Monday, November 21, 2011

New roads

The rides over the weekend were nice for the amount of new road in them. On Saturday I also had to change my plans because of some low-lying mist that I didn't fancy cycling through with no lights. Making my route up on the spot and following my nose for once was a welcome change. If you look at the route you will see that at one point I ended up on a road I didn't mean to be on and I did a quick double back. I also had company for a couple of miles near New Gilston which was great as I wasn't feeling that good then but by the time we parted I was moving along much better.
I'd had trouble getting going on Saturday altogether and went out really because I needed to for training purposes. I guess the moral of story is; don't have a big curry the night before if you want to be quick the next day! But the meal was good.... If you're interested we had the aforementioned curry at the Chatni in Methven.
The rest of Saturday was lovely. I dropped down towards the south coast of Fife and then came back over an easy hill to rejoin well known roads just south of Dunino. By this time the sun was out and I was having a great time. Sadly time constraints meant getting off the bike and waiting for the next day.
Sunday's ride contained a self inflicted challenge. Strava indicates that there are two 3rd category climbs in Fife and having examined them I decided to tackle the easier looking of them. I wanted to see what was harder about it compared to the little climbs I had done already. My first challenge was to cycle to it. 25 miles saw me passed Strathmiglo, well warmed up, and onto the climb to Abernethy. I needn't have worried about the climb. At the bottom I put the bike into the granny gear and then spun the cranks all the way to the top. No discernible problems to speak of and the way down on the other side was great fun. More new road took me to Newburgh and then from Lindores to Collesie. Then a lovely back road from from there towards Cupar. Back onto known roads for the last bit home via Piscottie. I had enough in the legs to sprint for home over the last few (downhill) miles. I paid for that in the afternoon when my legs felt leaden. Great fun at the time though.
I'm rapidly running out of new road opportunities round here and I don't particularly want to put the bike on the car to go somewhere to start riding. That seems to be defeating the point somewhat. The only solution I can see it to ride for longer. Excellent!

The rides

Saturday

Sunday

Road User Awards

Having had a run of very good driving recently, this weekend saw quite a lot of bad driving. One in particular who decided to jam their van in between me and another cyclist on a mini-roundabout. The manoeuvre helped no-one. And when they turned into a car park just a few hundred yards on it felt even more ridiculous. Oh well, such is life. The best traffic related moment of the weekend came on the hill up from Strathmiglo when a pick up truck went by with two dogs in the back, both barking like mad at the cyclist. I was just glad neither of them decided to jump out. But it did give me a big smile.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Dry roads

The forecast for this morning was too good to ignore and, as I am taking a break from weights in the gym to help my back, I decided to go out. Despite the dark and thus dressing myself and the bike up like a Christmas tree it was great. The last few rides have all been on damp roads leaving me and my lovely steed rather dirty at the end of them. Not so much today. At the end of it all my overshoes were still black!

Speed

With it being a short run I decided to try and make it fast. I also needed to get to work so speed was of the essence for that reason as well. And, amazingly, I managed it. For me 23 miles at about 16 mph is good pace. One loss of concentration at the bottom of the hill from Dura Den to Strathkinness was not good and I gave myself a good talking to. I'm not sure I could have been much quicker in the flat and downhill sections, so I'll need to work even harder on the hills.

The Ride

Road User Awards

Almost all the drivers were great today and none were bad enough to get a mention. They all even dipped their headlights although one needed a little encouragement. Maybe they all wondered what the light show was coming towards them.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Same weekend - different days

The two days this weekend couldn't have been more different. First there was the weather. Saturday was sunny and bright; a delight to ride in especially in November. Sunday, on the other hand, was grey, dank and cold. There was a nasty south east breeze that made the second half of my ride very uncomfortable. Then there were the rides themselves. Saturday, because of time constraints, was on the short side although I lengthened my usual short training run and rode it in reverse. This avoided the steep hill at the end that I was none too keen on having tweaked my back earlier in the week (fixing a puncture on my town bike - typical). Then on Sunday I resolved to ride a long loop round north east Fife. So despite the weather out I went. You can see the results below. The good news is that my back survived both rides and feels much better for having been out. Sacrificing a couple of gym sessions did the trick.

Riding with company

I had a new experience during my ride today. Company. For a little while at least. A fellow cyclist caught up with me at the beginning of the climb to Gauldry. I assumed he would exchange pleasantries and ride on; he was clearly faster than me. But no, and the climb went by without me really noticing it as we chatted. Still assuming he would ride on I was surprised when he appeared to be happy to ride on with me. We were both heading towards Newburgh where our paths would diverge. It was with great pleasure that I rode with him for 11 or so miles. He extracted his revenge for my slowness for, despite his mudguards, I was well splattered with mud by the time we reached Newburgh. I need to get quicker and be in front.
So, whoever you were, thanks for adding to my enjoyment of training today.
For those who have never cycled with company I would highly recommend it. Especially, I suspect, if your companion(s) are slightly better than you. As long as they are willing to encourage then it is a chance to learn and test yourself. I also found myself pay less attention to the bike computer. With the result that I rode more freely, and a bit quicker than I might have done on my own. It also makes hills go more quickly, even if you are chasing someone else's wheel.

