Ride 20/04/2025

5 of us on today’s ride which was an ad-hoc ride organised by Nick to do the packers lane ride into Stirling. Weather wise it’s a lot better than yesterday, sunny, not too much wind, a little cold to start with but by lunch time it had warmed up to a pleasant temperature. We would have a slight tail wind to start with which made for a quick beginning to the ride, especially given how flat this route it. We would be heading to Smiddy Farm shop for our cafe stop of the day where I had avocado with poached eggs and toast, coffee and cake which went down a treat 😋 Our ride back home would take us into Stirling where we stopped at Corrieri’s for some ice cream 🍦😁 which is never a bad thing 😉 before heading into fishcross where Ken and Davy split from Nick, Stuart and I, as we would be going over Knockhill before heading back to Dunfermline, and they would take the more direct route. So 72 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph on a fine day’s ride 😀

Ride 19/04/2025

Slight delay on yesterday’s post 😆 but 8 of us on the early bun run and weather wise it was cold, overcast and windy, oh how the weather has changed 😒 We had a tail wind to the cafe stop, which was fine to start with, good pace with a good group of riders. The usual fuel ws had at the cafe stop but we combined groups after the cafe stop so there were about 16 of us on the way back but obviously into a headwind, so I took an early lead before dropping to the back for some shelter. We took the normal route back over Knockhill today but that’s where everyone split up according to ability, I joined a couple of riders at a pace that I could handle without blowing myself up until we got to Redcraigs where everyone met back up. So 55 miles clocked up at 17 mph, a decent pace but not overdoing it, and then the sun had the cheek to come out just as I got home 😕

Ride 13/04/2025

13 of us on the bun run today, just doing the usual route this morning. Weather wise it’s windier and colder than yesterday but still sunny. It was the usual headwind to the cafe stop and tail wind back home again. It started fast but this caused the group to split and I was still tired from yesterday so I just stayed at the back with the slower riders and took it easy 🙂 The usual coffee and cake were had at the cafe stop before we headed back home again, where inevitably the group split again so I was at the back again, but this was fine with me. I rode with Ken and Nick to Cairneyhill before we all went our separate ways and was with Ken to Crossgates. 50 miles clocked up today at and avg speed of 16 mph and I got in just in time to miss the rain 😁

Ride 12/04/2025

8 of us on the early bun run on another glorious day for cycling. A bit chilly to start with but by lunchtime it was a very pleasant day. I had extended the route a little bit to take into account last rides route getting us too early at the cafe stop before it had opened. This route was perfect for us getting to the cafe stop at 10:00 just as it was opening. After refueling Callum and I decided to do a longer ride today given the good weather. I picked a route that would take us to Stirling before swinging back around the Forth and returning via Fallin, Thorsk and Airth before crossing back over the Forth via Kincardine Bridge and then returning back the way we had come in the morning to Dunfermline. So, just shy of 68 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 18 mph.

Ride 06/04/2025

What a great ride we had today 😀6 of us doing the Sunday alternative route cycling over some glorious hills in beautiful sunshine. Weather wise it was a chilly start but very sunny and little wind, I had set a route that would have us cycling in the Ochils today which made for a hilly ride but given the weather it was well worth it. We started the ride by going over Knockhill and down to Cleish before heading through Kinross and Milnathort. Once through Milnathort the climbing began in earnest as we traverse the Ochils through Stronachie and Path of Condie and down the dreaded Dragon into Dunning for our cafe stop. A hearty meal later which included Panini, coffee and cake and we were back into the Ochils for our return ride going up Dunning Common. I decided to put the foot down here as we had been riding at a very comfortable rate of 13 mph up to this point, plus I knew there was a nice spot to stop when at the top where I could have a seat and enjoy the scenery, whilst I waited for the others to catch up. It was then down hill, quite a long gradual one to Yetts o’Muckhart before we descended the last little bit into Powmill and our ultimate climb of the day back over Knockhill and down to Dunfermline again. Again I put my foot down going over Knockhill, it’s too nice a day not too 😁 and then waited again at Redcraigs. Once the group was back together again it was a steady ride back down to Dunfermline where we all went our separate ways. I was at 55 miles by this point and was looking to do 65 miles so I continued on down to Rosyth and then along to Dalgety Bay before doing my last little of climbing back up to Crossgates. So 65 miles clocked up today at a nice and easy pace of 15 mph but more importantly just shy of 5000 feet of climbing which was the reason for the ride in the first place 🥰

Ride 05/04/2025

7 of us on the early bun run and weather wise it’s cold, windy and overcast, until I got home and then the sun came out 😕 We had a tail wind to begin with so we were too early at the cafe stop this morning and had to wait 15 mins for the place to open, I’ll need to amend the route to take that into account 🤔 for this ride going forward. Anyhow once in I had a roll with square sausage and hash browns and a coffee to warm me up. That didn’t last long the second we got back on our bikes for the journey home, we were into a strong headwind at this point so I had the hammer down for the first 10-15 mins to try to get some heat into me 🥶 Thankfully the route is mostly uphill on the way back and as we went over Knockhill Mark decided to pin me to the ropes which had me sweating to keep up, until he dropped me, but not for long 😅 I managed to catch back up and stick on his wheel until we got to Redcraigs where we waited for the rest to catch up. Up to this point we had been avg 18 mph but when we got to Dunfermline I was back into a headwind all the way home again, so 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph and thankfully there is better weather tomorrow 😎

