Ride 14/04/2024 Galashiels Randonee

So this months Randonee is at Galashiels with 10 of us on the ride. Weather wise it was windy and wet, not the best conditions to do 80 miles in and the road surface was even worse 😣This made for a very hard 40 miles into a block headwind to our cafe stop and the rain showers didn’t help 😒Its got a fair bit of elevation in it too, not steep stuff but draggy stuff that saps your energy, so I was very glad to get to the cafe stop as I was running a bit low on energy at this point. Food wise, the cafe was so busy we had to have the left overs 😅 so it was Quiche with salad and some spare chips going around, but the best bit was the sticky toffee pudding with custard and thank God for that 😍I needed the calories plus my coffee. On the road back we would have the tailwind but OMG we hammered that 😳I was doing all I could to keep up with Alan and Paul, up until the point I got popped out the back, but that was enough to get a shit load of pb’s and a couple of cups 😁 I decided to just go TT mode from there on and kept that until I caught back up with Alan and Paul and just kept to my own pace from there on, which meant getting shot out the back a few times but I wasn’t caring at this point 😄 So 81 miles clocked up at an avg speed of just shy of 18 mph, which is quite impressive given by the time we got the cafe stop my avg was only 15 mph, we really did make up for it in the last 40 miles back home 😎

Ride 13/04/2024

We had a large group of riders today, which meant we had to split into 3 groups heading for the cafe stop. Weather wise it was dry but windy, so it was a strong headwind all the way to the cafe in the fast group I was in. Given how windy it was we managed to get to the cafe at an avg speed of 18 mph 😮to the usual of about 16-17 mph. Usual food at the cafe before we headed back. Things split up here a bit as people were going all different routes home but I was in a group of 8 heading down to Dollar and Yetts before returning home over Knockhill. Of course we did have the benefit of a tail wind at this point so we still kept up a decent pace 😉So 50 miles clocked up today at an avg speed of over 17 mph which is fine with me and tomorrows ride will be the second Randonee of the year down in Galashiels.

Ride 06/04/2024

About 18 on the bun run this morning with decent weather, at least in the morning, dry, little wind and not cold, things would change later one when the storm starts to pick up. We split into 2 groups, with me in the first, faster group, heading for the usual cafe stop. It had rained the night before so the roads were wet but it wasn’t raining anymore. This did present some issues with the route we take and some very large puddles we had to ride through but once past these it was pain sailing. Usual OJ and roll at the cafe stop before he headed back. It was at this point we would start to see (feel) the affects of the storm as we would be riding into a headwind. Thankfully it wasn’t up to full strength just yet but it did make you work for the distance 😉the full 40+ mile and hour winds would hit after I got home, so thankfully I missed those out. No extra mileage today, again because of the forecast strong winds today and as such we took the usual route home over Knockhill and back into Dunfermline. So only 45 miles clocked up but at close to an avg speed of 17 mph and no riding tomorrow as the winds will be 50 mph 😲

Ride 31/03/2024

Well it’s a good day for a ride, sunny, dry, a little bit of wind but not too cold, in fact by the time I finished my ride Garmin said it was 14 degrees 😲😀 There were a few people at the Glen gates this morning but I opted to ride with Ken rather than the wider group, I was looking for an easier ride today 😉 We headed a similar route to the cafe stop but with some slight alterations to skip out some of the hills, so no Knockhill, straight down Saline and down to Dollar before heading to Tillicoultry and back up to Coalsnaughton and the cafes stop for the usual coffee and cake. Again we headed a slightly different route back, skipping out Kincarding and heading for Oakley and into Dunfermline that way. I was looking for 55 miles today so I followed Ken down hill through Fordell before swinging back uphill to Mossmorran and home, thus clocking up 56 miles at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 30/03/2024

Not a bad day to be cycling today, little wind, some sunshine and mostly dry. Probably about 18 of us on the bun run today, so we split into 2 groups, I went with the faster first group. We did the usual route to the cafe stop, cycling a bit faster than the normal 9 o’clock pace, probably more like the 08:30 pace, so we were there by 10:15. Usual OJ and egg roll for fuel and then we were off again. We didn’t go down to Dollar but rather opted to go via Solsgirth and back the usual bun run route over Knockhill before dropping back down to Dunfermline. So given the shorter route I only clocked up 45 miles but at a faster pace of 17 mph which was fine as I probably need to start picking up the pace for the race season 😁

Ride 24/03/2024 DCC MTT

First TT race of the year and it was the clubs Mountain Time Trial, over Knockhill down to Powmill, along to Forestmill and Gartarry and then back up to Comrie with the finish back in Saline, 23.7 miles long with just shy of 1400 feet of climbing. Weather wise it’s quite a nice day sunny, but cold to start with and a little bit of wind but not as bad as yesterday thank God. I was aiming for around 1 hour 5 mins for the course and I wasn’t too far off that, just under the 1 hour 7 min mark but I’m happy with the ride as I paced it right and didn’t blow myself up 😁 and made it to the end still in one piece if not knackered.

