Ride 26/04/2015

Ride 26/04/2015

Well it was a nice sunny morning so I though I would a morning ride around the Forth. All was well until I was about 3 miles from home and I hit a hale storm, not good when you are riding without mud guards in your cycling shorts a top, but I didn’t want to stop since I was so close to home. Well my legs and arms got a pelting and my bum was wet but I made it home, a little bedraggled and very red legs, and the irony is my legs are red because I got sun burnt bloody weather…

Ride 25/04/2015

Ride 25/04/2015.

Well after picking my bike up from it’s service this morning I thought I would go for a quick ride this afternoon. Didn’t have anywhere particular in mind so headed towards Stirling and see where I end up. You can tell by my route I was all over the place not knowing where I was going anyway I went a little up to Sheriffmuir then back down to Bridge of Allan, past the Wallace Monument and basically headed along the A91 until I hit Dollar. Had a little stop there for food and it was back to Kincardine and home. Weather wasn’t too bad sunny with some blustery wind, I was expecting rain but I managed to miss that.

Ride It Callander Extra Long Route

Ride It Callander Extra Long Route.

Right after last weeks shitey weather I wanted to take another shot at doing the ride I wanted to do last week but couldn’t because of the weather. Up this time is the Callander extra long router of 42 miles and 5500 feet of hill climbing. Last time I got a chance to do this was in 2012 when the weather was like today, sunny I also made a slight change to the route to avoid the Rob Roy Way route which I just hate as I have to walk it as it’s far too technical for me. The new route had me riding on the fire roads pretty much all the way round with a small stint on the A81 a far easier route for me It was then up to Brig o’Turk and up Glen Finglas Hill which is a bitch of a hill to have towards the end of your ride, a few feet shy of 2000 feet high. All in all a good days riding and now I’m tired.

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander Road 2015

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander Road 2015.

So its day 2 of the Evans Cycles Ride It event in Callander and today is the road event. 3 courses to choose from rather than the 2 for the MTB, we have short, medium and long, I signed up for the medium of 55 miles. Its been raining since yesterday and that meant that today was going to be a very wet ride so full wet gear on today. I’ve done the short version of this but not the medium, the short has you ride up Dukes pass and down to Aberfoyle only once and back to Callander. With the medium you do a figure 8 and ride up Dukes pass twice, one loop around Loch Venachar and the other around Loch Katrine. This was a tough ride and the rain didn’t help, glad I didn’t do the long route!, by the time I got to the end of the event I was pretty wet. This would be a good ride on a warm sunny day but anyway 55 miles knocked out over 4000 feet of hills, not too shabby

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander MTB 2015

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander MTB 2015.

Well I did sign up for the long route but the weather this year is just atrocious! Last year I was riding in the snow and was able to do the long router but not this year. About 40 mins in just after the first feed station the weather just took the piss with gale force hail storms, it got so bad I had to stop and hide under a tree, along with everyone else. Thank god I took my wet gear, but that didn’t stop me getting wet a cold. Last years section where I crashed had been removed so I made it to the second feed station unhindered. This is where the long and shot routes split, I decided to cut my losses and took the short route, it’s still pissing it down and I’m riding the road event tomorrow and want to be in one piece for that.

Ride 06/04/2015 Beecraigs

Ride 06/04/2015 Beecraigs.

Another sunny day, not bad for a bank holiday weekend, although a little windy. Decided to take a ride to Beecraigs, I’ve ridden past it before but never bothered to stop and look at it. So this time I stopped and it was very busy there, your typical country park I suppose, it also has a few hills that I wasn’t expecting so got a bit more of a work out that I was expecting. Anyway a slightly longer ride than yesterday and a slower one due to the winds.

Ride 04/04/2015 Fintry Loop

Ride 04/04/2015 Fintry Loop.

Since the weather was going to be reasonable today I decided to do a slightly extended version of my Fintry Loop, usually 55 miles long I made it 60 miles for today. Still bit of a dull day but the wind was calm and the sun did shine a few times. Cycling up Crow Road is always a tough ride but today wasn’t as nasty as I was expecting it to be so got all the way to the top without stopping at the car park half way up. I motored down the other side and along to Fintry and finally down to the A811 which takes me along to Stirling Castle, where I decided to have lunch. Then it was time to follow the Forth River around to Grangemouth and back to Falkirk.