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.

Ride 07/01/2023

Well there was a stark contrast for the weather today, it started dark, cold and wet and finished dry and sunny, although the wind had picked up a bit, but not enough to slow me down. We had a good turn out given the weather conditions at the start of the ride, 13 of us. We headed the usual route to our cafe stop for the obligatory scrambled egg rolls and orange juice for me. It rained, not hard, but enough to make all of us pretty wet by the time we got to the cafe, which meant that when we started back up again it was back into our cold wet gear, but thankfully it had stopped raining by the time we got going again. Ken peeled off early today so I just followed the rest of the group back to Dunfermline, which meant I was short on my 50 mile target by about 6 miles, so I carried on until I hit my target. So I clocked up 50 miles at an avg speed of just under 16 mph which was fine with me, I was looking forward to getting showed and dried when I got home. I don’t mind cycling in the rain so long as I don’t get too cold, but it’s always nice to know you can have a hot shower by the time you get home

Ride 01/01/2023 New Year’s Day

New year’s day and I’m out on my own for the first ride of the year. It’s an ok day, little wind and no rain but the roads are wet and it’s a little bit cold. I decided to take a flattish route, one that I would normally do my performance pace one and extend it out to 50 miles, normally it’s only 30 miles and goes over Knockhill. I went around Knockhill and along down to Kincardine, and then along the usual coastal route through Dalgety Bay and home. I was going at pace here, perhaps a little too hard given I hit a heart rate of 206 bpm, but for the most part I was averaging 150 bpm which is Tempo pace for me. I passed Ken heading into Dalgety Bay as he was heading out on his ride, but I pressed on as I was nearly finished on my ride and getting quite tired and hungry. So 50 miles clocked up today at a good speed of 18 mph