Ride 30/03/2025 March Randonee

16 of us on today’s Randonee which was the Braco run, enough for 2 groups so I joined the faster first group of 8. Weather wise it’s actually a decent day and would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the wind 😕 We would be cross wind for the start of the ride but headwind up till the cafe stop and a bit after it before we were cross wind again over Sheriffmuir and down to Stirling before getting a good tailwind for the homeward journey. The hills were front loaded and if it weren’t for Sheriffmuir (which wasn’t on the route plan) it would have been all downhill after the cafe stop. Anyhow we started off at a decent pace up Wellwood and over Knockhill before descending to Powmill and then back up to Yett o’Muckheat and through Glendevon, where it was quite windy, which made the gentle climb a bit of a pain. Once over this it was down to Gleneagles and on the backroads to Braco and our cafe stop. On days like this the route up here is very quiet and scenic and even better if were not for the bloody wind again (running theme 😀) It was nice to finally get to the cafes top and grab some rest and food, soup, coffee and cake were had, and most welcome they were 😋 Afterwards we headed onwards down to Dunblane, or so I thought, this was the planned route but others had different plans 🤔 I don’t mind cycling up to Sheriffmuir, it’s quite a nice ride over the Ochils, it just made things a bit hillyer than planned and Colin was struggling a bit at this point. We made our way back down again to the University where we picked up the planned route for the rest of the way back to Dunfermline, but now we had a headwind 😁. The pace picked up at this point so we were fairly quick getting back to Dunfermline, so 75 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph, all in all a good day’s ride 😎

Ride 29/03/2025

With me racing last week on the DCC Mountain Time Trial I didn’t do any bun runs, so this will be the first one in 2 weeks. I didn’t count how many turned up for today’s bun run but there was enough for 2 groups so I joined the usual first “fast” group. Weather wise, it’s dry a bit windy and overcast, in fact the wind would steadily increase over the course of the ride but for the ride to the cafe stop it was a headwind 😕. I was up front for some of the punishment riding with the energizer bunny at my side, which was enough to hold me at threshold for a while, but not complete exhaust me, I’ve had a couple of days rest so I was feeling quite good today 😊 But by the time we got to Alloa I pulled off and let someone else take the lead for the last 3 miles to the cafe stop. Anyway suffice to say we were fast again this morning with my avg speed to the cafe stop being 18 mph but the actual speed would have been faster if you took my ride to the start of the bun run out of the equation. Anyway after the food stop it was back on the pace again all the way to Yetts o’Muckhart which is where we split from the main group with 4 of us heading for Milnathort and the rest going over Knockhill. Thankfully we’re now in a tailwind so it’s not as hard but we were still going fast, and I didn’t slow down much from Yetts o’Muckhart to Milnathort, 2 days rest goes a long way 😁 We lost John just after Kinross and the 3 of us slogged it into Kelty, by now the wind had really started to pick up, we were crosswind for the most part but once through Kelty it was back into a headwind, now just a stronger one 🙁 Thankfully once we hit Kingseat I split from Colin and Gary and headed back home, now with a tailwind 😊 So 52 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 18 mph, which given the wind is going quite well 😎

Ride 16/03/2025

Well, what to say about today’s so called bun run??? Well it wasn’t a bun run by any means of the word but here we go… 7 of us on the “bun run” today and weather wise it’s overcast with a few spots of rain but mostly dry. With little wind and slightly warmer than yesterday I thought it might be a good days riding, little did I know. With the energizer bunny up front with Paul and Alan it turned into a quite hard ride for me given what I’ve already done this week. Basically it was fast from the get go which ultimately threw Jim and Davy out the back who then decided to do their own thing. After that it basically got faster and faster. It’s at times like these I’m glad I have my fitness back otherwise I would have been spat out the back within 10 miles never to see the group again. Thankfully I was able to keep up, just, but it put me under a lot of pressure and I was very grateful for the rest when I could get it. The cake and coffee would have been inadequate fuel today so thankfully again, I was prepared for such an eventuality by bringing my energy gel and bars with me which were consumed in quick fashion! Things didn’t let up on the way home, at least not until I got to Cairneyhill at which point I was able to go at my own pace, dragging my knuckles all the way home. So 50 miles clocked up at just under an avg speed of 18 mph, which was nearly 19 mph at Cairneyhill but I took my foot of the gas at that point so a steady 5 miles back home cut the speed back a little bit.