Ride 30/03/2025 March Randonee

16 of us on today’s Randonee which was the Braco run, enough for 2 groups so I joined the faster first group of 8. Weather wise it’s actually a decent day and would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the wind 😕 We would be cross wind for the start of the ride but headwind up till the cafe stop and a bit after it before we were cross wind again over Sheriffmuir and down to Stirling before getting a good tailwind for the homeward journey. The hills were front loaded and if it weren’t for Sheriffmuir (which wasn’t on the route plan) it would have been all downhill after the cafe stop. Anyhow we started off at a decent pace up Wellwood and over Knockhill before descending to Powmill and then back up to Yett o’Muckheat and through Glendevon, where it was quite windy, which made the gentle climb a bit of a pain. Once over this it was down to Gleneagles and on the backroads to Braco and our cafe stop. On days like this the route up here is very quiet and scenic and even better if were not for the bloody wind again (running theme 😀) It was nice to finally get to the cafes top and grab some rest and food, soup, coffee and cake were had, and most welcome they were 😋 Afterwards we headed onwards down to Dunblane, or so I thought, this was the planned route but others had different plans 🤔 I don’t mind cycling up to Sheriffmuir, it’s quite a nice ride over the Ochils, it just made things a bit hillyer than planned and Colin was struggling a bit at this point. We made our way back down again to the University where we picked up the planned route for the rest of the way back to Dunfermline, but now we had a headwind 😁. The pace picked up at this point so we were fairly quick getting back to Dunfermline, so 75 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph, all in all a good day’s ride 😎

Ride 29/03/2025

With me racing last week on the DCC Mountain Time Trial I didn’t do any bun runs, so this will be the first one in 2 weeks. I didn’t count how many turned up for today’s bun run but there was enough for 2 groups so I joined the usual first “fast” group. Weather wise, it’s dry a bit windy and overcast, in fact the wind would steadily increase over the course of the ride but for the ride to the cafe stop it was a headwind 😕. I was up front for some of the punishment riding with the energizer bunny at my side, which was enough to hold me at threshold for a while, but not complete exhaust me, I’ve had a couple of days rest so I was feeling quite good today 😊 But by the time we got to Alloa I pulled off and let someone else take the lead for the last 3 miles to the cafe stop. Anyway suffice to say we were fast again this morning with my avg speed to the cafe stop being 18 mph but the actual speed would have been faster if you took my ride to the start of the bun run out of the equation. Anyway after the food stop it was back on the pace again all the way to Yetts o’Muckhart which is where we split from the main group with 4 of us heading for Milnathort and the rest going over Knockhill. Thankfully we’re now in a tailwind so it’s not as hard but we were still going fast, and I didn’t slow down much from Yetts o’Muckhart to Milnathort, 2 days rest goes a long way 😁 We lost John just after Kinross and the 3 of us slogged it into Kelty, by now the wind had really started to pick up, we were crosswind for the most part but once through Kelty it was back into a headwind, now just a stronger one 🙁 Thankfully once we hit Kingseat I split from Colin and Gary and headed back home, now with a tailwind 😊 So 52 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 18 mph, which given the wind is going quite well 😎

Ride 16/03/2025

Well, what to say about today’s so called bun run??? Well it wasn’t a bun run by any means of the word but here we go… 7 of us on the “bun run” today and weather wise it’s overcast with a few spots of rain but mostly dry. With little wind and slightly warmer than yesterday I thought it might be a good days riding, little did I know. With the energizer bunny up front with Paul and Alan it turned into a quite hard ride for me given what I’ve already done this week. Basically it was fast from the get go which ultimately threw Jim and Davy out the back who then decided to do their own thing. After that it basically got faster and faster. It’s at times like these I’m glad I have my fitness back otherwise I would have been spat out the back within 10 miles never to see the group again. Thankfully I was able to keep up, just, but it put me under a lot of pressure and I was very grateful for the rest when I could get it. The cake and coffee would have been inadequate fuel today so thankfully again, I was prepared for such an eventuality by bringing my energy gel and bars with me which were consumed in quick fashion! Things didn’t let up on the way home, at least not until I got to Cairneyhill at which point I was able to go at my own pace, dragging my knuckles all the way home. So 50 miles clocked up at just under an avg speed of 18 mph, which was nearly 19 mph at Cairneyhill but I took my foot of the gas at that point so a steady 5 miles back home cut the speed back a little bit.

Ride 15/03/2025

28 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s sunny, not windy but pretty cold this morning with frost still around. Given the weather conditions I was quite surprised the numbers that turned out for the ride 👍 I was in the first group as per usual which was quite large today with 14 of us in it. The usual route to the cafe stop for the usual fuel. On returning home we decided to head for Milnathort again but this time Colin and I decided to split from the group, who were going to head into Kinross, and we decided to do some extra by heading around Loch Leven instead, before hitting Kelty and home. So I managed to clock up 60 miles today at an avg speed of 17 mph 😊

Ride 09/03/2025

14 on the bun run today and weather wise you could almost call it a spring day 😊 Lots of sunshine, little wind a dry, a little colder than yesterday but still pleasant. Normal route today with no drama’s, coffee and cake at the cafe stop and a decent pace back home again. So 50 miles clocked up at over 16 mph avg speed all in all a good day’s ride 😀

Ride 08/03/2025

25 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s a decent day, mild, dry, little wind with some sunshine here and there. I went with the first “fast” group and boy was it fast today 😳 I was probably spared the worse since I had injured myself on Tuesday, so had taken a day off cycling to recover and only did recovery rides thereafter, so I had a decent recovery period up till today. Still although I was prepared it’s been one of the fastest rides I done this year so far, especially for a bun run. Anyhow usual fuel at the cafe stop and we did the extended route home to Milnathort, although not all the way in, we cut the “corner” a little bit to head into Kinross. It was a full gas effort most of the way round today which did fracture the group a bit here and there, but I didn’t mind as I needed the “training effect” to get back up to pace. At Kelty we all started to go our separate ways home before I split to go up to Hill of Beath and home. So 50 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 19 mph which by my terms is fast 😁