Ride 18/02/2023

It’s a very cold wet day and given weather conditions, thanks to storm Otto, I wasn’t holding out much hope of many people turning up for the ride. In the end there were 5 of us, even with all the layers on I still got very cold hands and was grateful for the cafe stop. It rain most of the way to the cafe stop but did eventually stop afterwards. I had the usual scrambled egg roll and orange juice and got a chance to warm up and dry my gloves out a bit. The road back was against a small head wind but not enough to bother me but given the weather I wasn’t going to be doing any extra today. So it was straight home for me thus clocking up 45 miles at an avg speed of 15 mph and a hot shower

Ride 12/02/2023

First club randonee of the year and 12 or us were on the ride. We would be doing a 100 km loop from Dunfermline to Kelty then to Leslie and over Falkland hill down to Auchtermuchty for a cafe stop. Then continuing over Glentarkie hill down to Abernethy and up Glenfarg to Milnathort. We would then head for Cleish and finally up and over Knockhill. Weather wise it was dry, not too windy or cold so we had decent weather for the ride. The cafe stop would be at our favourite one in Auchtermuchty were I had soup, cake and coffee, needed the fuel Some nice climbs today, not too steep or high, so I was able to go up then at a good pace. I was looking to do the usual 75 miles today so rather than heading back to Dunfermline, I headed right through it and onto Dalgety Bay to knock out the extra 10 miles that I would need. So all in all a good days ride with some excellent climbing, nearly 5000 feet and clocking up 77 miles at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 11/02/2023

Another windy day but at least a dry, not too cold one. 16 of us on the bun run so we split into 2 groups, I was in the first group of 7. Surprisingly by the time we got to the cafe stop we were down to 3! the rest had pulled off and headed home. It was a head wind all the way to the cafe stop so I lead all the way there, maybe that was why some turned off Anyway the usual at the cafe stop and I joined the second group since there was no point the 3 of us continuing on our own.On the way home Ken took a different route home but I still went home via Dalgety Bay just to get the mileage I was after which was 55 miles. So I got my mileage tally at an avg of 16 mph, roll on tomorrows first Club Randonee

Ride 05/02/2023

It’s a bright sunny no wind day but frigging freezing, I started early again to do some extra at it was -2 degrees 🥶 I was going to do the loop over Knockhill via Cleish so I put the hammer down to stay warm, thus clocking up 22 miles by the time I hit the meet up point in Dunfermline. 8 people turned up today but by the time we got going I was frozen again and I didn’t warm up until I hit Knockhill for the second time. Usual route to the cafe stop for coffee and cake and we meet up with Robert on the way there who didn’t want to start at the same time as us and took the short cut to the cafe stop. At the cafe stop we meet up with Ken who had also gone a different route, so by the time we got going again we were 10. Thankfully by the time we got going again we were into positive figures temperature wise but it wasn’t any higher than 4 degrees by the time I got home again. I followed Ken down to Dalgety Bay and back up to Dunfermline again to round off my 75 mile target, averaging 15 mph but with over 4000 feet of climbing which is a good workout for me.

Ride 04/02/2023

Bit of a dull windy day but at least it’s dry. So 11 of us on the bun run today doing the usual route to the cafe for rolls and coffee. Bit of a head wind on the way to the cafe stop but at least we would have a tail wind on the way home. No Ken today so I didn’t go via Dalgety bay but to get my 50 miles I went home via Kelty and Cowdenbeath thus getting my distance at an avg speed of just under 16 mph.

Ride 29/01/2023

It’s a very windy day today which made the head wind a nightmare and the tail wind a breeze, pun intended With 40 mile winds it also made the side winds a bit hairy but we got by. I left early again to get the extra mileage in before the bun run started, of course this meant I had a lot of head wind to deal with from my start to the bun run start, all the way to the cafe stop. Given the wind there was only 4 of us riding today, so I did manage to get some shelter on the way to the cafe stop but I was leading most of the way. Coffee and cake as per usual for my stop before heading on. Thankfully most of the way back home was with a tail wind, which was very handy as cycling into the head wind was only allowing me to ride at about 12 to 13 mph. On the was home I was doing anywhere between 22 to 28 About 5 miles from Dunfermline Lynsey managed to break his crank arm right off, sheared right through but luckily Nick was passing by in the car and offered him a ride home. The rest of us carried on and I went home by way of Dalgety bay as I was looking to do 70 miles today. So mileage completed at an avg speed of 15 mph, given the crazy head wind that’s not too bad.

Ride 28/01/2023

It’s a sunny but cold day today, thankfully with little wind, and there were 14 of us in the bun run today. Usual route to the cafe stop for rolls and drinks and the usual route on the way home, albeit for me since I wanted to do extra I dropped the group going up Knockhill as I wanted to do Tempo up that for some training efforts and then to do the extra today I headed for Kelty. I was looking to do 50 miles today and doing the normal route only gets me 45, and given the weather was ok today it seemed appropriate to do. Ken was working today so I didn’t bother going down to Dalgety Bay to get the 50 miles and it’s been a little while since I’ve gone along to Kelty. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph for today.

