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Back in 2022 I lost my dear old dad and I vowed to ride to St Andrews from my doorstep every year to remember him, as long as I am fit and well! Last year I lost my big brother to cancer so now I have more reason to complete my mission, they both loved St Andrews! Yesterday was the perfect day for it with light winds, starting with a light SW and changing to the NE in the afternoon! Just perfect to have a tailwind all day, albeit a minimal one but what a difference it makes! This was my 4th consecutive year completing the ride! I set off at 5am and took the cycle path around Hillend Loch, what a way to start my day with this view!
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Last year I rode up inland and back down the east coast so I switched it about this year and headed up the coast! I made my down in to Falkirk, enjoying the big descent into Glen Village at almost 45mph!
Then through Grangemouth and over the Kincardine Bridge, grabbing a few photos on the way!
The canal at Grangemouth!
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2 weeks ago I got absolutely drenched here and the Ochils were completely hidden, quite a difference yesterday!
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I then made my way long the coast road passing through many villages before arriving in Rosyth, on my way I took this photo in Crombie with the hill with the radio masts overlooking Knockhill Racing Circuit in the distance!
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I then continued along the coast to Aberdour where I had my first real climb, up until now I was using eco mode...level 2 was required for this beast! The view at the top of the climb is sure worth the effort!
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The Pentland Hills to the south across the Forth!
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Then I had the awesome descent into Burntisland to look forward to, then it was up the climb into Kinghorn on the excellent cycle path! As always I stopped at Pettycur Bay for photos of the stunning beach!
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From Kinghorn the coast road turns north towards Kirkcaldy, what a road it is with many ups and downs! I stopped on the Esplanade for this photo, this would be the last of the blue skies for a while! It looked a bit dark to the north...not what the forecast was showing!
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I had a big climb out of town now and surprised myself by making it up in eco mode! It sure helps being a lightweight when carrying 3 heavy batteries!
I continued up the coast road to Leven where it was threatening to rain but thankfully it stayed dry! It was time for more climbing, nothing steep though and I stopped at the top of the climb in Upper Largo for this photo looking across the North Sea with mainland at North Berwick way in the distance!
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It was time to switch to battery 2 at 65 miles, pretty impressive for my original 8 year old battery! I continued along the coast to Elie where I stopped at the harbour for this photo, ,I enjoyed a well earned snack here!
View attachment 211448From Elie I hugged the coastline passing through St Monans where I could feel rain in the air, not even enough to wet the roads thankfully! I got passed by a St Andrews bus here and I was playing cat and mouse with it through Pitenweem and Anstruther, I bet the driver was cursing me at times!
I was now heading for Crail where I stopped for a photo of the tiny harbour!
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I was already at 80 miles here with almost 10 miles to go to St Andrews, 10 miles of wonderful coast road! Those dark clouds were looking ominous...
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I always stop for a photo of this gorgeous little church on the coast road!
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Sure enough I could feel some spits of rain nearing St Andrews but by the time I arrived in the town it had stopped! The beach was looking a bit rough, the recent weather played a big part I'm sure!
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It was surprisingly quiet at the beach, most unusual for June but I'm sure the early morning Scotland game in Boston caused a few hangovers...
Well done lads, can we make it past the first round for the first time? Probably not...
It was time to start heading west inland for home, I had a route planned in my head but with 90 miles covered I had to have a rethink as I would have had another 90 miles to do so I decided to skip the road out to Newburgh! My record is 170 miles in 2024 and I knew how tough that was so I made the sensible decision! The downside was I would be using the main A91 way more than I wanted to but with it being a Sunday I thought it would have been ok, I was wrong!
From St Andrews I took the back road to Pitscottie, its a gem of a road but mostly uphill! Thankfully I had a tailwind helping but not much of a wind, for once I could have done with a 30mph tailwind all the way home...keep dreaming Rab!
I then had a big climb out of Pitscottie which is quickly followed by a cracking descent all the way to Cupar, 100 miles appeared on my gps near Cupar! I grabbed a couple of photos on the way, things were starting to look brighter now as I was heading inland!
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From Cupar it was time to brave the A91 for 15 miles or so, at first it wasn't too bad but it started to get busy after Gateside! At least the nice views were helping!
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I was glad to reach Milnathort and get off the fast roads for a bit, although I had to use the A977 for a mile or so before taking the back road to Cleish, what a road that was! The final climb was tough, the photo doesn't do it justice! That climb finished off my 2nd battery at 125 miles, so I got 60 miles from that one!
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I was now on the road that leads to Knockhill, its like this most of the way!
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At the end of the road I turned left to head up the climb to Knockhill but I turned off a short time later to head down the awesome back road to Saline, mostly big downhills and a lot of fun!
This is the start of the road, a very fast descent!
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The dark clouds were hanging around the Ochils but I had nice sunshine where I was!
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The road out of Saline is pretty awesome also, another big downhill!
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I then took the back road towards Forestmill and enjoyed this epic little road with this amazing descent on lovely smooth tarmac!
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From there I headed back into Kincardine and used my usual roads all the way home, so I won't bore you all with the details! Other than to say as I arrived in Falkirk I still had 60% battery remaining so the big climbs were a total breeze using
level 3 assist, I could have easily surpassed my 170 mile record but I decided 165 was more than enough and judging by my state today I made the right decision...
I slept for well over 10 hours, what a ride it was and worth the pain for sure! I'm sure my dad and big brother were by my side all the way and keeping me safe!
Good to see you back Dave
@Saratoga Dave I hope you are keeping well buddy!
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