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!