St. Andrews 21/09/14

Two weekends in a row for me with the knee hopefully on the road to recovery saw five of us head towards Dundee with only Charlie thinking of going all the way.  The weather was good as it often is in September in this part of Scotland, a little chilly to begin with but warming up in the sunshine as the day progressed, last weeks wind had all but disappeared.

We were up over Carrot Hill and whizzing into in to Dundee in no time at all.  Norman turned into Sainsbury and Keith turned moments later to go up the coast for a shorter run leaving Charlie Gus and I to head down towards the bridge.

We stopped as usual at the Tay Bridge Cafe for rolls, tea and coffee, the black pudding and runny egg went down a treat for me and discussion turned towards the rest of the day, Gus had already said he was not going to St. Andrews with me swithering due to the knee.  I opted for the short run and Charlie initially said he was going to go on but changed his mind and we settled on The Commercial in Newtyle for a bowl of soup.

We headed back across the Tay and along the riverside with the water calm and silvery, it is  a bit of a drag up past Liff and further up to Birkhill but we got the light wind behind us as we hit the main road to Newtyle.  The main road surface was smooth and the braes gentle so the speed picked up a little.

The Commercial Hotel is not one of our regular stops but we always get a warm welcome and the soup is great, today it was minestrone, thick with plenty veg.  The also had a new Belgian Lager Beer - HeverLee which we had to try, to be polite!

Well fueled we rolled back into Forfar via Kinnettles House, now renamed Castle to attract the wealthy tourist crowd for weddings, dinners and the like.

Another short day but a good pace was kept, next weeks run is St. Cyrus

Ardler The Long Way 14/09/14

This run was planned as lunch after the mountain biking festival but due to the volume of forms to be filled in, we had to pull out so the run was extended, four of us set off on a breezy day towards Newtyle.

The initial plan was the Audax route Scone the flat way but as we progressed we had a change of plan and turned for Wolfhill as we approached the MacDonald Arms with Keith wanting a shorter run and David a little tired.

We were heading towards Ardler a little earlier so we all went back towards Newtyle and then turned back with Keith  going straight to Forfar.

Three of us were enjoying lunch in the Tav when we were joined by Norman who had been out watching the mountain bike racing.

We got a bit of a blow back to Forfar and although a little earlier we had worked pretty hard in the wind and on the hills with a moving average of over 14mph.

Carnoustie - Montrose Costal Path 10/08/14

A bright but breezy day welcomed six of us to the leisure centre as we headed for the Carnoustie costal path.  From the leisure centre we went up Manor St onto Castle Street took a right and left at The Cross and headed up The Vennel and past the swimming pool and onto the Lour Rd up into the countryside to Whigstreet where Ron turned for home.

From Whigstreet we headed to Monikie and down the brae into Carnoustie and along the High Street to East Haven where we joined the off road path.  The wind was now behind us but the path was loose and busy with walkers so progress was slow.

From Arbroath we were back on the tarred road and we climbed out on the cycle rout and followed that towards Montrose, we had missed a shower in Arbroath but our luck did not hold and we had to stop to put on waterproofs at Nether Dysart leaving us about 6 miles in the rain before lunch.

We stopped in Tesco for abut half an hour by which time the rain had stopped, as it was dry we decided on heading towards Hillside where Keith turned for home and round to Brechin where Charlie headed home leaving the three of us to head through the golf course though to Careston where we had to stop to put the waterproofs back on the from Careston to Finavon where we stopped for rehydration

From Finavon we headed for Oathlaw and the short route back to Forfar as it was still pretty wet and the temperature had dropped quite a lot.  We took it steady and arrived home wet with 67 miles for the day.

Next week it's into Fife for the Newburgh loop.

Bankfoot 03/08/14

Another bright sunny day welcomed us to the leisure centre, with summer holidays in full swing there were only four of us!  The route was to Bankfoot as the cafe at Amulree was closed so we headed for Newtyle up Laughing Horse Hill  (which duly obliged) and on through Kinrossie , where Norman headed for home, then on to Perth.

In Perth we turned over the first bridge and took the cycle path through the North Inch following the south bank of the Tay which is off road all the way to Almondbank then a sharp wee hill took us to Pitcairngreen which has a cairn and a village green!  From Pitcairngreen we continued on the cycle route which is quite lumpy through to Bankfoot at 41 miles where we stopped at the shop for a roll and a drink in the sun.

