Ride 20/09/2026

6 of us on the bun run this morning, although it would be only 3 of us at the end. Weather wise it was sunny and dry but still bloody windy 😕 We decided to do a longer ride today and not the usual bun run route. We would still start the normal way by going over Knockhill (at which point we lost 2 riders), but rather than going down into Dollar we turned north and headed through Glendevon, which you think was a good idea as it should have been crosswinds all the way, didn’t turn out like that. I was leading at this point and heading uphill into a head wind all the way which made it quite the slog. Thankfully once through we would turn right heading towards Auchterarder but not actually enter the town before we swung for Dunning which is where we were going for our Cafe stop, and now we had a roaring tailwind pushing us along making things a lot better 😊 At the cafe stop I had a cheese and pickle toastie, coffee and cake 😋 and it was here we lost our 3 rider, before we headed on towards Bridge of Earn we just the 3 of us and me still leading 😆 Anyway once were were in Bridge of Earn we headed up Glenfarg and along to Milnathort and Kinross before heading all the way back to Cowdenbeath at which point I relinquished the lead and let David lead as we were going a route I hadn’t been through before. We cut through Hill Beath High school which I didn’t know you could do, so some new routes learned, and this took us out on the road to Hill of Beath and which point I knew where I was and it was a short home from this point. So, 67 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph, which was a good ride but a tiring one as this gave me over 200 miles for the week.

Ride 19/09/2026

21 on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s very windy indeed 😯 that and along with the rain made for an interesting ride. 10 of us were in the first group riding into that head wind making the ride to the cafe stop hard. In fact by the time we got to the cafe stop there were only 5 of us left, everyone else had pulled off for home. So, I had my usual roll and orange juice at the cafe but at least the ride back would be with a very strong tailwind 😀 But before that I had to warm up, the rain and wind had made me wet and cold by the time I got to the cafe stop and going again afterwards was a struggle. Anyway I decided to just follow the other guys and just go the normal route over Knockhill, which was an even tough ride due to the fact of the cross winds and my winter bike being a lot heavier than my summer one. Suffice to say by the time I got to the top of the hill I was sweating buckets 🥵 and now we were down to 3. Anyway at least it had stayed dry up to this point and would remain so until I got home, at which point the heavens opened up but at least I was inside at that point. So, 47 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph 🙂

Ride 13/09/2026 Sep Randonee Comrie

On my own again for this months Randonee, but what a nice day to do a long ride on 🙂 Weather wise, it’s warm, no rain, little wind with some sunny intervals. This months Randonee was the loop around Comrie, starting at the Glangates I would be riding down to Saline, Dollar, through Glendevon and Gleneagles heading for Crieff where my first cafe stop would be. And I’m glad I remembered my energy gel this month, I didn’t want a repeat of the last Randonee riding 100 miles at a snail’s pace 😀 Anyway some coffee and cake later I was on my way heading for Comrie and then up and over Comrie moor, which is a really nice ride in weather like this. I then headed to Braco for my second cafe stop of the day bang on lunch time. So I had a cheese, ham and pickle Croissant, not had that before, but it was very tasty 😁 coke with a chocolate muffin to finish with. It was then onto Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, Fishcross, Clackmannan, Kincardine, Cairneyhill and finally along the coastal road to Rosyth and Dalgety Bay before heading back up to Crossgates and home. So, 101 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph and a good days worth of cycling 😊

Ride 06/09/2026

6 of us on the bun run this morning and to start with it was a wet one, although it would eventually dry up after the cafe stop. Thankfully it’s not windy and quite mild today, and with wet gear on it made for a warm ride after the rain stopped. Usual route today with coffee and cake at the cafe stop before the ride home. THe sun did eventually poke it’s head out in the last 20 mins or so but by that time I was nearly home. So I clocked up 50 miles at a nice recovery pace of 16 mph, job done for the day 😊

Ride 05/09/2026

28 on the bun run today and weather wise it was cool, a little windy but with some sunshine and no rain 😊 I joined the first group of 10 heading for the cafe but play was stopped not long after starting when one of us got a puncture which resulted in them having to abandon the ride. This left 8 of us making it to the cafe stop for the usual orange juice and roll before heading back again. The ride out was a head wind and a bit tough going but the ride home was with a tail wind and this really helped bring the overall speed back up again 😁 Only Colin and I went the Milnathort route as the rest went over Knockhill, so I lead us all the way to Milnathort and Colin took the lead to Kelty. It turned out to be a good ride today with me clocking up 52 miles at an avg speed of over 18 mph and now the race season is over I can take it a little bit easier, at least until the training kicks in again 😅

Ride 30/08/2026

4 of us on the bun run this morning but only 2 would eventually finish the ride. Weather wise it was wet, no too windy or cold but just constant wetness the entire ride around. I did have full wet gear on and mudguards but given the duration I was wet through by the time I got home. 2 of the riders peeled off after about 15 mins which left me and Nick for the rest of the way to the cafe stop. I had the usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before we continued home through the rain, although it did start to dry up a little bit in the last 10 miles or so, but not enough to dry me out. So, 50 miles clocked up at an easy pace of 16 mph, I was looking to take it easy after yesterday’s ride.

Ride 29/08/2026

It was a busy one this morning with 30 of us at the gates. Weather wise it was a nice day, dry, sunny intervals, warm and no rain 👍 I joined the first group which was very big to begin with but we did split it in 2 eventually until I was in a group of 10 heading for the cafe stop. At the cafe I had my usual roll and orange juice before we headed back. Again this week I opted to go to Milnathort as it gave me the opportunity to get some intervals of 400 watts on and 150 watts off at 1 min intervals. Horrendous things to do as I thought I only did 6 reps at the time and discovered when I got home I had actually done 8 reps 😳 Anyway after that I just sat in the bunch all the way home to take it easy 😀 So, 52 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 18 mph, not a bad day’s work, thank God it’s the last race next week and then I can start to take it easier when cycling 😁

Ride 23/08/2026

5 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise, it’s actually quite nice for once, little wind, not too cold and it was sunny 😀 We started out on the normal route but with a cafe stop at Mona’s in Muckhart, where we would be picking up a film crew to take some shots of us to promote Fife. This meant that the normal route was not taken and we ended up going up Dollarbeg and then taking the road down to Forestmill rather than heading into Tillicoultry and then up to Fishcross. Anyway once the film crew were finished with us, in Forestmill we split the group with Alan and Robert heading towards Saline and Paul, Jim and I doing the Thursday route ride from Forestmill down to Clacks and Kincardine before heading back to Dunfermline along the coastal road. A good day’s ride with me clocking up 50 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 22/08/2026

Well there were a lot of people on the bun run today, more than I was expecting, but at least I wasn’t on my own today 😉 Weather wise it was overcast with little winds, a little chilly to start with but fine once you got going. I joined the first group which was way larger than usual (17 of us in the end). We headed for the usual cafe stop, I didn’t have to do too much up front there were plenty of us to do the work 🙂 Once at the cafe stop it was the usual roll and orange juice before we continued on. We would split again at Yetts depending on who wanted to do the extra to Milnathort and who wanted to go over Knockhill. In the end only 3 of us took the Milnathort option, me, Colin and Richard, which was fine, I wasn’t in a rush but we still managed to go at a fast pace for the rest of the ride 😁 So, by the time I got back home I had clocked up 52 miles at an avg speed of 19 mph, I’ll take that 😀

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 😄