery, the time on the watch didn’t seem too important. We set off back down at an easy pace stopping to take photos and enjoy the surroundings, with Al in particular keen not to turn up at his wedding next Saturday with a grazed face – Good luck Al and Eilidh! Paul