Ride 21/01/2024

Another wet and windy day, with only 4 of us on the bun run today. We did the normal route today, the roads were fine bar the stupid headwind all the way to the cafe stop. We meet Billy and Anthony at the cafe stop, they had gone a different route this morning but once I had my coffee and cake they joined us for the return leg home so we were 6 now. The annoying part was it still felt like we were riding into a head wind on the way home I parted ways at Cairneyhill and headed along the coast to Dalgety bay but rather than going the usual way up to Crossgates I took the old way for a change. Although the rain wasn’t hard it was enough to give me soggy feet and hands but thankfully I missed the worst of it as once I finished my ride the rain came on hard. So 55 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 20/01/2024

A rather wet and windy day with 12 of us on the bun run this morning, but at least it’s not freeze your balls off temperature We had a headwind going to the cafe stop this morning but kept a decent pace at it. We went a slightly different route to the cafe stop, again coming in from the Coalsnaughton side to keep to the better conditioned roads. On the return journey it was nice to have the tailwind and again we skipped out Knockhill and went via Saline so I put the hammer down going up the hill and waited for everyone else at Redcraigs. I was going to be short on the mileage due to the diversions to make up my 50 miles so I did a little loop around Cowdenbeath to make up the miles thus getting my target at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 14/01/2024

9 of us on the bun run today, and although it was forecast to be colder than yesterday, I was actually ok temp wise today. I was well wrapped up but with some of the faster guys on the ride this morning I think the small increase in pace helped here. We skipped out Knockhill and stuck to the main roads for safety and headed for the Coffee Bothy as our cafe stop for the day. This would mean doing a very different route than the usual one, slightly flatter than usual and a bit shorter, not by much though. We headed down Saline and along Coalsnaughton before heading down to Alva and along the foothills to the cafe stop. After that we then crossed the river and headed along the flatland’s through Fallin and Airth before crossing back over the river at Kincardine. We then followed the usual route along the coast back to Dunfermline but rather than heading along to Dalgety Bay Ken and I went through Dunfermline instead, which meant I was about 2 miles short of the usual 55 miles so a quick ride along to Mossmorran to make up the difference was called for So 55 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 13/01/2024

Well it was a cold start today, not frozen solid like the past few rides, I was only wearing 4 layers rather than 5 but enough for me to have cold hands and toes to start with, before I warmed up later on. Quite a big turn out today, over 20 riders, given the weather this was a little bit surprising, don’t get me wrong, it’s a bright sunny day, but that just usually means it’s bloody cold. We stuck to main roads again to avoid any icy patches before hitting the cafe stop. The cafe was mobbed today, loads of cyclists in there today along with the “normal” people. The usual scrambled egg roll and orange juice before heading home, and I could tell it was a bit warmer today as I wasn’t freezing my arse off on the way back. In fact because we had done a different route I was short on mileage so I did a loop around Cowdenbeath on my own and managed to work up a sweat to get my target of 50 miles. So mileage meet at an avg speed of 16 mph which is fine for this time of year.

Ride 07/01/2024

Another very cold frosty start today but with a fully charged Garmin 4 of us on the bun run this morning and given the weather thats not surprising. We stayed to the safer roads again, which was why the route was slightly different and shorter than a usual Sunday ride. Coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading back home again. Unfortunately we hit some ice on the way back and Adrian fell of his bike, not a high speed, and he didn’t do any damage, but enough to make you wary about continuing on. Thankfully it was uneventful after that and once we were up Cairneyhill I split from the group to head home my usual route via Dalgety bay and up to Crossgates. So it’s a short ride of 50 miles at a slower avg speed of 14 mph today.

Ride 06/01/2024 Pt2

So with only 4% battery life left in my Garmin I started a new ride expecting it to flatten the battery long before I got home. The group split at this point with 5 of us doing a slightly longer route up over Knockhill, the way I went, and the rest going via Saline. We took the road to Yett’s thinking this would be the best route to take avoiding any icy back roads that we would take on the normal route back home. This also allowed us to ride a bit faster and for me to actually get hot, as I hadn’t up to this point, so no cold toes on this ride Findlay lead half way up Knockhill and I lead the rest, it was nice to be able to put a bit of effort in to stay warm before the drop down into Dunfermline. Normally I would try to ride 50 miles on the bun run but since I had split the ride due to the battery I actually didn’t know what distance I was going to get, and I was expecting the Garmin to go flat before home. Much to my amazement, with only 4% battery left the Garmin actually made it all the way home astonishing, I really didn’t expect that to happen, I got another hour and half out of the battery and I don’t know what it was at when I got home, I just told it to save the ride as quickly as possible, just in case I lose it, and then shut it down. So in the end I was just shy of 49 miles, lol had I known that I might have pressed on for the 50 miles chancing my luck on the Garmin’s battery. Anyway I clocked up the 49 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph, which isn’t too bad for a frosty day like today

