I took the afternoon off work today so I could do a decent long ride. It was also a good opportunity to explore a part of Fife I had not been to before. With the Jogle only 4 weeks away the pressure was on to test the legs. I don't have the luxury of high tech GPS equipment, so here are my rough stats for the route:
Total distance 70 miles, average speed 16.5mph, max speed 38, min speed 0. Started in Blebo Craigs then to Glenrothes via Star. From Glenrothes to Scotlandwell to Milnathort. Got lost as I tried to find the "Path of Condie". I took what I thought was the right road and ended up riding along a rough track - time to turn around! Over the Ochils was stunning with nice 1 in 6 hairpin bends. Then down to Bridge of Earn and back via Newburgh and Cupar to Blebo Craigs.
The last 25 miles were into a strong easterly wind. Perfect training for the Jogle! The legs felt good, but after about 50 miles my neck and shoulders were sore. It also became apparent I am going to have to get some better cycling shorts as it was painful to sit on the saddle!
I followed Nick's example by listening to podcasts on my iPod. It certainly made the miles pass more quickly and was a useful way to spend an afternoon. I caught up with Boagworld, a podcast for web designers and web managers. The final 10 miles were spent listening to one of my favourite albums - Muse "Black holes and revelations" - great for that final push to the finish!
Friday 23 May 2008
Into darkest Fife
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11 comments:
I am wagering that those were 70 Scottish hilly miles Steve?
The only Boag's I am aware of is the rather fine Tasmanian Lager. Nice.
Being a podcast freak I will check that one out but fear it may fly straight over my simple head. ;-)
http://tinyurl.com/57jmpa
Some of that looks pretty wild Steve!
Yes, 70 Scottish hilly and windy miles. Plus it was cold! You don't know you're living in the south west where it is warm, flat and the wind is calm.
It was the first time I had taken my iPod with me. I usually cycle in silence, but thought that it would be an interesting experiment.
They tend to ramble on at Boagworld, but there are the occasional gems. I found it easier listening to a podcast than music.
However, it was difficult to hear what was being said when going into the wind - the sound of the wind whisling past the earphones was deafening. Do you have any tips to optimise the sound quality?
Thanks for mapping the route. I did an extra 5 ish miles getting lost (precise distance unknown as I had accidentally switched the cycle computer off).
Can the website you used calculate the total elevation gained?
Ah, sorry. Found the extra buttons to see elevation. Very cool website!
Its great isn't it? I found it through another jogler - Stu in the links.
I must admit to wearing noise canceling headphones - only cheap ones Sennheiser something or rathers. £8 delivered on ebay. This is not ideal for safety but I do hear the traffic, the volume can be played much lower and the wind noise is less of a problem. So it is better for your hearing.
I recall a few years a go seeing something advertised that directed the wind so you didn't get the noise but it made you look like dumbo! I assume it never tool off. Unlike the elephant.
Sennheiser CX300 is the ones I have been using. I used to have some Koss "The Plug" ones which were good but a bit too effective at noise canceling in traffic.
I just checked out the elevation data on that 90 miler I did. On motionbased it says (using their gravity feature) I climbed 5800ft on map my ride it says 2800ft That is quite a difference! I wonder what the truth is?
It'll be the lower one Nick...
I think mapmyride GREATLY underestimates the total climbing. For the 92 miler we just did:
Daves GPS/ALtimeter -9,00ft climbing
Motionbased Gravity -7,500ft
Bikely -4500ft
MapmyRide -1500ft
Since we reached an altitude of almost 1500ft from just above sea level in Exeter I think it is safe to say Mapmyride is poop at elevation.
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