Ride 08/04/2023

5 of us on the bun run today, which was a bit surprising at the low numbers but I suppose it’s the Easter bank holiday so people will be doing other stuff. It’s even a reasonable weather day, still cold in the morning but sunny and with little wind. We headed for the cafe stop at a fare pace, about 5 minutes shy of the fastest time I’ve ever done to the cafe stop which is saying something as we avg 18 mph there, little did I know this would be the trend for the rest of the ride Anyhow scrambled egg roll and orange juice later we were back on the road. Andy wanted to do some extra mileage, which was fine with me, so we skipped out Knockhill and headed for Milnathort and Kinross. I should point out Andy is a Semi Pro rider, ie he does it for a job. I was not expecting the pace to be so high but thankfully Andy was happy to lead all the way and I just had to keep up, and that was only possible by drafting him all the way Even with the drafting there was a point where I got dropped and I tried to catch back on, with me absolutely flat out at 196 bpm I did not catch him, no big surprise there at least he waited for me So today I did 55 miles in the fastest time I think I’ve ever done at a lung splitting avg speed of 18.6 mph, suffice to say I got a good work out today

Ride 02/04/2023

Better weather day today, not quite as cold as yesterday, no rain and not windy, it even brightened up in the afternoon with some sunshine which warmed the day up so it actually turned the day into a good day to ride. I was looking to ride 80 miles today so I started before the bun run and clocked up 23 miles before I meet up with the club. First going to Kelty and then up and over Knockhill, this turned out to be advantageous as unbeknownst to me the group was going to take a different route today and I was looking fro some elevation today as well. Anyway I meet up with the group and they decided to take a different route tot he normal bun run on a Sunday and decided to head to Saline, down to Dollar and along to the Coffee Bothy for the cafe stop today. So 8 of us on the bun run today along to the cafe stop where I had a “smash avocado breakfast” with coffee and cake which was most delicious After the cafe stop I lead the way back home heading around to the “Pineapple route” home, through Airth, across the Kincardine Bridge and the usual coastal route home that we would normally do on a Sunday ride. I then split from the group at Carineyhill had headed for Dalgety Bay and my normal route back up to Crossgates and home. So 80 miles clocked up at just shy of 17 mph.

Ride 01/04/2023

5 of us on the bun run today, a bit overcast and quite cold given the time of the year. I read 2 degrees Celsius by the time I got to the bottom of Knockhill, just as well as I had 4 layers on today, I was expecting it to rain but thankfully it didn’t. We had a tailwind to the cafe stop so we got there pretty fast for my scrambled egg roll and orange juice. The group didn’t want to do any extra today so we went back home the normal route down to Dollar, Yetts, Powmill and over Knockhill. So 50 miles knocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph.

Ride 26/03/2023

So todays ride was a similar ride to the one we did a couple of weeks ago to Bannockburn, stopping at the same cafe but taking a lightly different route. 6 of us on the bun run today and although it’s a bit sunnier than yesterday it’s a lot colder because of it. I started early today to get some extra mileage in before the group ride started but I wrapped up because of the colder weather. It’s not particularly windy today about the same as yesterday, so we weren’t fighting the wind all the way around, and it’s a flat route so no major climbs either. I headed down to Dalgety Bay before heading back into Dunfirmline to meet up with the guys, thus getting an extra 15 miles in before we headed to Bannockburn. We followed the same route getting there and stopped at the same cafe, which served some great food as last time, although this time I could eat what I wanted now that the dental stuff is over with poached eggs on avocado and toast, yum yum. We then took a slightly different route going back this time going via Larbert before heading back across the Kincardine bridge. Ken and I took the usual coastal road back to Dalgety Bay before I headed back up the hill to Crossgates and home. So 70 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 25/03/2023

8 of us on the fast group today, weather wise it’s overcast, dry with a little tail wind to start with and a head wind for the ride home. We headed the usual route to the cafe stop at a decent pace of around 17 mph and it was here that the guys decided to do some extra miles. Now I’m all up for extra mileage but on this instance I didn’t bring much extra fuel with me, normally I would carry my little gel pouch and a couple of energy bars, but all I had today was the energy bars, so that had to suffice. They wanted to skip out Knockhill and go around Loch Leven, so after my scrambled egg roll and orange juice, and thank God I got my new crown fitted yesterday so I had a full mouth of teeth today we headed out. Once around the Loch we headed for Kelty and up to Kingseat which was where I departed from the group after 60 miles and headed home. I decided to bump up the mileage to 65 miles to get me the 100k rather than finish at probably around 99k which is sad so in total I clocked up 65 miles at an avg speed of 17.5 mph and thats good for me, and I didn’t even run out of energy and crawl the last 5 miles

Ride 19/03/2023 Braco Randonee

Second Randonee of the year and this time it was around Braco. Good weather day, sunny to start with but eventually it became overcast, but we had light winds and a decent temperature, not cold but not warm, but I only had to wear 3 layers rather than the usual 4 or 5 that I’ve been wearing for the past few months 8 of us on the run today, going over Kncokhill and up through Glendevon and down to Gleneagles. With all of the hills over it was pretty much flat all the way, other than the climb I would have back up to home. The cafe stop was quite late in the ride, I had covered 45 miles before we stopped at the Coffee Bothy but it was a good lunch of soup, coffee and cake With most of the riding down it was back home via the usual Sunday bun run along the coast and back home via Dalgety Bay thus clocking up 76 miles at an avg speed of just short of 17 mph, that last damn hill climb always wrecks havoc with my speed as I was averaging 17 mph up till that point anyway a good days ride all round.

