Building up the miles

With the best weather weekend for a while it would have been a shame not to get out and do some training. So I did. I decided to try and get some miles in, regardless of climbing. I'm very focussed on hills because they are what worry me, being slightly too short for my weight. But this weekend I tried not to worry that I wasn't training hard enough for them and just got some nice cycling in.

Saturday

Saturday morning was lovely and I spent it pottering about on the roads near Cupar. The route wasn't exactly flat but it didn't tax the legs too much either. And with dry roads and some evidence of warmth in the sun it was lovely trip. The average speed wasn't too shabby either. I must be getting fitter.

Sunday

I planned to do more miles on Sunday and recruited my friend Vic for the ride. I knew I would be feeling a little tired from the day before and a fresh pair of legs and eyes are always welcome.
On the morning though, I was ready to go when and popped out to get my steed only to find a flat front tire. Now, I am hopeless at fixing punctures and fitting new tubes. And try as I might the old inner tube would stay inflated after patching. Three times I tried and three times it failed. So I gave up and put in my last spare. This, of course, meant no spare in the bag. I checked with Vic and he had one so we would have to have fewer than two punctures on the road.
An hour late I left the house and hurried to the rendezvous. When I go there the cloud was low over the hills above Pitscottie and it looked bleak for the intended route. Undeterred we headed up towards Peat Inn and then across to Bonnybank. The low cloud was still about to the north ans west of us so we made the decision to head south and east to Crail, searching for some sunshine. THis had the added bonus of being relatively flat. Of course, being flat, this meant we had to pedal and keep pedalling. No rest for the wicked on the flat. Once in Crail we headed back up the hill to Peat Inn. A long but, thankfully, not too steep climb. Down into Ceres and a quick blast back to Pitscottie where we parted company and I headed home. I had enough energy to speed up down the hill into St. Andrews. Not quite a full blown sprint; I was a bit tired for that.
Incase you are wondering about the route below. I forgot to start my computer until I was a bit out of St. Andrews. Doh!

Portrait of a cyclist

I was lucky to have Vic with me today as I wanted to get some pictures of me with the bike. On the road. So here one of them is. People of a nervous disposition should not look! This is what I look like about 45 miles in to a 60 mile ride. Tired!

How far to go?

Road User of the Weekend

The award goes to a white van who patiently stayed behind me on the way to Logie on Saturday. The road was mucky, pot-holed and awkward and it was great to have driver show a bit of consideration to their fellow road user. A worth winner.
There were lots of good drivers this weekend, giving plenty of room going past without incident. Well done to all of you.

Idiot Road Users of the Weekend

Of course there's always the opposite side of the coin. The award is shared this weekend, with two equally worth winners.
Firstly the young man in Cupar who doesn't appreciate that cars don't rule the road. Impatient to get passed me on a road with parked cars on the other side he waited until the junction at the top and then turned left across my intended path of travel. Luckily I know the signs and avoided any nasty situations.
The second driver obviously forgot that they were pulling a trailer full of garden waste; branches and the like. So not only did they come past too quickly and too close they then pulled in a little bringing the trailer in far too close for my comfort. It's nice to see that on a Sunday the need for speed is still alive and well on the south coast of Fife.