Ride 22/01/2023

Well it’s a far better weather day, I actually started the ride in positive temperatures rather than negative ones. Mind you it only got to about 5 degrees today but that meant the roads weren’t full of ice and I could ride a bit safer. It was over cast but at least it didn’t rain with a little bit of wind. This also meant that I had more than one person to ride with today, 7 people turned up today although I started early again today, I was looking to ride about 70 miles again. I took a different route that last weeks and went down to Burntisland and along to Dalgety Bay. I then cut up through Dunfermline to meet whoever turned up at the Glengates for the start of the group ride. We headed the usual route to the cafe stop for coffee and cake and then along to Alloa and the coastal route back, since Ken wasn’t riding today I headed back home through Dalgety Bay to reach my target of 70 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph with a health quota of just under 4000 feet of climbing.

Ride 21/01/2023

Well another Baltic week with sub zero temps pretty much everyday and today was no exception. Unsurprisingly only 1 other person turned up today so it was just Colin and me on the bun run today. Thankfully the roads had been gritted because ice was everywhere but we stuck to the main roads today so were ok. Usual cafe stop for rolls and orange juice and we decided we would take our chances of going over Knockhill today hoping it would be ice free, and thankfully it was. It did warm up by 2 degrees in the latter half of the ride but that put us just above freezing. Given how cold it was, I wasn’t in the mood to do any extra today so I called it quits at 45 miles and an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 15/01/2023

Well it’s a pretty cold day today, not getting much higher than 3 degrees but it was below zero when I started the ride. I was going to do the same ride as last week to get some extra done, the weather forecast was for a dry sunny day but very cold. When I got to the start of the bun run ride only 3 other people turned up, given how cold it was this wasn’t surprising. So again I was up and over Knockhill twice today before we got to the cafe stop for coffee and cake. After the cafe stop it was the usual route back home, although we had a head wind all the way to the cafe stop we now had the benefit of a tail wind all the way home, which is the best way David was on the ride today so I followed him down to Dalgety Bay. Today I was looking to do 75 miles and was only at 70 by the time I got to Dalgety Bay so I took a slightly different route home to make up the extra. Oddly enough even though I was doing more miles this week I did less elevation, not by much mind you, but still none the less I only got to just under 4200 feet. Also since I was following the group I wasn’t as fast this week either, clocking up 15 mph avg but thats fine with me, I’m not so shattered as last week

Ride 14/01/2023

Well the weather forecast for today was for light showers and a fresh breeze and cold, so I dressed appropriately, and thank God I did Things started out ok to begin with, there were 9 of us on the bun run today, so we headed for the usual cafe stop for my usual scrambled egg roll and orange juice. This was fine we had a head wind getting there but it wasn’t too strong, it was forecast to get very strong this afternoon but we would be finished by then. As we left the cafe things started to get a bit worse weather wise, it was getting dark and threatening to rain. But as we got to knock hill it started to rain, and I decided I would drop the group and do an effort up Knockhill. Boy that may have been a mistake, as I was cresting the top of the hill the rain came down hard, then the temp dropped pretty quick resulting rain turning to sleet and the finally to snow The group caught up with my when we got the bottom of the hill but the snow was back to rain at this point and heavy. As we made our way back to Dunfermline it hammered it down to the point, even though I was wearing glasses I just couldn’t see where I was going with so much water getting into my eyes, I had to stop. I dried off my eyes and took of the glasses, they weren’t helping and carried on, thankfully the rain eased off by the time I was cycling through Dunfermline. Ken wasn’t on the ride today so I went home the quick way, the weather was far too crap to motivate me to go the usual route down to Dalgety Bay, and besides I was soaked through at this point and I just wanted to get home to have a hot shower and dry off. Even with all the layers I had on to keep warm and dry it didn’t help out with the weather turning nasty, so 45 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph and that was enough for me given the weather conditions!

Ride 08/01/2023

The weather forecast was for a good day, although this wasn’t strictly true, so I decided I would go for my strava Grand Fondo badge of 100 km. I started early before the usual Sunday club ride so I could get in the extra mileage needed, about 15 miles, and headed North through Cowdenbeath and Kelty, around Cleish and along to Hill End and over Knockhill. I didn’t plan any particular route for today so this actually got me an extra 20 miles Unfortunately the weather was worse that expected, it wasn’t supposed to rain but thankfully I had my raincoat with me, it was also windy as well which meant I was into a head wind on the outbound leg of the ride. Also annoyingly no one turned up for the group ride so I soldiered on, on my own, on the normal Sunday route over Knockhill for the second time, down to Dollar and up to Coalsnaughton for the Cafe stop, again headwind all the way there I had my usual coffee and cake and carried on. Riding on my own means I can go at my pace which is faster than the normal group ride but it also means I’m burning calories like no ones business and this was starting to take it’s toll. Thankfully I had a tailwind going back home and the weather cleared up and the sun came out but I was starting to get quite tired and sore. I didn’t go home via Dalgey Bay, I had my extra mileage and didn’t think I had the legs to do it, so I went the direct way home through Dunfermline. The last 5 miles were a bit of a struggle, and although I averaged 16 mph which is the norm for the group ride, considering I went over 70 miles in distance and over 4200 feet of climbing this is pretty damn good for me so I’ll take that as a win but boy I was pretty shattered by the time I got home.