Ride 30/09/2023

Weather wise today was ok, it was dry, not too cold, and little wind around. Given the conditions quite a few people turned up today, 22 in all. So we split into 2 groups and headed out to the usual cafe top. There were a few 8:30 riders in my group, including me, so we kept a decent pace to the cafe stop, and even ran into the 8:30 group at the cafe stop, which was a bit surprising given the numbers had dwindled away recently. Anyway after the cafe stop our group followed the usual 8:30 route to Knockhill, rather than the normal 9 o’clock route, and once over the hill I parted ways as I was doing extra today. I had a target of 75 miles today, so I headed for Kelty and into Cowdenbeath before heading out to Lochgelly and Cardenden. I was heading for Kirkcaldy and to follow the coastal route back to Dunfermline. I was making the route up so I wasn’t sure how far this would take me and to play on the safe side I headed through Rosyth and then headed up to Dunfermline and back home from there. Doing this actually allowed me to accrue 80 miles by the time I got home, and a decent amount of elevation gain, whilst also keeping up an avg speed of 17 mph, anyway goals meet so I’m quite tired now

Ride 24/09/2023

5 on the bun run today and for September it’s quite warm unusually, it did rain last night and the roads were damp, but for the duration of the ride it remained dry, and with a northerly wind we didn’t have to worry about head winds Usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading back home again, it even got sunny as we rode back home which was unexpected, but nice to have I rode down to Dalgety Bay wtih Ken and Mark before heading back uphill to Crossgates and home, thus clocking up 55 miles at a good pace of 17 mph.

Ride 23/09/2023

15 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it was quite good, little wind and not too cold. We split into 2 groups to keep the sizes down on the roads and headed for the usual cafe stop. A few people split from the groups before we got to the cafe so after the cafe stop we stuck as one group and headed back home. I was looking to clock up 50 miles so I did a little extra as on the 9 o’clock group my ride distance is only about 45 miles, so I headed up to Kingseat and then down to Kelty before turning back to Cowdenbeath and home. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 17/09/2023 100 miles Dukes Pass

So today we decided to do a 100 miles ride out to Callander and over Dukes Pass and back again. 6 of us elected to do the ride but 1 had to turn back at Callander due to punctures. Weather wise it started out ok, a little chilly, but given it’s Autumn thats to be expected, but by the time we got to Callander it was raining, not hard, quite light actually, but it stayed on for the rest of the ride and thus resulted in me getting soaked through even though I was prepared for it. Anyway out first cafe stop was Callander but in the space of leaving Dunfermline and getting there Andrew had 3 punctures and when we hit Callander for our first cafe stop Andrew decided to call it there and heading back to Stirling and home. Soup, cake and coffee were the order of the day at the first cafe stop before heading on and tacking Dukes Pass. I didn’t go up the hill at a particularly hard pace, but enough to get a PB anyway and then waited in Aberfoyle for the rest to catch up. I then lead the pack all the way to the second cafe stop, just outside of Blair Drummond Safari Park, where egg sandwiches, coffee and cake were the order of the day there I then lead the pack all the way to Kincardine where I called it a day as I was getting tired of riding into the wind, we had a tail wind on the way out but a head wind all the way back. Although not very strong, but cycling into it along with the pissing rain, was a real drag so I was glad to get a rest after Kincardine. We headed for Cairneyhill where we split up and Ken and I headed for Dalgety Bay and the rest for Dunfermline. I was glad to get home and into a hot shower, I was turning into a cold wet prune by this point, so was glad to get dried off and warmed up. So 106 miles clocked up today at just over 16 mph avg speed, not a bad days ride given the not so idea weather

Ride 16/09/2023

Well it was back to the 09:00 group today, no one turned up for the usual 08:30 ride and given that the weather was pish, I wasn’t surprised. It was raining to start with so I was back in full winter gear and on the winter bike. 8 people turned up for the 9 o’clock group so we headed off into the rain on the usual route to the cafe stop. It was raining hard and it wasn’t windy, thankfully, but by the time we got the cafe stop the rain had ceased. Usual beverage and food was had before we headed home. We went back the usual 9am route which meant skipping our Dollar and half of the Knockhill climb but I wasn’t too fussed. I rode with Ken down to Dalgety Bay and then back up to home, thus completing 50 miles at an avg speed just under 16 mph, which again was expected. With the racing season over for me I’ll stick to the 9 o’clock group until next year when the new racing season kicks before moving back to the 08:30 wrecking crew

Ride 10/09/2023

Another nice day to ride, almost as hot as yesterday but a couple of degrees cooler. 10 of us on the bun run but doing a different route this week. We decided to head for Stirling and stop at the Coffee Bothy today rather than muircot. It’s a similar distance but less hills in it, and because of that we were riding at a higher pace than usual, which was fine with me. Soup, coffee and cake for the cafe stop before heading back across the river and along past the Pineapple, roads that are very familiar to me after living in Falkirk for nearly 20 years. Ken and I went the usual route home back along the cost to Dalgety bay and I back up to Crossgates, clocking up 60 miles again at the same pace as yesterday, 17 mph, but over less elevation.

Ride 09/09/2023

What a beautiful day to ride, hot and sunny 7 of us on the bun run and it did start a bit cloudy, but it was still a warm start, full summer kit out today Usual route to the cafe stop where we were able to sit outside, which I think was the first time this year. We sat there long enough for the later groups to arrive, usually we are out of the cafe and on the road before they do. I was looking to do some extra today given the good weather, so after going over Knockhill I carried on to Kelty, Balingry and stopped at the Fife cycle park to watch some of the Crit racing that was going on there, by which time the sun was out in full form and getting hot. After that I headed for Cowdenbeath and home, thus clocking up 60 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph.

Ride 03/09/2023

7 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it was sunny but windy, so we would be head wind to the cafe stop and tail wind on the way home. I didn’t bother starting early today and didn’t do any extra, it was just a normal Sunday bun run day Coffee and cake were had at the cafe stop before we headed home. With the tail wind we got a decent pace home and thus I clocked up 55 miles at an avg speed of nearly 18 mph which is pretty good for the Sunday group

Ride 02/09/2023

8 on the bun run and it started out as a cold cloudy day, very little wind around thankfully but definitely getting towards autumn time. Usual route to the cafe stop and usual food stuff consumed We took a slightly different route back though as Colin wanted to do some extra mileage which was fine with me. So at Rumbling Bridge we took a left turn, skipping out Knockhill, and headed for Crook of Devon. This would be a flat route home so I lead the way so I could get some “work” done on the front and open up the legs a bit We would follow the Cleish TT road to the M90 turn off and then turn towards Kelty. At Kelty we cycled up to Blairadam and along the road to Townhill where I split from Colin and headed home. So a good days ride clocking up 55 miles at an avg speed of 18 mph.