The Rides


The data from both rides this weekend shares an oddity. The Garmin GPS doesn't seem to have an accurate height for my starting position resulting in some odd height values. I think the differences are correct, so I'll have to live with that. Either that or some of Fife is below sea level. I think not!

Saturday


The shorter training run from the weekend. A slightly longer than normal route, and I tried to keep the speed up. I wish I could have ridden for longer, but that's life.

Sunday


After dinner out with friends on Saturday night it was hard to get up and go out for this ride. But go out I did and managed my longest ride to date.


Road User Awards

Not much to say here; no really bad driving to report. I would like to ask why it seems to be mostly BMWs that give as little room as possible? On the other side of the coin no great driving to report either. Lots of very considerate driving, which is always nice.
My own road user of the weekend has to be my Sunday companion as he was obviously cycling well within his own abilities in order to share the experience. Thanks again.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Such a nice day

Given that it was November it couldn't have been much nicer yesterday. A little warmer maybe but then the sunshine probably wouldn't have been there so I'll take what we were given.

Falling Off

Falling off shouldn't be funny (and isn't at any speed as I know to my cost) but an incident yesterday proved to be an exception to the rule. I was heading towards Hazelton Walls when I misjudged a small hill only realising about halfway up that I was going to need the small chainring. Never change down under load! I did, and the chain promptly missed the inner ring leaving me upright on a rapidly slowing down bike. I had enough time to get my right foot out of the clip but not enough time to stop me falling over to the left. Straight onto the wet, muddy and gloriously soft verge. Luckily, apart from some mud on me and the bike and my wounded pride, everything was ok. I put the chain back on and off I went, chuckling.
That's the first time I've not managed to get one of my feet free of the pedals in time to stop myself falling over. I'm sure it won't be the last but at least this time there were no injuries.

Scenery and a chat

I stopped above Chance Inn to give myself a minute of two off the bike, change my gloves and take my jacket off. I took the picture below of Chance Inn to show how nice it was out there and how nice Fife is to cycle round.

Chance Inn
While I was getting organised a cyclist appeared at the junction a hundred yards or so away. He looked around and then cycled up the hill towards me. All just to say hello as he was actually going the other way. A nice chat and then we were both on our respective ways. It is always nice to be greeted by other cyclists (and anybody else) but even nicer that someone went out of their way to say hi. Whoever you are, thanks, it brightened up an already good day.

A note about staying warm

As I said above, one of the reasons for stopping was to remove my jacket as I felt I was getting a little warm. That was a big mistake. As I set off again I became cold and I'm sure my performance suffered over the next few miles. Neither sun or hills made me warm again so above Largoward I stopped and put it back on. I felt warmer almost immediately and I think the cycling improved as I carried on. The observation is not at all scientific but I felt much better with the jacket on than without it even if I did feel a little warm at times. My recommendation is to stay warm. I did go from full gloves to fingerless mitts and appreciated the less sweaty hand experience. Maybe the change of gloves was enough.

The Ride

The ride itself was highly enjoyable. The climbs into Gauldry and out of Cupar turned out to be easier than expected and on the whole the legs felt good. The roads weren't too bad either although I tried to avoid the really small ones I thought would be covered in mud. As a note to myself the road down from Hazelton Walls to Rathillet should be avoided at this time of year. A true mud fest!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Fast...

... for me. Two bits of todays short run were notable for speed. On the climb up from Dura Den to Strathkinness I managed to beat my best time by 5 seconds! But for that time I did have a lower heart rate than my previous best. I'm hoping this might be a sign of better hill climbing.
Then on the run in from Strahkinness to St. Andrews I managed to keep the bike moving along at just under 25mph for a mile. On not too steep a downslope (i.e. I can get up it easily enough). You might think that's quite good until you look at this
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bikeradar-editor-smashes-12-hour-time-trial-record-31324/

With an average of 25.46mph over 12 hours I think I can fairly say I have a long, long way to go.
Still, it was a nice morning and apart from the cold (2 degrees Celsius in Cupar) it was very pleasant. Not much mud either so I had a good time.

The ride


Road User of the Day

The car driver who took one look at me from about 1/2 a mile away and decided that it would be sensible for him to have lights on too. I must look like a Christmas tree from any distance. As long as I keep safe I'm not complaining.

Idiot Road User of the Day

The car that overtook me in Ceres with parked cars on the other side of the road and then held me up at the junction. Thanks go to the driver behind me at this point who politely waited even after we had both turned off up a side road.