This left me with a problem so on Friday I headed out with Derek on the Mountain bikes. It was a pleasant change to be sitting up but you sure notice the difference in resistance between the skinny road bike and the chunky mountain bike tyres. So this week it's been good to start building the bike fitness again with 19 miles on Wednesday, 29 on Thursday, 35 on Friday and 55 on Saturday.
For Saturday's ride I went up to the garage and pulled out the old vintage road bike. It's a Reynolds 531 tubing with shimano chnagers and campag hubs all from the early 70's. I love it! A pal of mine gave it to me a few years ago when he was clearing his garage and I'm now thinking I might get it re-sprayed and refurbished. Shame to let classic engineering rust!
We set off at 9am on Saturday. It was a stunning morning. I had travelled about a mile from the house when an SUV pulled out of the Crossford turn off right in front of me. When he eventually saw me he slammed on his brakes, mine were full on as well, and I squeezed past him with the heat and smell of his engine close to my head. Not a great start to the day. It shook me up especially when you read of another young rider who lost his life in a race yesterday. There seem to be more and more issues on the road with bikers involved in grisly accidents.
The ride up from Dunfermline through to Dunning was just awesome, well apart from the odd icy patch and by the time we reached the top of the climb it felt like a summers day. The decent into Dunning put an end to that as the icy north westerly blast chilled us quicker than a masterchef ice cream! From there we turned and headed to Cafe Kisa in Auchterarder. I consider myself to be quite an expert in the various cafe stops around our various bike routes and can safely say that Cafe Kisa is top of the list.
When we arrived it was pretty packed but a couple of sweaty, smelly bikers can always make a bit of room in the crowd! We got the windows seats and Derek fired up a full breakfast order of bacon and egg roll, a scone and to keep it all healthy some Earl Grey Tea. Not to be outdone I went for the bacon roll, scone and latte option. A belly busting treat!
We climbed back onto the bikes for the trip home rather bloated but the big man was in the mood for the Glen Devon climb. He went off like a shot and I clung on to his back wheel like my life depended on it. He texted later to let me know it was his fastest ever ascent of the climb which didn't surprise me as my legs were toast by the top. I hadn't quite got round to oiling the gears so every gear change on the front cog involved the use of my right heel to return the chain to the smaller of the two front cogs and I couldn't get the back derailleur to change to the smallest back cog so Derek flew off down the hill with me in slightly chilled pursuit.
The ice was still sitting on the top of the river that flows through Glen Devon which surprised me but I suppose the height and lack of direct sunlight prevented the thaw. It was then a blast back to Knockhill and home. It was a brilliant day out with 975m of climbing and a few PB's for Derek.
Entries for the race in August have opened and I'll sort that out sometime soon. The weight loss is still on track despite the bacon rolls and scones and I'm still doing my circuits which I'm loving. I enjoyed a full rest day yesterday which was brilliant but my sinuses have blown up a bit today so may need to take it easy later. We'll see.
Let's hope the summer is not the usual damp squib this year!
The photo is from the top of the Dunning climb looking out towards the Cairngorms. Such beauty so close to home is something I'm continually grateful of.
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