Not a particular good weather day with the winds quite high so I decided to do a bun run type of ride but I mixed it up to miss out most of the hills I had to ride into a headwind all the way to Kincardine but once past this point I would have a tail wind. I wasn’t expecting a fast pace with all the wind around but with so few hills and a good tail wind I was surprised I got up to an avg speed of 17 mph
Weather was forecast to be naff this weekend so I decided to stick to the usual club bun runs, although I seemed to have hammered this one this morning I wasn’t planning to go fast that just seemed to happen. Slight detour towards the end to skip out going through Dunfermline and return via Kelty, Cowdenbeath and Hill of Beath. So 43 miles clocked up at a fast pace of over 17 mph
Ride 02/05/2020 Ochils full loop
Well it’s been 2 years since I’ve done my Ochils full loop and this is the first from Crossgates so it’s a slight derivative from the Falkirk route, this one is actually longer, the normal route is about 83 miles but I was looking to do 90 miles today. Weather wise it’s about the same as last week, a little chilly to start with some sunshine a low winds. In fact by the time I got back to Crossgates I had clocked up 85 miles, hence the little loop around Cowdenbeath to get the extra 5 miles I was after A good pace again about the same as last week but this ride had a few more hills in it so just over 4000 feet of climbing but it does take it’s toll on me, quite tired now with sore legs towards the end of the ride. If I can get a slightly warmer day I should be able to break the 100 miles mark you always start to get a little cold towards the end of the ride after burning over 3500 calories so all the heat I can get the better
Todays ride was about maintaining a set wattage, some strength training, I wasn’t looking to do a long ride today after yesterdays effort so a short hard ride made more sense. I basically did loop around Kelty, Forestmill, Kincardine and home trying to keep the hill to a minimum. Although it’s sunny again there was still some wind around and it’s still a bit chilly in the mornings, so I was headwind on the outbound leg and tailwind on the return leg. As I found out last night my left leg was a victim of the sun and got burnt although my right leg didn’t get a scratch so getting into the shower today without my leg feeling like someone had put a naked flame next to it was a bit of an issue 😢 Anyway I meet my target so 37 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 17.5 mph, good effort
I decided to ride to North Berwick, somewhere I’ve thought about going to before but never really got there. In fact the furthest I’ve got is to Prestonpans but that was when I was living in Falkirk. So made a conscious effort to get there today as the weather was ok, still a bit cold in the morning but I was in the cycling shorts today with three layers on still It was still overcast by the time I got to North Berwick and had my packed lunch but I was bloody freezing when I started back up again Thankfully it was starting to clear up and by the time I got back to Edinburgh the sun was out and it was warmer, so I could take of my overshoes and full length cloves for some mitts It’s a flat route hence the speed I managed to get, I wasn’t intentionally going fast and the winds were light so I got close to 16 mph for the 80 miles that I clocked up. What amazed me the most were the number of cyclists on the roads today especially leaving Edinburgh and heading to North Berwick, I must have passed 50 cyclists over that stretch of road not in big groups but in 2s, 3s and 4s, makes me wonder if that road would usually get that many cyclists if it weren’t for the coronavirus environment we are in. I suppose since the roads are quieter there is opportunity for people who otherwise wouldn’t ride to actually get out and ride their bikes.
So after yesterdays fun stuff I wasn’t looking to do anything strenuous today so I opted to do a north south ride and stay away from the east west headwinds. I decided to ride down to Balerno, it’s been a while since I was there probably a good 3 years or more. I’ts also almost a straight shot south for me but I was looking to do about 50 miles today so I added some dumbbell loops in to bump up the millage. Weather wise it’s sunny but still below 10 degrees when I started but by lunch time it gotten up to about 13 degrees. The only mishap today was getting a puncture at Balerno but that was a quick fix with a spare tube. So just shy of 50 miles knocked up at a easy pace of 14 mph
So todays plan was to ride to Largo, just over 20 miles away, turn around and ride back. Reason being I would be into a head wind all the way to Largo and have a nice tail wind all the way back with no plans to ride particularly hard. Well being the numpty that I am that kinda went out the window. Sure the ride to Largo was a pain against the wind but I thought I would have an easy ride home. Oh no, idiot me saw a couple of riders up front on the homeward leg and though “i’ll use them as a pace setter” Not the smartest idea as I soon found out, they were going pretty fast but like a bull to a red flag I just went for it and Christ do my legs know about it, they got a little painful just as I was reaching Dalgety Bay. To put that into perspective I have the Garmin set to do 5 miles laps so the first 5 laps were an avg of 20 mins at an avg speed of 13 mpg. The next 5 laps were avg 16 min at an avg of 17 mph, thats a big jump for me Suffice to say for the climb back up to Crossgates I just took my time. That climb on a good day I can do in under 11 mins, today I took nearly 16 min So 53 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 15.6 mph, not bad when I think about it but I’m going to feel that on tomorrows ride
It’s a pleasant enough day so I decided I would ride to Falkirk and do my old Falkirk loop. It was my old 15 mile training loop but I added a bit more on to go through Bonnybridge to bump my millage to over 60 miles, I was looking for roughly 65 miles today. I wasn’t going hard just a pleasant enough ride to get the mileage without knackering me
Bit of a windy day again so I decided to do a “similar” Sat bun run with a little bit of a difference at the begging of the ride but generally the same distance and workout. I also started by cycling into the wind on the outbound leg with a tailwind on the return leg which is a lot easier on my legs 45 miles knocked out at my usual pace.
After yesterdays tough ride I wasn’t looking to do anything out of the ordinary so I did the usual Sunday bun ride. The weather is a bit better today but I was still fighting the headwinds on the homeward leg, with a small detour up to Hill of Beath to get my 50 miles clocked up. So 50 miles done at 15 mph with a better avg heart rate of 152 bpm to yesterdays 167 and 177 watts, my normal avg power output for a ride
Tough ride today and I’m feeling it in my legs thats for sure. It’s not a long distance ride at 55 miles it’s the damn weather thats killing me especially the head winds. All the way from Auchtermuchty to Powmill, 17 miles or so I was into a headwind which meant head down and pedal. And of course at the end of that I was straight onto Knockhill. To put that into perspective my avg power for this was was just over 200 watts which doesn’t sound like much, at least until you actually try to ride like that but on a normal ride I would avg around 170 watts. The last time I did a ride like this, over 50 miles, at that power rate was 2 years ago. It might be good for the fitness but it doesn’t feel like at the time and it’s not like I had a high avg speed either I just dipped under 16 mph. anyway the end result means tomorrows ride will be short and slow
Decided I would ride to Falkirk today and see how the old flat is getting on. It’s a bit cold still and I forgot about the clocks going forward last night so I was a bit slow out the door this morning but there was a little sun around around and the winds were low so the ride wasn’t too bad The flat looks the same bar a kids swing and trampoline in the from garden which is impressive given how small my front garden was It’s a flat route so my speed was better clocking close to 16 mph. In fact by the time I got to Falkirk it was an avg of 17.5 mph but I was starting to tire and the last 10 miles are uphill