Ride 06/01/2024 Pt1

A ride of 2 half’s, literally, So it was a very cold, frosty start to this mornings ride, the main roads were fine but the side roads were a bit dicey. 9 of us on the bun run this morning and we took the roads least treacherous which was why we went a slightly different route to the cafe stop, coming at it from the Coalsnaughton side rather than the usual Forestmill side. I think this was the first time I actually didn’t freeze my arse off on these types of days, I had 5 layers on and 2 sets of gloves, and it actually paid off, my toes did get a little cold towards the cafe stop but we weren’t far from the cafe at this point so I was able to warm them up once we hit the cafe. The only issue I faced was my Garmin telling me I only had 4% battery life left, which was why I stopped the ride there and saved it as I didn’t think it would get me back home again, but that actually turned out differently

Ride 01/01/2024 New Years Day

First ride of the new year and it was a cold but sunny start, I was out on my own today riding a flatish route looking to do 100 kilometers on the first day of the new year The roads were ok, with only one road where I had to get off the bike and walk due to ice, I wasn’t expecting it and it was only for about 10 meters, after that it was full steam ahead. Lights winds today which was just as well it didn’t get much higher than 3 degrees out there. I basically did a big loop, first heading for Milnathort, then along the A91 to Stirling, then back to Kincardine and the coastal road home, skipping out Alloa, couldn’t be bothered cycling through it I debated cycling all the way to Dalgety Bay then up to Crossgates but I didn’t have a lot of energy on me, just a couple of energy bars which were quickly used up. So by the time I got to Cairneyhill I was starting to struggle a bit so I opted to go through Dunfermline, a shorter route, but one that would allow me to get home quicker if I ran out of energy. Thankfully I didn’t, and I was able to get the 65 miles I was looking for clocked up, and at a decent pace, very tired and hungry now

Ride 26/12/2023 New YEars Eve

Last bun run of the year with 8 of us braving the cold, but at least it was dry and sunny Slightly different route today, we skipped out Knockhill and went down Saline instead, thought it would be safer this way, less icy roads. Usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading home the usual route. Nick followed me down to Dalgety Bay, he wanted to clock up 6000 miles for the year, before heading back to Crossford. I headed onward before swinging North up hill back to Crossgates and home. So I clocked up 55 miles today at an avg speed of 16 mph but I totaled 9655 miles for the year, which is my highest so far roll on 2024.

Ride 26/12/2023 Boxing day

So it’s the Boxing day ride and given how cold it was to start with and icy, I was surprised to see 7 of us out today. We ditched the planned route and took our own, with Mr Penman saying the Coffee Bothy was open, I had my doubts any cafe would be open today, but we went that way anyway, taking the route we thought would be best gritted. It was a slow start due to the ice, we were being cautious, but this made the ride bitterly cold, my hands were frozen and it was difficult to change gears even with mine being Di2. As I thought when we got to the cafe it was shut so we headed to Tillicoultry and stopped at Costa Coffee instead, for coffee and cake before heading back home. We were able to warm ourselves back up at this point and the temp had risen enough, up to two degrees now, that we were able to not freeze our arses off on the road back. I was looking to do 65 miles today so when we got to Saline I split from the group, who headed home and I carried on to make up the mileage. I basically headed to Kelty and did a loop around Loch Leven before heading back home through Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath. I was feeling ok still at this point so I kept going a little bit longer, almost down to Aberdour before heading back up hill through Fordell and back home. In the end I clocked up 76 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph, which all in all was a good days ride

Ride 23/12/2023

A very wet and windy day to go cycling, 8 of us on the bun run today and it was a headwind slog all the way to the cafe stop. Thankfully it wasn’t raining hard up to this point so I wasn’t too wet when I got there. Unfortunately after the cafe stop on the way back home the rain was getting steadily heavier, so by the time I got back home I was quite wet, although thankfully not as bad as other times, but enough to have soggy feet. Our saving grace going back home though was having the tailwind which made things easier cycling home and we didn’t have to worry about having the rain whip lashing us in the face Anyway 45 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15 mph.

Ride 17/12/2023

Me, Myself and I today. I didn’t ride yesterday due to the windy weather and it’s not much better today, but it was calming down through the day so I chanced my luck on today. I decided to do a flatish route, due to the winds, and hadn’t done the 2 bridges in a while so did that today. Very strong headwind to begin with, all the way to Kincardine before crossing the bridge and getting hit with side winds all the way to Grangemouth. But once I got to Grangemouth then all the fun was had with a strong tailwind all the way to South Queensferry. By the time I got here the winds had abated a bit so crossing the Forth Road bridge wasn’t as hazardous as I was expecting. Although the rain had be on and off for most of the ride, so I wasn’t that wet, it did start to pick up a bit by the time I got home again, so thankfully I missed all of that anyway 46 miles clocked up at 16 mph.