After a brief discussion we decided on a route back to Forfar, all choices involved a climb and we chose the route past the Stewart Tower Dairy where we have stopped a couple of times for a shorter winter run, it has great ice cream!  We then turned left down to Murthly then right onto the Kivclaven Rd crossing the railway tracks and and a nice fast run to the bridge over the Tay where the river Isla joins the Tay.  There were road works on the second bridge and we were lucky to get a green light straight off, turning left up the brae towards Coupar Angus.

From Coupar Angus we headed to Ardler where David and I stopped for rehydration with Charlie heading straight home, Charlie's decision to go straight home probably got him a fairly good soaking as we had to sit in rather than outside, after our wee break we headed for Forfar via Kirkinch joining the Newtyle Rd and re traced our tracks for the last 10 miles back to home.  The  roads were pretty wet in places but we were lucky and got home in the dry!

We had completed 72 miles on a nice gentle route, if you want to try it click here!

Next week we head towards Montrose via Carnoustie

Stonehaven - 27/07/14

Another bright sunny morning welcomed us to the Leisure Centre in Forfar with the heat already being felt in the sun by 9 am.  After a bit of good faffing  six of us got under way heading towards Montrose and the coast road to Stonehaven.

David Husband set us a good pace with the wind behind us we were nipping along, Ron was having a short day and turned towards Brechin when we hit the cross roads leaving five of us to head towards Montrose, we cut the corner to Hillside and got onto the coast road and headed for Stonehaven with the wind behind us.  Charlie turned off followed  a few miles later on at St Cyrus by Gus leaving just three of us.

We were making good progress and turned off the main road half way up the hill from Johnshaven taking te marked cycle route to give us an extra three miles and a more lumpy route.  We descended into Stonehaven and decided on a seat at the harbour with sandwiches from the garage.

Heading for home we expected to be into the wind but we had a pretty sheltered return and only caught the edge of a couple of showers, the heaviest of which have us a wee soaking at Fettercairn.  A brief stop to fill up on water in Edzell was the only break on the return leg but as we turned right along by the golf course the wind arrived to slow us down a little but for whatever reason it didn't last and it was till pretty hot.  

By the time we reached the Drovers we were in need of a wee break and a relaxing seat in the sun was pretty welcome along with a wee drop of rehydration, back into Forfar it was a good day out!

The coming weekend run was due to be Amulree but the cafe is closed so there is a change in destination to Bankfoot where we can eat inside or outside depending on the weather.

ACC Runs List - August - Oct 2014

Falkland - 13/07/14

A bright sunny day saw six of us head towards Fife for the longest run of the year though only half of us ventured across the bridge!

Ron turned off at the foot of Carrot Hill, Gus just past Kellas and Norman at Sainsburry leaving Keith, Grahame and I to head for Fife.

We got our first taste of the Commonwealth Games with the whole of the the Apex Hotel cordoned off and surrounded by Police even as far as under the Tay Bridge, cant imagine the cost of that for three weeks!

A slight detour to the normal route saw us on the bridge enjoying the views with a very low tide, stopping at the cafe for tea and rolls to fuel us for the next section of our journey.

From the bridge we headed through Balmullo up to Dairsie where we turned down the glen and through Kemback and Dura Den coming out at Pitscottie where Keith turned off leaving just two of us to head through Ceres and on to Newton of Falkland where we stopped for lunch.

After a good stop we decided on the route home  and set off round the edge of Falkland hoping to have the wind behind us, and for most of the route we did, as we approached the Tay it got cold for a few miles and the wind seemed to swirl round into our face through Wormitt.

From the Tay we again had sunshine and the wind on our back as we headed up to Liff and Newtyle then through to the Bogside Rd where we had a brief stop to dawn rain coats which did little to prevent a thorough soaking.  It brightened up as we got to the Kirrie Glamis junction where Grahame wearily turned left up the hill and I continued past the sawmill and home to Forfar in a baw hair under 100 miles and over 4000' of ascent.

The route is here if you would like to try it.

Next week it's the Clova beer festival with both A & B runs scheduled the A route heading for Prosen first.