Ride 15/03/2025

28 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s sunny, not windy but pretty cold this morning with frost still around. Given the weather conditions I was quite surprised the numbers that turned out for the ride 👍 I was in the first group as per usual which was quite large today with 14 of us in it. The usual route to the cafe stop for the usual fuel. On returning home we decided to head for Milnathort again but this time Colin and I decided to split from the group, who were going to head into Kinross, and we decided to do some extra by heading around Loch Leven instead, before hitting Kelty and home. So I managed to clock up 60 miles today at an avg speed of 17 mph 😊

Ride 09/03/2025

14 on the bun run today and weather wise you could almost call it a spring day 😊 Lots of sunshine, little wind a dry, a little colder than yesterday but still pleasant. Normal route today with no drama’s, coffee and cake at the cafe stop and a decent pace back home again. So 50 miles clocked up at over 16 mph avg speed all in all a good day’s ride 😀

Ride 08/03/2025

25 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s a decent day, mild, dry, little wind with some sunshine here and there. I went with the first “fast” group and boy was it fast today 😳 I was probably spared the worse since I had injured myself on Tuesday, so had taken a day off cycling to recover and only did recovery rides thereafter, so I had a decent recovery period up till today. Still although I was prepared it’s been one of the fastest rides I done this year so far, especially for a bun run. Anyhow usual fuel at the cafe stop and we did the extended route home to Milnathort, although not all the way in, we cut the “corner” a little bit to head into Kinross. It was a full gas effort most of the way round today which did fracture the group a bit here and there, but I didn’t mind as I needed the “training effect” to get back up to pace. At Kelty we all started to go our separate ways home before I split to go up to Hill of Beath and home. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 19 mph which by my terms is fast 😁

Ride 02/03/2025

11 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it’s almost identical as yesterday but a little bit windier. We went as one group doing the usual route and cafe stop only this time it was a more “sensible” ride and I could have a casual zone 2 ride today 😁 The usual coffee and cake were had at the cafe stop before we headed back home again. Nothing much else to say on the ride other than 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph, a good days cycling.

Ride 01/03/2025

I didn’t count how many were on the bun run today but enough for 3 groups 😄 Weather wise it’s overcast, chilly, a little windy but dry. I set out in the first group of 8 doing the usual fast pace, I was 17.5 mph avg by the time we got to the cafe stop and it only got faster after that 😅 Usual beverage and food were had at Sterling Mills cafe and once finished we decided to do a little bit extra today by skipping out Knockhill and heading for Milnathort, Kinross and Kelty instead. We pretty much hammered it from Dollar to Milnathort resulting in my avg speed increasing to 18.5 mph 😳 thankfully I had come prepared with some extra fuel so I was actually ok by the time we got there. Anyway we calmed down a bit on our way to Kinross and Kelty and by the time I got back to Dunfermline I was on my own so I did a little bit more by heading down to Duloch and then back up to Crossgates. So overall I rode 57 miles at just shy of 18 mph avg speed and got home in time to miss the rain that eventually came 😁

Ride 22/02/2025 Feb Randonee

18 of us today doing the clubs first Randonee of the year, a 61 miles route to Auchtermuchty and back over a lot of climbing 😁 Weather wise it’s a decent day for February, overcast but with some sunshine, no rain, but where was a strong tailwind to start with, which would make for a fun return. We split into 2 groups with me in the first one heading towards Loch Leven where the shorter route of the day will split from us as we then head for Leslie and up our first hill climb of the day, Falkland. This is technically the biggest climb of the day but we are doing it from the easier side, whereas when I do the hill climb race it’s up from the steeper harder side 😬😰 From here we head to Auchtermuchty for our cafe stop of the day which consisted of a very tasty scrambled egg roll and orange juice. After the cafe stop we were into the strong headwind 😨heading up our second climb of the day Glentarkie. Again this is from the easier side before heading back down to Aberargie and along the A913 heading for Bridge of Earn, in a bloody headwind. We don’t go that far as we turn off for our third climb of the day up Glenfarg, which is a gradual easy climb, depending on how hard you go up of course, which in my attempt to keep up with Paul and Dougie was flat out and as hard as I could go 🥵 Not the smartest thing to do as we still had some more climbing but I made it 😊 We then head for Milnathort via Duncrievie and into Kinross. This is where we had our first split of the group, some people were tired at this point and decided to skip out the last of the climbing and head straight into Kelty and home. I stayed with Paul, Douglie, Alan and Colin as we headed for Cleish and our last hill climb of the day, Knockhill. It was here that everyone in the group decided to go up Cleish hill instead and home from there. I did not, so I was alone from here on doing the last climb of the day over Knockhill and back home from Dunfermline. Suffice to say after clocking up 70 miles at an avg speed of 15 mph and 4500 feet of climbing I’m pretty tired now.

Ride 16/02/2025

14 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it’s better than yesterday, still damp, cold and overcast but a bit warmer than yesterday and in the last 30 mins of cycling we actually got some sunshine. Quite a mixed group of talent in the group today so we started as a single group but didn’t end that way. We were fine until we got down to Dollar when a few decided to do a sprint to the cafe stop at Tillicoultry. I missed the boat here but was able to stay in the second group that set off after the first group, hard going though 🥵 Anyway at the cafe stop it was the usual coffee and cake before we headed back but this time we split the group into 2 making for a much more manageable ride home. So 50 miles clocked up at just under 17 mph and no incidents this time 😀

Ride 15/02/2025

Well it started with 11 of us on the ride today and weather wise it was cold and drizzling for the most part. We went as one group but by the time we got Torryburn Paul had managed to snap his chain, far too much power that boy 😂 so he and Archie abandoned the ride leaving 9 of us. We made it to the cafe without incident where I was able to eat my usual fuel intake. Afterwards it was decided to do some extra miles and it was here the group shrank even more with 3 other rides going a different route. We decide to head for Milnathort but at Muckhart 2 other riders went a different route which left only 4 of us doing the extra mileage. We soldiered on but it was around Kelty my power meter battery decided to die, but I kept going with the rest. With other turning off before Dalgety bay and at Dalgety bay it was just me and Nick left and I split from him by heading for Dunfermline and he for Crossford. I made it as far as Dunfermline before I split my front tyre, luckily I heard it rubbing against my bike frame and was able to stop before it blew the inner tube out. I still had 5 miles to go at this point but stopped the ride and faced the long walk back home. It was around about this point I remembered Crush cycles were in town so a quick phone call to ascertain if they had a tyre and me having to walk back into town ☹️ (thankfully it wasn’t far to go) I was able to get a replacement tyre and cycle back home again 😁 So 60 miles clocked up with an avg speed of 15 mph, but I actually cycled 65 miles, and even walked a few hundred meters to boot.

Ride 09/02/2025

Well it started with 4 of us on the bun run today, weather wise it was overcast and wet but we missed the rain at least, just not the mucky roads 😕 Paul had his Di2 battery go flat so he abandoned the ride before we got to the cafe stop at Tillicoultry, which left me with Alan and Archie, so no chance of an easy Sunday ride today. Cake and coffee we had at the cafe stop along with all the energy bars and goodies I had in my bike bag, as I was going to be needing them 😬 The ride back home was pacey, not outrageous but enough to knacker me out after 6 days of continuous riding. Suffice to say Garmin said I needed 3 days to recover which I don’t have 😵 so next week is going to be fun… So 50 miles clocked up at an avg pace of 17 mph, about 2 mph faster than I would normally do on a Sunday 😳 and now all I need to do is clean the bike 🙄