Borders of Fife - 200Km - 15 September 2018

Looking at the route for the Borders of Fife I was wondering what I was doing; the half way mark was planted exactly at the top of the road.

I set off early, got lost in Burntisland and eventually found the Dalgety Bay Scout Hut where David and Steve had set up the Arivee, I'd eaten breakfast before setting off so grabbed a muffin from the various food options and got sociable.

Riders congregating for the start

Setting off from the hut much to Steve's disappointment we blasted down a dirt track short cutting out onto the road east; so rather than getting photos of us leaving on the road, he's got pictures of us riding alongside a graveyard.

A stiff wind and relatively flat road meant a good pace was on order but I just couldn't keep up with the main pack on some of the ramps and I ended up in "the hole" that space that exists between the big sociable group and everyone else.

Riders congregating for the start

Cycling through some of the less salubrious sights of Fife before reaching the East Neuk at the edge of Leven; the shortest route to Crail from here is the inland route so we missed out the delights of Elie, St Monance and the Ainsters as I rolled into Crail I spotted Richard another local rider heading back out that way, this wasn't the routesheet route so took a mental note to check out his route afterwards; it turned out he couldn't be bothered with riding through St Andrews, so took the route via Peat Inn, one that I had considered until I realized the coast road was going to be quiet.

Descending into StAndrews

With two shops to choose from at Crail I rolled into the Premier while most others were at the Co-Op; my plan was to bounce the controls at Crail and Tayport and spend more time on lunch at a café near Abernethy that I didn't know existed!

At Leuchars I chose to take the Tentsmuir road rather than ride up to St Mikes; this was partly because I wanted a pee stop but also because I'd decided that if I was going to effectively ride from Dalgety Bay to home and back again, I was going to ride some of the more interesting roads in the area.

Handy kerb in Tayport

Popping out onto the Tayport road I got to the junction as Chris and Alex rolled past, at the start I had thought Chris was maybe going to get changed in the toilets but there he was still wearing Jeans and T-Shirt and flying along! A different type of cycling stealth?

Into Tayport and I had to decide where to stop, as it as going to be a short stop I decided a co-op and then hummed and hawed over which one until I rode past the top of Maitland street, so Castle Street it was.  There's a large differential here between pavement height and road height which provided an excellent seat to sit and scoff a light initial lunch on.
I then opted for the dig up castle road back onto the main road and I was soon passing other riders who had chosen the cycle track. Now came the challenge, roll into newport and start the longest climb of the day the 10km from the foot of Newport High Street up to Muir Dens, oh and riding past the house. I chose to distract myself with an attempt at a touristy photo of the rail bridge.

Tourist in my own village

At Hazelton Walls I again diverted from the route sheet and took a spin along the Creich road; I don't normally ride here and had forgotten about the Castle and the poor surfacing, then up and over the Norman's law to rejoin the coast road and the head wind. At the Abernethy rail bridge I saw the large billboard sign for the garden centre and realize this was the location of the Jamesfield Café that I hadn't known existed.

Tay Rail Bridge from Peace Hill

I was soon joined by a rabble from the Borderlands that I had last seen at Tayport and we sat down, they for a light 3rd lunch and I for my main course.  After this I set off slightly ahead of them on the basis that I knew they were faster than me on the climbs and that that'd catch me somewhere on the climb, ideally between Beinn Inn and the Viaduct. How right I was! As the hotel came in sight they were in touching distance and I dug in and stayed with them to Glenfarg Village where I'd chosen another diversion; the route sheet sent you down to the Arlary junction, while I chose the route up to Drumcreivie and then down to the quieter junction on the edge of Milnathort, as I climbed I saw them on the descent below and knew I wouldn't see them again until the next control.

Down at the Milnathort junction there was no sign of them and I got out onto the A91 without delay, another long climb up to the Yetts o' Muckhart now, despite being the main road to Stirling it's a very quiet road thanks to the Motorways and A9 providing an easier route for anyone not living in Kinross area. Much to my surprise they caught me around Carnbo, a surprising occurance as the earlier start to the descent should have made up for time lost at the junction. The vicious climb from devon bridge up to the Yetts as usual sapped all my speed and energy; and then it started raining.

Clackmannan

At Dollar it was time for another control and I chose to just grab some sweets as there was another shop control at Clackmannan, others were either tucking into sandwiches or providing last orders of the day in the café. 

A nasty wee dig at Dolarbeag and then the A977 sprint from Forestmill to the Clackmannan road; I'd never been to Clackmannan before, I rolled upto the Co-Op and discovered they had a choice of Cheese, Cheese or Cheese; disaster!  I picked the wrap that looked like it would have the least amount of dairy in it, in the form of Chicken Ceaser Bacon and sat in the bus shelter to eat it; Robbie, Chris and Alex arrived fresh from the Dollar café.

They set off first and I did a quick bit of tourism then cracked on, the route back to Dunfermline was on the old railway line which provided a nice gentle gradient down into the chaos that is Dunfermline's roads, I passed them as Robbie stopped to fix an issue and they caught up shortly afterwards; Robbie stayed with me from then on while Chris and Alex cracked on ahead.

Rolling through Dunfermline we missed a turn before flying down hill through Pittencreif park and then on hospital hill spotted Tim Hortons, Robbie stopped to take a picture though we didn't go in.  It was then a case of rolling into Dalgety Bay and the scout hut where Dave and Steve were waiting to collect Brevet cards and dish out tea in the form of baked tatties and beans awesome!

It was a nice wee ride on mostly familiar roads, it was also one where the strava flyby showed a lot of variations particularly from locals and semi-locals; Richard who had gone to Tayport via Peat Inn had also decided he couldn't be bothered with Dunfermline and had chosen to drop down to the Forth Coast road from Clackmannan; one I think I might do next time!