Ride 28/06/2025

6 of us on the early bun run this morning and just like last weekend I’m on the winter bike with wet gear on. Weather wise it was raining when I left the house, very windy, head wind as usual 🙁 but also quite warm. Having ridden 4 hard days of cycling now I was still pretty tired today so I was going to take it easy and short, to the point that I took a shortcut to the cafe stop whilst the rest of the group did the full route. Thankfully by the time I got the cafe it had stopped raining and the sun had come out which only made me sweat more that I was already, wet gear good for keeping you dry, not the best for cooling. Anyway after the cafe stop I was only going to be doing the normal route over Knockhill where pretty much everyone else, probably around 12 other riders, bar me and 3 others, were going onto Milnathort. To be honest I was glad to do the shorter route, give me a little bit more recovery time and less energy used overall. So I still knocked out 50 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph so I can’t complain there 🙂

Ride 22/06/2025

5 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise we were in for some rough weather so I was coming prepared with my winter bike with mudguards and wet gear. It’s still quite warm out so to start with the ride was pleasant enough, with some sunny spells here and there, we even got to the cafe stop without getting wet, although I did divert a little of the route to go up Dollarbeg before descending back down to the cafe. Coffee and cake later we were back on the road heading for home, with a few spots of rain here and there but still nothing too dramatic, this would come later 😕 I was beginning to wonder if I could have got away with my summer bike and normal gear when we were about 5 miles from home when the heavens opened up and I got soaked cycling the rest of the way home 😩 Thankfully I didn’t have far to go otherwise I would have potentially got cold, as at this point we had a tailwind blowing us back but the second I turned back into the wind it got pretty chilly for me. Anyway 51 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph and thankfully a hot shower when I got home 😀

Ride 21/06/2025

There were about 14 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it was very misty to begin with, which was a bit bizarre given how hot and sunny it was yesterday. A little chilly to being with it soon warmed up though and got sunny later on but we would be starting with a tail wind, not very strong but enough to make me a wee bit faster 😉. Having not raced this week I had some energy to spare so I decided I would be giving it some beans today 😋 so I lead out to being with and stayed there either at the front of the group or on my own as I dropped the group a couple of times. I was going fast enough to get the cafe stop 5 mins before it was due to open, and I had already extended the route to compensate for us getting to the cafe before it opened a few weeks ago since we start at 08:30 now 😆 Anyway the usual roll and orange juice were had before we headed back home again. This time I was leading into a head wind and we had decided to do some extra, and why not it was turning out to be a warm nice day. So, we decided to head to Milnathort and do a loop around Loch Leven as well. I was still giving it some beans at this point but starting to pay for it as I was getting tired, so once we got to Milnathort I took a back seat and got towed along a bit. Once around Loch Leven we would be following the exact route I took in yesterday afternoon’s ride and head up and over Benarty Hill and back around to Kelty before heading back up hill to Hill of Beath and home. So, 63 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 19 mph, which is getting on the fast side for me but manageable at this distance, although I am pretty tired now 😊

Ride 15/06/2025

Due to the horrendous weather yesterday there was no bun run for me so a session on the smart trainer was the alternative. As for today the weather was much better, dry with a few sunny spells but still a bit of wind around to make life interesting with the leg out to the cafe with a head wind I had to deal with. With 14 of us on the bun run it was quite a big group but meant that I didn’t have to sit on the front for too long, and after yesterday’s session on the smart trainer, which was a hard one for me, I was looking for a steady ride today. Nice easy pace to the cafe stop for coffee and cake before we headed home with a tail wind, so things did pick a bit towards the end. I followed Ken and Chris along the coastal route through Rosyth and along to Dalgety Bay but we didn’t go into Dalgety Bay as we headed north up the hill to Crossgates. By this point I had clocked up 50 miles but I was looking to do 3,500 of elevation today and I was a 1000 feet short, I was also running very low on the Di2 battery, so rather than taking my changes at doing extra to make up the elevation I first stopped at home to give the Di2 a little bit of a charge before I continued on. Once I had some more juice on the Di2 battery I continued on my ride to do some reps up Goat Quarry, 5 was enough to get my elevation target and a little bit extra. So 63 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph and I got my target of 20,000 feet of climbing in the week, not something I’m making a habit of as it’s bloody hard to do 😁

