Ride 06/01/2024 Pt2

So with only 4% battery life left in my Garmin I started a new ride expecting it to flatten the battery long before I got home. The group split at this point with 5 of us doing a slightly longer route up over Knockhill, the way I went, and the rest going via Saline. We took the road to Yett’s thinking this would be the best route to take avoiding any icy back roads that we would take on the normal route back home. This also allowed us to ride a bit faster and for me to actually get hot, as I hadn’t up to this point, so no cold toes on this ride Findlay lead half way up Knockhill and I lead the rest, it was nice to be able to put a bit of effort in to stay warm before the drop down into Dunfermline. Normally I would try to ride 50 miles on the bun run but since I had split the ride due to the battery I actually didn’t know what distance I was going to get, and I was expecting the Garmin to go flat before home. Much to my amazement, with only 4% battery left the Garmin actually made it all the way home astonishing, I really didn’t expect that to happen, I got another hour and half out of the battery and I don’t know what it was at when I got home, I just told it to save the ride as quickly as possible, just in case I lose it, and then shut it down. So in the end I was just shy of 49 miles, lol had I known that I might have pressed on for the 50 miles chancing my luck on the Garmin’s battery. Anyway I clocked up the 49 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph, which isn’t too bad for a frosty day like today

Ride 06/01/2024 Pt1

A ride of 2 half’s, literally, So it was a very cold, frosty start to this mornings ride, the main roads were fine but the side roads were a bit dicey. 9 of us on the bun run this morning and we took the roads least treacherous which was why we went a slightly different route to the cafe stop, coming at it from the Coalsnaughton side rather than the usual Forestmill side. I think this was the first time I actually didn’t freeze my arse off on these types of days, I had 5 layers on and 2 sets of gloves, and it actually paid off, my toes did get a little cold towards the cafe stop but we weren’t far from the cafe at this point so I was able to warm them up once we hit the cafe. The only issue I faced was my Garmin telling me I only had 4% battery life left, which was why I stopped the ride there and saved it as I didn’t think it would get me back home again, but that actually turned out differently

Ride 01/01/2024 New Years Day

First ride of the new year and it was a cold but sunny start, I was out on my own today riding a flatish route looking to do 100 kilometers on the first day of the new year The roads were ok, with only one road where I had to get off the bike and walk due to ice, I wasn’t expecting it and it was only for about 10 meters, after that it was full steam ahead. Lights winds today which was just as well it didn’t get much higher than 3 degrees out there. I basically did a big loop, first heading for Milnathort, then along the A91 to Stirling, then back to Kincardine and the coastal road home, skipping out Alloa, couldn’t be bothered cycling through it I debated cycling all the way to Dalgety Bay then up to Crossgates but I didn’t have a lot of energy on me, just a couple of energy bars which were quickly used up. So by the time I got to Cairneyhill I was starting to struggle a bit so I opted to go through Dunfermline, a shorter route, but one that would allow me to get home quicker if I ran out of energy. Thankfully I didn’t, and I was able to get the 65 miles I was looking for clocked up, and at a decent pace, very tired and hungry now

Ride 26/12/2023 New YEars Eve

Last bun run of the year with 8 of us braving the cold, but at least it was dry and sunny Slightly different route today, we skipped out Knockhill and went down Saline instead, thought it would be safer this way, less icy roads. Usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading home the usual route. Nick followed me down to Dalgety Bay, he wanted to clock up 6000 miles for the year, before heading back to Crossford. I headed onward before swinging North up hill back to Crossgates and home. So I clocked up 55 miles today at an avg speed of 16 mph but I totaled 9655 miles for the year, which is my highest so far roll on 2024.

Ride 26/12/2023 Boxing day

So it’s the Boxing day ride and given how cold it was to start with and icy, I was surprised to see 7 of us out today. We ditched the planned route and took our own, with Mr Penman saying the Coffee Bothy was open, I had my doubts any cafe would be open today, but we went that way anyway, taking the route we thought would be best gritted. It was a slow start due to the ice, we were being cautious, but this made the ride bitterly cold, my hands were frozen and it was difficult to change gears even with mine being Di2. As I thought when we got to the cafe it was shut so we headed to Tillicoultry and stopped at Costa Coffee instead, for coffee and cake before heading back home. We were able to warm ourselves back up at this point and the temp had risen enough, up to two degrees now, that we were able to not freeze our arses off on the road back. I was looking to do 65 miles today so when we got to Saline I split from the group, who headed home and I carried on to make up the mileage. I basically headed to Kelty and did a loop around Loch Leven before heading back home through Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath. I was feeling ok still at this point so I kept going a little bit longer, almost down to Aberdour before heading back up hill through Fordell and back home. In the end I clocked up 76 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph, which all in all was a good days ride

Ride 23/12/2023

A very wet and windy day to go cycling, 8 of us on the bun run today and it was a headwind slog all the way to the cafe stop. Thankfully it wasn’t raining hard up to this point so I wasn’t too wet when I got there. Unfortunately after the cafe stop on the way back home the rain was getting steadily heavier, so by the time I got back home I was quite wet, although thankfully not as bad as other times, but enough to have soggy feet. Our saving grace going back home though was having the tailwind which made things easier cycling home and we didn’t have to worry about having the rain whip lashing us in the face Anyway 45 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 17/12/2023

Me, Myself and I today. I didn’t ride yesterday due to the windy weather and it’s not much better today, but it was calming down through the day so I chanced my luck on today. I decided to do a flatish route, due to the winds, and hadn’t done the 2 bridges in a while so did that today. Very strong headwind to begin with, all the way to Kincardine before crossing the bridge and getting hit with side winds all the way to Grangemouth. But once I got to Grangemouth then all the fun was had with a strong tailwind all the way to South Queensferry. By the time I got here the winds had abated a bit so crossing the Forth Road bridge wasn’t as hazardous as I was expecting. Although the rain had be on and off for most of the ride, so I wasn’t that wet, it did start to pick up a bit by the time I got home again, so thankfully I missed all of that anyway 46 miles clocked up at 16 mph.

Ride 10/12/2023

5 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it’s a slightly better day, slightly colder but dry. It only actually started to rain a few miles from home, I didn’t even need to put my rain jacket on Usual route to the cafe stop with the obligatory coffee and cake before the loop home So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph, not a bad winters day ride

Ride 09/12/2023

Dull wet day that wasn’t too cold to start with, 5 of us on the bun run to start with but people joined further along the route, so we ended up with 8 in total on our way to the cafe stop. The usual beverage and food had before continuing on, unfortunately the rain started to get a bit harder and colder as we started off. Usual route home with a slight detour due to the road being closed before we got to Wellwood so we returned via Townhill. By the time I got back home my hands were wet and really started to get very cold and sore, anyway 45 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph and it looks about the same weather tomorrow

Ride 26/11/2023

16 of us on the bun run today and thankfully it’s not quite as cold as yesterday, it remained above zero, just about, for the entire ride and with little wind and an overcast day it was an ok day to cycling. We split into 2 groups and thankfully I went with the second group, as it would turn out the first group went a completely different route to us and one I would not wanted to have done. So we stuck to the usual route today over Knockhill and down to Dollar before heading up Dollarbeg and along to the cafe stop. Usual coffee and cake was had before we headed for the leg home along the coast. I split with Ken and Chris along to Dalgety bay as the rest of the group headed for Dunfermline, not noticing Rachael was on our tail, as I was leading with head down in TT mode, so much so I missed our turning Anyway we climbed up to Crossgates from Inverkeithing before going our separate ways home. So 55 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 25/11/2023

16 of us on the bun run and weather wise it was friggin cold, it’s a clear bright sunny day with little wind but stupidly cold. Given how most of the day it was -3 I’m surprised so many people turned up. Given the size of us we started as one big group but split into 2 soon after, and I ended up in group 2 leading the pack. I stayed there for most of the ride, only relinquishing it about 2 miles from the cafe stop. Thankfully I got to warm up a bit at the cafe stop before we pressed on. Getting back on the bike was not fun, although the temps had risen a bit they were still only plus one degree, but it was enough to ride without losing any sense from my fingers or toes. We decided to keep it short so cut out Knockhill and headed up Saline instead. This would mean I wouldn’t hit my target of 50 miles today but I was fine with that so all in all 45 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 19/11/2023

11 of us on the bun run today and weather wise it’s ok, dry, not freezing and little wind, so a decent day to ride on. The usual route today to the cafe stop for coffee and cake but with a slightly different way home, I wasn’t doing any extra today but now that Ken has moved at to Crossgates by me, and he didn’t fancy climbing the hill up to his house we took a slightly less hilly route instead. It was the usual route to where we would split from the rest of the group and we head for Dalgety Bay but instead we only went as far as Rosyth and then headed up to Dunfermline and then along Aberdour road to the cycle path that I would use to cycle up from Dalgety bay to Crossgates. Fairly easy from this point on the cycle path up to Crossgates and home, thus completing a 55 mile ride at an avg speed of 16 mph.