Ride 11/11/2023

Well shockingly again there was a large turn out this morning, 32 of us in total, given the time of year I never see this many riders, even in the summer time we don’t always get this many riders and it’s totally freezing this morning. Weather wise it’s a sunny day with little wind but of course in winter time it makes for a very cold day, there was even frost on the ground this morning. I headed off in group 2 towards the cafe stop, not the fast group, there were a lot in that this morning, I was taking it easy today. The usual scrambled egg roll and OJ before we headed back, and thankfully it had warmed up a little but, not much about 5 degrees, but enough not to freeze my nuts off on the way back. I headed back in group 3 with Ken and Chris as we were all going the same way back to Crossgates. We took a different route through Dunfermline which actually increased my mileage a little bit but did allow me to get 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph, we’ll see if this trend of large numbers continues over the winter but I’d be very surprised if it does

Ride 05/11/2023

10 on the bun run today and it’s quite a nice day to ride weather wise, little wind, dry and with some sunshine here and there. We decided to take a different route today and headed to the Coffee Bothy for our cafe stop. This would mean missing out Knockhill and heading for Saline instead, we then cut down to the Hillfoots for the last few miles to the cafe. Soup, coffee and cake were had before setting off again. It wasn’t all plain sailing from here though as by the time we got to Kincardine Robert got a puncture, and then even with the new tube in it was still slowly going down, so we didn’t quite make it to Culross before we had to stop again for another tube change but thankfully this was the last stop. I went down to Dalgety Bay with Ken as usual but I was looking to do some extra today, so I followed Ken up to his house and then carried on myself up hill to Mossmorran and back to Crossgates, thus getting my 100 Kilometer ride done for the month at an avg speed of 16 mph

Ride 04/11/2023

Well this was a turn up for the books, there were over 30 of us on the bun run today I was not expecting that given the weather, as I left the house this morning it was raining, so I wasn’t expecting to see many out today. Anyway we split into 3 groups and headed for the cafe stop. By the time we got to the cafe the rain had stopped and with a slight headwind it made it a pleasant ride to get there. After the cafe stop we took a different route home skipping out Knockhill, where some people decided to go up Knockhill due to time constraints, and headed for Milnathort. At Milnathort we then headed south to Kinross and Kelty before I split at Dunfermline and headed for home. The sun did start to show it’s face by the time I hit Dunfermline but I was happy to head for home rather than do extra, I had clocked up nearly 55 miles by this point and that was fine for me. So 55 miles done at an avg speed of 17 mph

Ride 29/10/2023

Bad weather day so I was on my lonesome again It was wet and windy, and although it wasn’t too bad to start with I decided I would not stop at the cafe stop and cut this ride on the short side. I followed a similar route as the usual bun run by going over Knockhill but I skipped out Dollar and Dollarbeg and headed straight for Forestmill after Knockhill. This would also mean missing out Clackmannan and heading straight for Kincardine, but this turned out to be a good idea anyway. I had a tailwind to start with but or course once I hit Kincardine I was into a headwind and the rain decided to get heavier at this point. I followed the usual route home but once I hit Rosyth it started to hammer it down so by the time I got back home I was soaked through again Anyway I managed to clock up 45 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph so I’ll live with that. Back to normality next week, cycling wise, although the weather still looks like pish next week too

Ride 22/10/2023

Cyclists are a freckle bunch, one minute there is no one out due to if’y weather and then when the sun comes out, they all turn up So it’s a sunny day, still cold, not much wind but we did have a head wind to start with and a tail wind to finish with. 16 people turned up today which is a lot for a Sunday, even in the summer time I don’t always see that many on a Sunday. Given the size we had to split into 2 groups of 8 heading out to the cafe. The usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before we headed home, it was nice to have the tail wind assist as it speeds the group up a little bit. I headed back home via the coastal route of Dalgety bay and did a little bit extra before heading back up hill to Crossgates. So 58 miles clocked up at just under 17 mph avg speed.

Ride 21/10/2023

Another ride, another wet day thanks to storm Babet 5 of us on the bun run this morning, rain and wind making life difficult per usual. We did start with a tailwind but of course this would be a head wind on the way back. Thankfully it wasn’t hammering it down like it has been for the last 2 days, and he wind had calmed down a bit, but still tough to ride through. By the time we got to the cafe stop the rain had abated but I was still wet and although my hands were frozen on the way out, it’s still only 5 degrees out, they had at this point started to warm up a little bit, but I was still glad to get to the cafe stop and warm up a bit more. On the way back we were against the wind, so it was a bit of a slog back, but thankfully the sky’s had cleared and the sun had started to come out, the temps didn’t rise much but I wasn’t as cold on the way back as I was on the way out. Anyway no extra today so only 45 miles clocked up at 15 mph avg speed, and it looks like the same again tomorrow.