Ride 08/06/2025 DCC ToK Sportive full route

So today I did the clubs Sportive and weather wise its was quite a nice day, cold to start with, but sunny, and it did warm up eventually. I was on the back foot from the get go as I was the last one to start the long route (92 miles) this morning 😁 So I was solo for the first 20 odd miles, until I started passing other riders. I did join a couple of groups here and there but I was wanting to do the ride on my own at my own pace. Riding in groups is fine but it’s a fine line between finding a group that’s too slow to one that’s too fast, which throws off my pacing strategy. But given I was cycling into the wind for those first 20 miles I could have done with a group. Anyway by the time I got to the first hill climb, Saline, I was in a small group which was roughly riding at my pace so I stuck with them until we got to Falkland hill. But first we would have to climb over Cleish on the easy side first before cycling to Leslie and up and over Falkland hill. This was a pleasant ride as we now had a tail wind but as I was looking to ride at pace I dropped off going up Falkland hill, I knew Cleish was the final climb of the day and I didn’t want to blow myself up before then. The second feed station was in Freuchie cricket club, familiar territory for me as this is where I do most of the TT races each week, so I stopped there to fill up on supplies to get me back to Dunfermline. I ran into Alan there but didn’t stop too long so I left before he did, but it didn’t take too long for him to catch me up. It was from here onwards that I stuck with Alan down to Lindores and back up to Auchtermuchty before heading to Strathmiglo which would put us into a head wind again 😕 From here we were heading for dryside road which is a long steady climb, not steep at all, but into the headwind I was struggling now, with all the fatigue and attrition I had taken to keep pace at this point was doing damage now and I knew I was going to have a bad time going up Cleish. I kept with the group up to Cleish but I dropped off at this point. This is probably the slowest I’ve ever gone up Cleish, I was suffering a lot at this point so I was in first gear for most of the climb just trying desperately not to blow myself up or cramp up. Thankfully I did get up it without having to push my bike, that’s just not going to happen 😆 and I got a little bit of a rest going down the other side. From here it was undulating but going past the rubbish tip would mean a bloody head wind again 🙁 I struggled on alone until Derek caught me up so I tagged along with him until the end which thank God was only 5 miles and down hill a bit. So, I’m absolutely shattered now and my pace of trying to do this at an avg speed of 18 mph was missed by 0.2 mph, as when I crossed the finish line I had avg 17.8 mph, so close yet so far, and I still had to ride home 😳 Anyway by the time I got home I had ridden 102 miles at an avg speed of 17.5 mph over 5300 feet of climbing, so I’m calling that a win 😋

Ride 01/06/2025

Well given the weather conditions I wasn’t surprised it was just me and Mark this morning doing the bun run 🙄 It was pretty horrendous to begin with, it was pissing it down and pretty windy to being with and given it’s a head wind it was just blasting into me 😫 It didn’t let up until we had climbed over Knockhill and were down into Powmill at which point the sun decided to come out for a little bit. Anyway we carried on to Tillicoultry and our cafe stop where I had coffee and cake before we cracked on with the rest of the ride. Thankfully the rain held off all the way home so I did get a small chance to dry out but not by much. So 50 miles clocked up at over 16 mph avg speed and I was glad to get home for a hot shower and some dry clothes.

Ride 31/05/2025

4 of us on the early bun run, weather wise it was wet roads but it didn’t rain, thankfully, but it was still muggy out. The wind seemed to be blowing from all directions but given it wasn’t strong it wasn’t a big deal. Given it was just the 4 of us we decided to go to Tilly Tea rooms for our cafe stop, this would still be our normal route, just a different cafe in Tillicoultry. Some cake and coffee we had at the cafe stop before heading home over knockhill. Once back in Dunfermline I did a little extra to get me to my 55 miles before calling it a day with an avg speed of 17 mph.

Ride 24/05/2025

5 of us on the early bun run and weather wise it was wet and windy but still warm. We were into a strong headwind most of the way to the cafe stop this morning with some showers here and there. Thankfully I was prepared, maybe a little too prepared, it was warmer than I had thought but I kept my cool 😎 usual food stop at Stirling Mills cafe with the 09:00 group a couple of minutes behind us. Thankfully it was a tail wind most of the way home, again with some showers here and there. I wasn’t doing any extra today, still a bit tired from this weeks efforts and the weather wasn’t conducive to long rides today 😉 So I followed everyone else over Knockhill today and back down to Dunfermline, so 55 miles clocked up at 18 mph avg speed. Tomorrow looks dire weather wise so may skip that or just use the turbo trainer…

Ride 18/05/2025 May Randonee

12 of us on May’s Randonee which would take us to North Berwick. Weather wise it’s as sunny as yesterday 😎 so out with the Sun Cream today, given the distance and time it would take. We would be crossing the Forth road bridge and heading through Edinburgh along the coastal route for Musselburgh where our first stop of the day would be at Cafe Kaffeine. Coffee and cake were the order of the day before we headed on for Prestonpans and out into the countryside for quieter roads. I had scheduled a cafe stop at North Berwick but we didn’t need this so soon, so we pressed onto Gifford for our second stop at the Lanterne Rouge Cafe. Some more coffee and toasties, which were very delicious, we were then on our leg back home via Pencaitland and Ormiston before heading north back into Musselburgh and Edinburgh. We took a different route through Edinburgh using some of the cycle paths and quieter roads before heading back over the Forth road bridge. I was doing some extra again today to get over the 100 miles mark, and in the end I ended up doing 115 miles in total 😀 In fact I was riding long enough to flatten the Rally power pedals, so the last few miles have no power data, and the Garmin Edge was down to it’s last 5% and the Di2 was warning me also of low power, so made it in time to not run out of power completely 😁 Anyway 115 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph and because it was a good pace I was the only bit that wasn’t running out of power so by the time I got back home I felt pretty good and not totally knackered 😅

