Ride 09/05/2015 Loch Leven Loop
Bit of a dull day with a few spots of rain and the wind was manageable so did a loop around Loch Leven, even stopped by the Loch to have lunch. Can’t say I’m getting any faster in these rides but I am maintaining my average.
Well it’s another not a bad bank holiday weather wise, still a little windy but the sun is out so did a quick Fintry loop. Given the wind speed that’s actually a good average speed, fighting the head wind all up the hills, and then had it behind me on the flat into Stirling, happy with that
Well first long distance ride of the year and I have sore legs :-(. Riding against a 16 mph headwind just hurts, thank god it was behind me for the way home otherwise I would have caught the train home. Note to self riding on the A92 probably not a good idea people treat it like a motorway, scary just like the A9 which I avoid at all costs!
Well it was a nice sunny morning so I though I would a morning ride around the Forth. All was well until I was about 3 miles from home and I hit a hale storm, not good when you are riding without mud guards in your cycling shorts a top, but I didn’t want to stop since I was so close to home. Well my legs and arms got a pelting and my bum was wet but I made it home, a little bedraggled and very red legs, and the irony is my legs are red because I got sun burnt bloody weather…
Well after picking my bike up from it’s service this morning I thought I would go for a quick ride this afternoon. Didn’t have anywhere particular in mind so headed towards Stirling and see where I end up. You can tell by my route I was all over the place not knowing where I was going anyway I went a little up to Sheriffmuir then back down to Bridge of Allan, past the Wallace Monument and basically headed along the A91 until I hit Dollar. Had a little stop there for food and it was back to Kincardine and home. Weather wasn’t too bad sunny with some blustery wind, I was expecting rain but I managed to miss that.
Another sunny day, not bad for a bank holiday weekend, although a little windy. Decided to take a ride to Beecraigs, I’ve ridden past it before but never bothered to stop and look at it. So this time I stopped and it was very busy there, your typical country park I suppose, it also has a few hills that I wasn’t expecting so got a bit more of a work out that I was expecting. Anyway a slightly longer ride than yesterday and a slower one due to the winds.
It’s a nice sunny day for once so did a quick ride to Clackmannon and back before dinner.
Since the weather was going to be reasonable today I decided to do a slightly extended version of my Fintry Loop, usually 55 miles long I made it 60 miles for today. Still bit of a dull day but the wind was calm and the sun did shine a few times. Cycling up Crow Road is always a tough ride but today wasn’t as nasty as I was expecting it to be so got all the way to the top without stopping at the car park half way up. I motored down the other side and along to Fintry and finally down to the A811 which takes me along to Stirling Castle, where I decided to have lunch. Then it was time to follow the Forth River around to Grangemouth and back to Falkirk.
After yesterdays no go gale force winds today’s winds had died down a bit but were still strong but at least I could ride in it. Unfortunately it was raining as well which didn’t help having that driven into my face, but I soldiered on taking a route around Cumbernauld’s north side and the return on the south side returning via Slamannan. Not a big ride but given the shitey weather it was enough for me.
Well it’s a nice sunny day with low wind speeds so I decided to take a crack at Ben Cleuch, the highest hill in the Ochils, and I friggin make it although I’m knackered now and have strained a muscle It’s quite a difficult ride up to Ben Buck but thankfully it evens out with the ride up to Ben Cleuch. It’s usually very windy up their but today it was a pleasant breeze so took some photos, had a bite to eat and headed down again, I wanted to get home before dinner. All in all a good day with over 3300 feet climbed.
A rather dull day but without the ridiculous winds, so at least I was able to get a decent ride before lunch time, although it was still a bit on the chilly side so I was still riding in full winder gear.
Shitey weather weekend, so riding Saturday was out the question, gale force winds were just too high, and even though Sunday was slightly better wind wise I was still fighting the wind the entire ride. The rain didn’t help either but wasn’t hard so I just ploughed on, not a big ride today but the weather just sucked