Ride 15/10/2023

Similar day as yesterday, sunny, cold and a little bit windy, but this time there was only David and me on the bun run. So usual route to the cafe stop for coffee and cake, again into a head wind for the first half of the ride, but thankfully after the cafe stop we had a tail wind blowing us home. I split from David at Cairneyhill and headed towards Dalgety bay, my usual route home but decided to do some extra mileage today. So once I hit Dalgety bay I carried on to Kirkcaldy and then swung west again into the head wind heading for home. It’s bit of a lumpy route home from Kirkcaldy and not helped by the head wind so it was a bit of a slog to get back home but eventually got there, thus clocking up 70 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 14/10/2023

It’s a bright sunny day but of course that also means its a cold one. Given that there were still 21 of us doing the bun run this morning. Usual route to the cafe stop, with me leading into the head wind, but it wasn’t too strong so I was fine, although one of us did get a blow out and had to return home after that. Usual OJ and scrambled egg roll for fuel before heading back home again. I followed Ken down to Dalgety bay and then headed back up hill to Crossgates and home. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 08/10/2023

Belated Sunday ride, but thankfully the rain died off by Sunday lunchtime so I was able to get out for a proper ride, again on my own given the time I got out, well past the bun run ride time. I decided to do some Knockhill reps, as I needed the elevation gain and not necessarily the miles. I had to ride through some flooded roads to get there, given all the rain we’ve had of late but once there it was fine to ride, no flooding on the hill. I did 4 reps, each one is about 8 miles long, and just shy of 900 feet high. So by the time I was finished I had clocked up 50 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph over 3600 feet of climbing which will do me fine

Ride 07/10/2023

Not a fun day to ride, absolutely hammering it down with a strong wind too I was the only one riding today and given the horrendous conditions, I wasn’t going far. So 20 miles clocked up and an avg speed of 14 mph, says it all really…

Ride 01/10/2023 September Randonee

Due to Garmin being down yesterday this is a belated cycling report. So yesterday was the September Randonee, albeit being in October, with 9 of us turning up, on a warmish mixed weather day. There were showers forecast along with some wind and sunshine, and to start with we were heading into a headwind but dry. This didn’t last long before we hit the rain outside of Culross, but thankfully it wasn’t hard and it didn’t last long, by the time we got over Kincardine bridge it had stopped. We then headed into Grangemouth and up Shieldhill to California, which would be our highest point as we headed to our cafe stop. Our cafe stop today would be Beegraigs Country Park but we still had a few lumps to ride over going through Avonbridge and Torphichen before hitting our destination. Soup, coffee and cake were the order of the day to some warm sunshine on arrival After our cafe stop we would be heading mostly downhill, where I nearly crashed the bike into a field going too fast, but I held it up without hitting the field to Winchburgh and South Queensferry before crossing back over the Forth Road bridge. I followed Ken into Dalgey bay before heading back up hill to home, rounding off a shorter Randonee of 55 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 30/09/2023

Weather wise today was ok, it was dry, not too cold, and little wind around. Given the conditions quite a few people turned up today, 22 in all. So we split into 2 groups and headed out to the usual cafe top. There were a few 8:30 riders in my group, including me, so we kept a decent pace to the cafe stop, and even ran into the 8:30 group at the cafe stop, which was a bit surprising given the numbers had dwindled away recently. Anyway after the cafe stop our group followed the usual 8:30 route to Knockhill, rather than the normal 9 o’clock route, and once over the hill I parted ways as I was doing extra today. I had a target of 75 miles today, so I headed for Kelty and into Cowdenbeath before heading out to Lochgelly and Cardenden. I was heading for Kirkcaldy and to follow the coastal route back to Dunfermline. I was making the route up so I wasn’t sure how far this would take me and to play on the safe side I headed through Rosyth and then headed up to Dunfermline and back home from there. Doing this actually allowed me to accrue 80 miles by the time I got home, and a decent amount of elevation gain, whilst also keeping up an avg speed of 17 mph, anyway goals meet so I’m quite tired now