Ride 17/05/2025

10 of us on the early bun run and on a cracking day, sunshine and warm with little wind 😀 Since I’m doing the Randonee tomorrow I wasn’t going hard or an extended runtoday, so decide to stick to the back of the group mostly. Usual food and drink at the cafe stop today but I would be returning over Knockhill rather than going with some of the other on the longer Milnathort route. About 6 of us were going this route and it was at this point that I stepped up my game a little bit and went for a fast one over Knockhill. Not my faster ever climb, but only 20 seconds off my pb. So 55 miles clocked up, and even though I wasn’t going hard today I still managed to do 55 miles at an avg speed of over 18 mph, I’ll take that 😁

Ride 11/05/2025

I organised another ad-hoc Sunday ride today for Ken, Nick, Davy and I to do a ride around to Caldercruix and back. Weather wise it’s the same as yesterday, Sunny and warm, but a little overcast as well. The ride was 70 odd miles but again I was looking to do 100 miles again 😄 We headed along the usual coastal road to Kincardine bridge where we crossed and made our way into Falkirk and Larbert. This ride is a little different in that I hadn’t organised any cafe stops, the route is on quiet roads away from most towns and cities, so we would need to stop at local shops for supplies. Speaking of the roads we really lucked out today as most of the road we road on were new tarmac, which I was not expecting, given the condition of them the last time I rode them. Once through Larbert we were heading west for a while along to Bonnybridge and Allendale before we turned south and up the first climb which would take us to the south side of Cumbernauld, away from the town centre, which is far too busy these days. Once past Cumbernauld it was onto Upperton, Greengairs, Wattston and out into the wilderness along some more quiet smooth roads before we dropped down into Plains and the A89. Now it was my plan to only ride this until we hit Caldercruix and then head North for Avonbridge which would ultimately take us back to Falkirk and the Kelpies which was the only place we could at an actual cafe, but the best laid plan of mice and men and all that, this didn’t happen. Ken was struggling a bit, due to not stopping so we changed the route and continued along the A89 along to Armadale where we stopped at a local garage with a Spar shop that we could get some food and coffee and rest a bit. So some sandwiches, orange juice and cake later we were back on the road again (one that I hadn’t ridden in a number of years now since moving out of Falkirk) and heading north towards Linlithgow. Once in Linlithgow we would follow the 2 bridges road that would take us back over the Forth river via the Forth road bridge and back into Fife. I had clocked up about 75 miles at this point so I bid my goodbyes to the rest of the guys and continued on my travels to make up the 100 miles. I decided I would ride back to Carineyhill and head to Oakely before heading down to Saline and back home along our chain gang route to Redcraigs. Today was the Jack Murray road race which was using this road as well but I thought it would have been finished by the time I got there, it hadn’t so I ended up passing a lot of riders racing around this route as I headed for Kelty. I did think about stopping to spectate but decided to continue on, time was a ticking 😋 Once into Kelty I headed up to Kingseat before dropping back down into Dunfermline and back home again. So 100 miles clocked up at what I’m calling 16 mph avg speed which is what it said a 99.9 miles done, in actuality it was 15.9 mph 🙄 but all in all a great days ride 😁

Ride 10/05/2025

14 of us on the early bun this morning which is a lot considering the avg group size is about 8. Weather wise it’s a cracking sunny day 😍😎 and warm to boot. I was able to cycle with 2 layers on and my arm warmers, which did come off after the cafe stop. WIth such a large group we were keeping a pretty fast pace up all the way to the cafe stop and thats with some headwind thrown in, but not too windy. The usual consumables were had at the cafe stop before we started our leg home. We decided to take the route to Milnathort home today given the great weather so that lightened the group to about 8 of us, the rest were going the route that took them over Knockhill. Even with just 8 of us we were hammering it along with a slight tail wind before we hit Milnathort and then headed for Kinross were we were back into a slight cross head wind. This didn’t bother me I was feeling good today so kept my foot down a little bit all the way to Kelty. I then followed the rest up to Kingseat where some of us split from the group whilst I and a couple of others heading down into Dunfermline were I split from the remaining riders and headed on my own for home. So 60 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 19 mph which is fast for a bun run ride but I’ll take that 🤗😁