Ride 27/09/2026

Given today’s weather I decided to do a ride on my own and start an hour earlier than the bun run. It was forecast to rain most of the day but it would be dry early in the morning, so I started an hour earlier than normal to make the most of the opportunity. It was a good idea as half my ride was in the dry but the last half was in the rain. So, I was riding with full wet gear to start the ride with this morning and I was doing a very similar route to the normal bun run ride but I would skip out the cafe stop in Stirling Mills cafe. I didn’t see any point in stopping at the cafe wet and get cold only to start riding again after the stop and still be wet and cold. To that end when I got to Dollar instead of cycling for Tillicoultry I headed up Dollarbeg, the old route we used to take, and along to Fishcross that way before continuing back home on the usual roads. By this point the rain was on so by the time I got back home I was still soaked but it was still better to only be half a ride in the rain rather than the full ride in the rain 😉 So, I clocked up 47 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph on a casual ride for the day.

Ride 26/09/2026

Today’s bun run was a little different as I was joining with the second group to do a different route. Weather wise, it’s ok, a little bit of wind, no rain and some sunny spells here and there but a little chilly to start with, so I was wrapped up today. Since I was with the second group the cafe stop would be at Mona’s of Muckhart so although we would start on the same route as per usual we would diverge at Kennet and head for Forestmill instead before dropping down to Dollar and riding up to Pool of Muckhart and our cafe stop. I had coffee and cake before the 6 of us headed for our ultimate route of Stonarchie and Path of Condie. It was nice to be able to get back into the Ochil hills as it’s a great place to cycle, if you like hills 😁 Although not particularly steep or long it was enough to get some efforts in going up the hills before we headed back down into Milnathort. From here it was the usual route back through Kinross, Kelty and Cowdenbeath before getting back home again. It was a great ride to do especially since I wouldn’t be hammering myself to keep up with the group and could do the efforts when I wanted to. So, 65 miles clocked up at and avg speed of 15 mph and a good amount of climbing for the day 😃

Ride 20/09/2026

6 of us on the bun run this morning, although it would be only 3 of us at the end. Weather wise it was sunny and dry but still bloody windy 😕 We decided to do a longer ride today and not the usual bun run route. We would still start the normal way by going over Knockhill (at which point we lost 2 riders), but rather than going down into Dollar we turned north and headed through Glendevon, which you think was a good idea as it should have been crosswinds all the way, didn’t turn out like that. I was leading at this point and heading uphill into a head wind all the way which made it quite the slog. Thankfully once through we would turn right heading towards Auchterarder but not actually enter the town before we swung for Dunning which is where we were going for our Cafe stop, and now we had a roaring tailwind pushing us along making things a lot better 😊 At the cafe stop I had a cheese and pickle toastie, coffee and cake 😋 and it was here we lost our 3 rider, before we headed on towards Bridge of Earn we just the 3 of us and me still leading 😆 Anyway once were were in Bridge of Earn we headed up Glenfarg and along to Milnathort and Kinross before heading all the way back to Cowdenbeath at which point I relinquished the lead and let David lead as we were going a route I hadn’t been through before. We cut through Hill Beath High school which I didn’t know you could do, so some new routes learned, and this took us out on the road to Hill of Beath and which point I knew where I was and it was a short home from this point. So, 67 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph, which was a good ride but a tiring one as this gave me over 200 miles for the week.

Ride 19/09/2026

21 on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s very windy indeed 😯 that and along with the rain made for an interesting ride. 10 of us were in the first group riding into that head wind making the ride to the cafe stop hard. In fact by the time we got to the cafe stop there were only 5 of us left, everyone else had pulled off for home. So, I had my usual roll and orange juice at the cafe but at least the ride back would be with a very strong tailwind 😀 But before that I had to warm up, the rain and wind had made me wet and cold by the time I got to the cafe stop and going again afterwards was a struggle. Anyway I decided to just follow the other guys and just go the normal route over Knockhill, which was an even tough ride due to the fact of the cross winds and my winter bike being a lot heavier than my summer one. Suffice to say by the time I got to the top of the hill I was sweating buckets 🥵 and now we were down to 3. Anyway at least it had stayed dry up to this point and would remain so until I got home, at which point the heavens opened up but at least I was inside at that point. So, 47 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph 🙂

Ride 13/09/2026 Sep Randonee Comrie

On my own again for this months Randonee, but what a nice day to do a long ride on 🙂 Weather wise, it’s warm, no rain, little wind with some sunny intervals. This months Randonee was the loop around Comrie, starting at the Glangates I would be riding down to Saline, Dollar, through Glendevon and Gleneagles heading for Crieff where my first cafe stop would be. And I’m glad I remembered my energy gel this month, I didn’t want a repeat of the last Randonee riding 100 miles at a snail’s pace 😀 Anyway some coffee and cake later I was on my way heading for Comrie and then up and over Comrie moor, which is a really nice ride in weather like this. I then headed to Braco for my second cafe stop of the day bang on lunch time. So I had a cheese, ham and pickle Croissant, not had that before, but it was very tasty 😁 coke with a chocolate muffin to finish with. It was then onto Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Stirling, Fishcross, Clackmannan, Kincardine, Cairneyhill and finally along the coastal road to Rosyth and Dalgety Bay before heading back up to Crossgates and home. So, 101 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph and a good days worth of cycling 😊

Ride 06/09/2026

6 of us on the bun run this morning and to start with it was a wet one, although it would eventually dry up after the cafe stop. Thankfully it’s not windy and quite mild today, and with wet gear on it made for a warm ride after the rain stopped. Usual route today with coffee and cake at the cafe stop before the ride home. THe sun did eventually poke it’s head out in the last 20 mins or so but by that time I was nearly home. So I clocked up 50 miles at a nice recovery pace of 16 mph, job done for the day 😊

Ride 05/09/2026

28 on the bun run today and weather wise it was cool, a little windy but with some sunshine and no rain 😊 I joined the first group of 10 heading for the cafe but play was stopped not long after starting when one of us got a puncture which resulted in them having to abandon the ride. This left 8 of us making it to the cafe stop for the usual orange juice and roll before heading back again. The ride out was a head wind and a bit tough going but the ride home was with a tail wind and this really helped bring the overall speed back up again 😁 Only Colin and I went the Milnathort route as the rest went over Knockhill, so I lead us all the way to Milnathort and Colin took the lead to Kelty. It turned out to be a good ride today with me clocking up 52 miles at an avg speed of over 18 mph and now the race season is over I can take it a little bit easier, at least until the training kicks in again 😅