Ride 23/03/2024

18 of us on the bun run today and it was very windy 😫 thankfully it was dry and not too cold but that head wind all the way to the cafe stop sucked, or blew in my case 😄 We split into 2 groups and headed for the cafe stop, we split the work by rotating riders as we went so we weren’t into the headwind all alone but that did require us taking a few turns each. The usual food and drink at the cafe stop before we headed home. I wasn’t doing any extra today, I’m racing tomorrow and I’m setting the race course up today so needed to be back home sharp. Thankfully we had a roaring tailwind all the way home so it was a fast ride home 😀 with me clocking up 45 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph, which isn’t too bad given the wind conditions for today.

Ride 17/03/2024 Braco Randonee

So it’s the March Randonee with 18 of us doing the Braco ride, in what would turn out to be a wet day, not windy and reasonable mild for March temp wise. It wasn’t raining hard, just that constant drizzle that soaks you through after so many hours. Thankfully I had predicted this and had full wet gear with me today unlike some of the other guys who rocked up on bikes with no wet gear or mud guards, they would come to regret that. Anyway we set off in 2 groups heading over Knockhill and up to Glendevon before descending down to Gleneagles and the heading west around the back of the Ochils. We would only get so far as there was a road block on the planned route which required us taking a detour down to Blackford, down a road I’ve never ridden before, but I have ridden through Blackford before so I knew where I was once we got there. We would then cross the A9 and head back over the Ochils to Sheriffmuir before descending back down to Dunblane, although this wasn’t the route I took 4 of us took a shortcut down to Bridge of Allen skipping out Dunblane altogether before picking the planned route back up again before we hit our planned cafe stop at Coffee Bothy. A welcome plate of soup along with coffee and cake went down a treat before we continued on to Alloa and back to Dunfermline. We would take the normal Sunday ride route back home from Alloa along the coast and back up to Dunfermline. Ken and I didn’t bother going via Inverkeithing since by this point we had clocked up 65 miles, so it was a straight shot home via Dunfermline thus clocking up 75 miles averaging 15 mph. So all in all it was a good day and although I was slightly damp the Sun did show it’s head for the last 15 miles or so, and I didn’t get drenched

Ride 16/03/2024

24 of us on the bun run today so we had to split into 2 groups of 12. Weather wise, there was frost on my car this morning, so it was cold but with little wind and the sun out it didn’t stay too cold for long. We headed for the cafe stop for the usual beverage and roll before the loop back home. We took the same route we took a couple of weeks ago, skipping out Knockhill and heading for Kelty instead. With such a large group we ended up chain ganging it along the B9097, which incidentally is one of the TT routes I’ll be racing this year, so it was nice to do it at pace With the swing through Kelty and the climb up to Kingseat I peeled off from the group and headed for home, thus cycling 52 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 10/03/2024

6 of us on the bun run today and what a wet and windy one it was. Just like yesterday we would have a tail wind all the way to the cafe stop for the usual coffee and cake but head wind all the way back home again Suffice to say Ken and I opted to take the short route home going through Dunfermline rather than along the coastal road to Inverkething and up to Crossgates. This would shorten the distance but that was fine with me, I wasn’t looking to do anymore than I had today given the conditions. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 09/03/2024

16 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it was horrible, windy, cold with some patchy rain. We split into 2 groups and headed for the usual cafe stop. We had a strong tail wind all the way to the cafe stop which meant we got there pretty quick for the usual culinary delights but the route back home was going to suck a lot since it was a headwind all the way. Some people split from the group to take a different route which meant we only had 5 of us going home via Dollar and Knockhill. It was a real slog all the way but we made it and at not too bad a time, a bit quicker that I thought we would be 🙂 So over all I did the 50 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph, so the wind kinda just averaged everything out.

Ride 03/03/2024

11 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it was dry, cold but with little wind. Usual route today to the cafe stop for coffee and cake And the usual route for the route back home again with Ken and I going via Inverkeithing and up to Crossgates and home. So 53 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph.