Ride 16/08/2026 Aug Randonee (Dundee)

Just me on the Aug Randonne again and I make this ride harder than it need be by walking out the house and leaving all my energy gel at home before I even started the ride. 🙄 The start of the ride was at the Tay bridge, near Tayport. You can park your car there and then cross the bride using the cycle path on the bridge 🙂 Due to my idiot move of leaving all my energy gel I would have to ride this one slowly and carefully so as not to run out of energy, which is why this ride is a slow one by comparison. My first cafe stop would be in Cafe 88° at Kirriemuir, some 35 miles in, but to get their I had to contend with the rain and wet roads 🙁 I at least brought my wet gear and the rain was light so I did stay dry, and after about an hour the rain stopped and things dried out. It was a bit chilly to start with but things did warm up after the rain stopped and although it was mostly cloudy I did get some sunny spells here and there. At the first cafe stop I had coffee and cake before heading on towards the second cafe stop at Wee Coffee shop Blairgowrie and Rattray which would be at 65 miles in. Unfortunately for me when I got their the cafe was shut, totally my fault for not checking to see if it opens on a Sunday, it does not 😕 I couldn’t afford not to eat at this point, I needed the fuel so luckily for me the local Co-op was just down the road where I picked up a sandwich, fanta, crisps and Snickers bar to get me back to the car. Thankfully this isn’t a particularly hilly route although it did have 5500 feet of climbing, it’s a “lumpy” route with no big climbs in it and heading South towards the Tay river was mostly downhill 🙂 and then I follow the river towards Dundee which is flat. When I was crossing the Tay bridge again it was packed with people doing the Dundee Kiltwalk which made it a very slow crossing back to the car. Kudos to the people who managed to do the full 20 miles walk, that’s a long bloody walk 😲 Anyway when I got back to the car I had clocked up 95 miles so I decided to bump it up to 100 with a quick jaunt down to Tayport town centre and back again 👍 So, 100 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 14 mph, and all that on coffee, cake, sandwiches and crisps with a little chocolate 😁

Ride 15/08/2026

31 at the gates this morning and weather wise it’s warm, overcast to begin with and a little windy. I joined the first group of 8 heading towards the cafe, straight into the headwind but we rotated a few times so it wasn’t too hard, but the sun did eventually come out, at least for a little bit… At the cafe stop I had coffee and cake, just due to me not doing the bun run tomorrow and thus not coming to this cafe stop again until next week. On the route back we took the longer route to Milnathort with a little help from the tail wind, which meant we could get a decent speed going 😁 So, by the time I got back home I had clocked up 52 miles at an avg speed of 19 mph 👍

Ride 08/08/2026

Quite a large showing this morning at the start of the bun run, which makes a change 😁 Any how I joined the first group of about 14 of us on the usual route to our cafe stop. Weather wise it was a bit overcast with some sunny spells but a bit of a head wind all the way to the cafe stop, at which point I did take the lead for a bit. Usual roll and orange juice were had at the cafe before we headed back. The route back was the slightly longer route via Milnathort, but this did give a tail wind to play with so the pace ramped up a bit 😉 again I took the lead for a bit. I split from the group at Kingseat and headed for home thus clocking up 52 miles at an avg speed of over 18 mph, which given the weather conditions was good going in my books 😄

Ride 02/08/2026 pt 2

Well at least I wasn’t on my own this morning, Paul Aitchison turned up for the ride so it was a nice casual ride around this morning 😀 Weather wise it was a lot better than yesterday, no rain, dry and warm with sunshine after the first hour or so. Normal route taken today with coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading home again. 50 miles clocked up at and avg speed of 17 mph, job done 👌😊

Ride 01/08/2026 pt 1
Ride 01/08/2026 pt 2

So, for yesterday’s bun run there were about 26 of us, so I was in the first group of about 8, but 5 mins into the ride the heavens opened up and I was drenched again 😫 A few people called it quits there and then and we were down to about 5 of us. Thankfully the rain only lasted about 15 mins or so but it was still a windy day and it was a head wind to start with, which is why we got so wet to begin with. This also meant that I didn’t really warm up much until we were close to the cafe stop. Thankfully it did brighten up after the cafe stop and I did fully dry out before I got home, but I could have done without the rain given the past few days of cycling where I was soaked every time I went out. Anyhow I did the normal route back home over Knockhill but unfortunately I messed the ride data up at the cafe so the ride was split into 2 rides, but I clocked up 47 miles at an avg of 18 mph in the end.

Ride 25/07/2026

I didn’t bother with the bun run this morning as the weather was very windy and wet, but the forecast was for sunshine after lunch and not quite as windy. So, having eaten my lunch I headed out on a quiet easy ride by myself. It was nice to ride in the sunshine even if it was still windy and I had chosen a 30 mile ride going over Knockhill and along to Crook of Devon before heading to Cleish and over the hill climb before riding down to Kelty and home. Some head wind but mostly cross wind with a nice stretch of tail wind on the way back. I didn’t bother stopping for anything since I had just eaten lunch which meant I clocked up 30 miles in one shot at an avg speed of 15 mph and that was enough for me 😊

Ride 19/07/2026 July Randonee Berwick upon Tweed

Just little ole me on this months Randonee but what a day to do it on 😁 I was riding down to Berwick upon Tweed in England and the weather was perfect for it 😘 I started the ride in Galashiels and basically took a easterly ride to Berwick upon Tweed on some of the quietest roads I’ve ever been on. Ok I was out in the middle of nowhere but it was glorious weather for it and it was such a nice ride. I couldn’t have picked a better route if I had tried, there were no major climbs in it, it was undulating which is why I clocked up 4800 feet of climbing but I hardly felt it. The only minor annoyance was the cafe stop I had planned to stop at in Berwick upon Tweed was shut that day 😕 not because it doesn’t open on a Sunday but because there was a notice on the door saying it was closed last Sunday and today, but no reason for it. Anyway not a big deal I just rode a little bit up the road and stopped at the Northern Edge Coffee cafe instead 😀 where I had a coronation chicken roll, coffee and Victoria Sponge cake 🥰 no spaces to sit outside so I took a seat in the cafe instead, which is fine it kept me out of the heat as it was pushing 28 degrees Celsius at this point 🥵 With the route being a straight shot there and back, I just followed my route back after the cafe stop without any other stops, I had plenty of fuel with me thus clocking up 90 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph and what a great ride it was 👌🚴🌞🌞

Ride 18/07/2026

Over 30 of us at the start of the bun run today, I joined the 09:00 group again this morning. Weather wise it was sunny and warm, great cycling weather 😀 I was in the first group of 8 doing the usual route to the cafes stop, a lot of the usual suspects were not around today so this made for a very casual ride for me. Usual orange juice and roll were had at the cafe stop before we headed back, going the normal route over Knockhill. I didn’t bother with any extra today, even with the nice weather since I’m doing the Randonee tomorrow. So 47 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph.

Ride 12/07/2026

Only 3 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it was a little overcast to start with but it soon turned into a glorious sunny day and warm too 😃 We did the usual route today stopping at the cafe for my coffee and cake top up 😉 It was a casual ride back home again clocking up 50 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph on a good day to be cycling 👌

Ride 11/07/2026

Forgot to post yesterday’s ride but given the lack of interest on the 08:30 ride I was back on the 09:00 again. Weather wise it was raining when I left the house so I had my wet gear on, but 15 mins later when I got into Dunfermline it was bone dry, so it was off with the rain gear at the start of the group ride and it stayed off for the remainder. 8 of us on the first group doing the usual route to the cafe stop, where I had my usual roll and orange juice. I took the normal route back yesterday and didn’t bother doing any extra, so it was over Knockhill and back home again knocking up 47 miles at an avg speed of 18 mph 🙂

Ride 27/06/2026

I was getting fed up riding on my own on the 08:30 ride that I decided to join the 09:00 ride this morning instead. I joined the first group of 8 and weather wise, it’s warm, a little bit windy, but mostly crosswind and some patchy spells. It was forecast to rain later on with some potential thunder and lightning but we would be finished by then. So, it was the usual route to the cafe stop, which i5 miles shorter than what we don on the 08:30 mile ride but this was fine with me. At the cafe stop the usual roll and orange juice were had, but the drama would happen on the way home. We were cycling through Dollar when a car pulled out in front of me, I was able to stop but the guys behind me weren’t and ploughed into the back of me with some hitting the deck. Some injuries were had, I was luckily not one of them as I had managed to stay upright, but unfortunately my rear wheel took the full force of the impact and I broke a spoke and burst a tyre so that ended my ride as the wheel was buckled beyond repair and the tyre was impossible to inflate. I would like to thank women called Elizabeth who was kind enough to give me a lift home in her car as I was stuck there otherwise. So, after taking the bike to Leslie bike shop I think they can repair the spoke and tyre without having to replace anything else 🤞 but it does mean I’m without a bike for a week so no riding or racing next week 😢

Ride 21/06/2026 June Randonee Lanark

So todays ride was the June Randonee in Lanark and weather wise it was a glorious hot day, with little wind. Just little ole me on my own again, this is becoming a habit now 😃. The ride started out well, I wasn’t going hard today, I had done that for the last 4 rides that I had done this week so a easy ride was in order. My first cafe stop was after 25 miles at the Cafe the Crook Inn (Tweedsmuir), so I had soup, coffee and cake, and this is when things started to take a turn for the worst. Whilst eating my food I heard a psssstt, which I thought was a puncture sound. I looked at my bike but it had been sitting against the cafe wall for 15 mins now, so I assumed it wasn’t mine. It wasn’t until I was ready to continue that I found out it was my back tyre 😠 There was a lot of faffing around to get it to seal but I was eventually able to continue on. So fingers crossed I hoped it would be ok and I would be able to do the next 55 miles of the route. Well that didn’t turn out so well, about 7 miles later it burst again 😡 Some more faffing around to get it to seal, sealed the fate of this ride. I’d had enough of that and lost confidence in continuing, the last thing I need is to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere, and it was quite a remote route I had to do, so I called it quits and headed back to Lanark in the shortest route I could fine, which ironically was still 30 odd miles to get back. What pisses me off the most here is this is one of my favourite routes to do and on a nice day like this its a joy to ride. We did this route last year at this time in the same weather conditions and it was a great ride, but it wasn’t to be this year 😔 So, 65 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph, hopefully next year I get a better ride when I’m back.