Ride 18/03/2023

So we’re back on the 08:30 wrecking crew although there aren’t many of us, only 4 today. I need to step up the training and it’s been a good 4 years since I’ve ridden with them, how things change Anyway a good weather day, no rain, no wind and not cold, slightly overcast but a good day to ride. We make good time to the cafe stop avg 18 mph to get there for the usual rolls and orange juice. Unfortunately for me I had a temp crown put in yesterday to cover me till I get my new crown next Friday and that decided to fall out whilst eating my roll, not a happy bunny >:-( Anyway I’m back at the dentist next week so I’ll live with it until then. Since this is the 08:30 ride we ride a slightly different route back to Dunfermline going up to Yetts and doing the full Knockhill climb from Powmill, this is fine with me as it affords me the full 50 mile ride without having to go down to Dalgety Bay to make it up So 50 miles clock up at a good avg speed of 17 mph

Ride 12/03/2023

Well me, myself and I today as no one else turned up, it’s not even a bad weather day It didn’t rain at all on the ride, it’s not bloody freezing, the only issue might be the wind but again that meant a head wind all the way to the cafe stop but a tail wind all the way home Anyhow, I rode alone today, doing the usual Sunday bun run route. As mentioned I did have to deal with a head wind all the way to the cafe stop but it wasn’t too bad and overall did affect my avg speed to much either. The usual coffee and cake at the cafe before heading on with a nice tail wind. This was quite beneficial as my avg speed to the cafe was 15 mph but my avg speed home was over 17 mph So 55 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph, not too shabby for a days cycling on my own

Ride 11/03/2023

Another bright sunny day but bloody baltic, 8 of us on the bun run today. Thankfully little wind around so not much of a wind chill thank God, sub zero temperatures to start with but it did get above zero around lunch time. Usual route to the cafe stop for roll and orange juice but getting started again after the stop brrrrrr. Doing my usual tempo up Knockhill got some heat back into me and given Ken was working today I did go down Dalgety Bay to get a little extra mileage, not much just 5 miles So 55 miles clocked up at and avg speed of 15 mph but it did afford me some extra elevation which I’ve been a bit short of late.

Ride 05/03/2023

Another sunny cold day with little wind with 9 of us on the bun run. We were going to go to Falkirk but changed it last minute to go to Bannockburn. This would be a flatter route with a cafe stop at Bannockburn Coffee Shop. We would be head wind to start with but given how little wind there was this wasn’t a big deal. We headed along the coastal road and crossed over the Kincardine bridge and took the back roads into Bannockburn until we hit the cafe stop. This was the first time I’ve been in Bannockburn Coffee shop and it had some very nice food there, just wish I could have eaten it but I stuck to scrambled eggs and salmon which was nice but I could have done with more We then headed into Stirling and headed back home via Alloa and then back along the coastal route, the usual Sunday bun run route. I followed Ken back down to Dalgety Bay and then headed back up to Crossgates. I was looking to do 65 miles today so I did a little bit towards the end just to make up the last 5 miles I was after. So in total 65 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph, and made it home just in time to miss the hail storm that came out of now where

Ride 04/03/2023

Well after nearly a week off the bike due to dental surgery I was back out with the group, and although my performance has dropped, it hasn’t dropped too much. Given it was very cold today, sub zero temps to start with, I was surprised to see such a large group on the ride, 18 or so of us. It was sunny and little wind around but I was still riding with 4 layers on We split into 2 groups and headed for the usual cafe stop. We set a good pace not particularly fast but still avg 16 mph or more. The usual scrambled egg roll and orange juice was had, thankfully I can chew a little bit now but I still have stitches in my gums so I took my time to eat. We went the normal way home but I didn’t bother going down to Dalgety Bay and opted to just do a loop around Cowdenbeath to make my 50 miles up. So 50 miles done at an avg speed of 16 mph which is fine for me getting back into the game, a few more rides and I should be able to transition to the wrecking crew rides at 08:30 and get my arse panned like I used to do when I rode with them

Ride 19/02/2023

Well it’s a slightly better day than yesterday, a bit warmer, not raining but we did have stronger winds, which meant again a head wind all the way to the cafe stop. I started early again to get some extra mileage, looking to do about 65 miles today. I headed down to Dalgety Bay and along to Carineyhill before heading back to Dunfermline to meet up at the start point for the bun run. Slightly better turn out today, 10 of us, so I lead the way (headwind) to the cafe stop. We meet up with Rachel at Powmill and Ken at the cafe stop for the usual coffee and cake. Ken joined us for the leg home where we would have a tailwind blowing us home. I then followed Ken back to Dalgey Bay and back up to Crossgates and home, thus clocking up 66 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph.