Distance 31.50 mi | Time 2:54:55 | Speed 10.8 mph | Elevation 180 ft
Well its the first day of our charity bike ride in Vietnam and it was a wet one. We started out late around 13:00 after lunch but were only doing 30 miles so it shouldn’t take long to do. It was dark by the time we got to the hotel around 18:45 but I did bring my bike lights. As you can see it’s a flat ride so not a difficult ride. Tomorrow is our first full day of cycling so this should be a longer day in the saddle.
It was a pleasant day so I decided to ride to Kirkcaldy it was even sunny by the time I got there. Not a particularly long ride but its the last ride I’m going to get before heading out to Veitnam. Of course by the time I got back to Falkirk it was cloudy and overcast but still warm. Anyway 66 miles clocked up and thats it until I get back from my Charity ride in Vietnam and Cambodia
Another reasonable day, at least this time it didn’t rain, so decided to ride the A91 to Milnathort. First down to Stirling pick up the A91 and ride it all the way to Milnathort, turn round and ride back the way I came. Changed up the return route by going to Falin and hugging the Forth until I got near home. A far better speed this week none of this 14 mph crap back up to the 16 mph by now I’m knackered.
Ride 09/09/2017 Pentlands loop
Well the weather forecast said it would be a “dry” day so I decided to do a loop around the Pentland hills. Its a more hilly route than most but a reasonable ride around the Scottish countryside, at least until you hit Edinburgh where the roads get busy. Unfortunately for me the weather forecast was wrong and 5 miles from home it chucked it down and of course me with not wet gear got soaked to the bone anyway 82 miles knocked out.
Well it was a reasonably nice day so decided to ride to Faslane Naval Base and back via Loch Lomond. It’s been a while since I’ve done the ride and I went a slightly different way from Faslane to Loch Lomond which is actually better than riding on the A817 which was the way I went last time. So 101 miles clocked up today in 7 hours and I’m quick tired now.
Bit of a wet start to the day but it turned out nice in the end. I was going to do a loop around Aberfoyle but my garmin decided to turn itself off twice much to my anger >:-( so I lost my cycling data twice. So the ride data from Falkirk to Stirling was lost so the ride distance should have been 72 miles and not 59.
Ride 13/07/2017 Falkirk to Perth and back
Well this didn’t go well 10 mins into my ride and I get run over by a fucking retarded taxi driver at a cross roads >:-( I had the right of way he was supposed to stop but no did he not just pull out in front of me. Now I get this all the time people think “oh i can get out before the cyclist gets to me” or “oh I’m turning right so I’ll pull out anyway and just drive on the right side of the road a bit into oncoming traffic”. I expect morons to do this and most of the time I can avoid them but this dickhead taxi drive decided to drive right across the cross roads perpendicular to me. I assumed he would just turn right but nope, so whack into the side of the taxi cab I went. After some choice words to him I asked what the fuck he was doing, his only response was sorry mate I didn’t see you! OMFG are you shitting me! I wear a bright dayglo green jacket how the fuck can you not see me. No sir you were being a dickhead and didn’t bother looking left when pulling out, he’s lucky I wasn’t driving otherwise he and his passenger would be in a word of pain. The funny part was his passenger just looked straight ahead like nothing was happening amongst the calamity. Thankfully the bike wasn’t damaged otherwise I would have gotten violent with the guy, I suffered a few bumps and scratches but not enough to cancel the ride so I continued. So rant over I decided to ride to Perth, it’s been a while since I’ve been there and today was going to be a nice day with some scattered showers but nothing to worry about. It would be a tough ride since I would be cycling over the Ochils twice but I’ve done this ride before so I new what to expect. Stopped In Perth for lunch, it was sunny there and then returned home through some sporadic rain showers. Good ride apart from the wanker taxi driver.
A rather dull wet slightly windy day, so I decided to ride to Dalgety Bay, had to take shelter for little while whilst the rain came down monsoon style but overall an ok ride, but I did manager to take a quick photo of Dalgety bay whilst the sun was out, briefly.
Evans Cycle Lanark Road Ride 30/07/2017
So todays event is the Evans cycles Lanark ride and again it’s a wet windy day. I’ve opted to do the medium ride as the long one would probably got me caught in the thunder storms forecast. With a westerly wind the north south course meant it wasn’t too bad just had to deal with the cross winds and the rain was light. Last year was so much better we had great sunny weather and I was able to do the long route but it wasn’t to be the case this year
Another stupid windy day so decided to do a smaller ride. Along Carron Valley to Fintry, down to Kippen, along to Stirling and back home for lunch.
Ride 08/07/2017 Falkirk to Cupar
Well it was a nice sunny day but again strong winds making my life difficult. Decided to ride to Cupar, it’s been a while since I’ve gone there and I usually just ride through it on my way to St Andrews. It would be a long tough ride mostly for me having a tailwind to Cupar but the headwind all the way home, 45 miles in a head wind sucks but even more so since I’ve already cycled the 45 miles to Cupar. Anyway made it home albeit slightly slower that usual.
Ride 01/07/2017 Aberfeldy Loop
Well this was a tough ride! not a particularly long one but tough because of the hills and the fucking headwind. I decided I would ride around Loch Tay and Loch Earn. Loch Earn is a nice ride I’ve done it before but I’ve never ridden around Loch Tay and I may think twice about doing again especially into the damn wind. The loop starts at Creiff and head towards Aberfeldy then along Loch Tay and around to Loch Earn and back to Creiff. To get to Aberfeldy I had to ride up a 1400 foot hill which wasn’t too bad as at this time I wasn’t cycling against the wind but once I got past Aberfely I was into a strong headwind heading up hill past Loch Tay. This seemed to stretch on forever and by the time I got to Killin I was knackered and in for a large slap in the face. I didn’t know about the hill up to Glenogle which was a hard 1000 foot climb. I was in first gear all of the way and suffering because I was still fighting the frigging wind.Thank god by the time I got down to Loch Earn it was a flat ride but I was really struggling now and still had 20 miles to go. Thankfully I now had a tailwind which pushed me back to Creiff otherwise I would have been in trouble and going very slow indeed. It even had the cheek to get cloudy and start to rain a little but it didn’t last long. 74 hard miles clocked up and I’m glad to be home.