Saturday's club run saw a group of 5 riding along some new roads at the Eastern end of the County. Malcolm lead Peter, Matt, Dave and Andy over his regular training routes at the foot of the Pentlands.
The ride began with the ascent of the Knock and then a quick left at the top, along a road we don't often use, to Dechmont. We headed back towards the Alps and then to Kirkliston where Dave nabbed the 30 sign. New comer Dave looks built for sprinting and and has a good turn of speed... with a bit of conditioning we might have our very own 'Cav'!
We continued on into uncharted territory for most of the group, Malcolm has kept these glorious local roads close to his chest, he says he finds our regular routes to Slammanan more of a thrill!
These early starts mean you can build up the miles, by 9.30 we'd been on the road for an hour and a half and had bagged 20-odd miles. Nevertheless our tummies were rumbling and we jumped at Malcolm's offer of a refuel at his gaff. But first we took in one of his hilly local circuits which ended up in Balerno and then Cafe 'Wake' in Ratho. Malcolm's better half, Jackie, served us coffee, and what looked like, the top tier of their wedding cake. (Thanks for the hospitality!) The four remianing riders headed back to Linithgow, with a tiring Dave still managing to bag a couple more 30 signs before his legs finally gave up.
Three riders were out on the steadier Saturday ride which meets at the bottom of Boness Road in Linlithgow. Newbie Melwin rode out on his fabulous new Gios with Jim and Steve, along a flat route based along the Edinburgh road. Melwin is starting to get in the miles so it won't be long before his enthusiasm translates into 30-sign sprints!
On Sunday Neil, Jim and David met up at the Cross and headed around the two bridges route Jim said "We used the new Clackmannanshire bridge and the connecting cycle paths, before finishing, Etape du Tour style, with a haul up Kingscavil (which I hit did at a steady 3.9 mph - any slower and I would have fallen off!). All in it was 45 miles, but at 17mph average, not 15. Sorry! No sprints though, although these guys can motor up hills like nobody's business! Great run and I was suitably sleepy on Sunday afternoon"
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2 comments:
I only won the sneaky sprints. Matt wiped the floor with me on all the contested ones.
Next time I'll choose one sprint toward the end. That first sprint against Matt killed me.
That first sprint was damn close - shades of MIlan San Remo! You've got a good pair of legs for the short fast stuff so I reckon you could build on what you've got.
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