Glen Clova 23/12/12

A break in the rain saw 7 club members assemble at the leisure centre.  A slight delay for a puncture eventually saw us heading out in light rain and the decision to head directly to Clova proved to be the right one as we had to stop for full waterproofs before Horneycross.

It wasn't a day for flying along due to huge floods and roads strewn with debris, and the forecasted gale force winds were starting to show by the time we made it to the Glen Clova Hotel.    The stove was on which was welcomed by all and gave a few a chance to get some wet clothes dried a wee bit, two good soups were on offer along with Inveralmonds Santa's Swallie

By the time we left the rain had stopped and we had a tail wind down the glen, we then headed for the Drovers as many weren't working on the Monday, Ron turned off just after Dykehead and Charlie didn't stop.  The rest of us had a couple of pints including Orkney's Clootie Dumpling.

The temperature had dropped by the time we headed home but the rain was off and we were back before dark - 39 miles @ 12.1 mph av.

Glamis - 19/12/12

The night started out quite nice, mild again and we had the wind slightly behind as 5 of us left from the clubrooms.  We headed for the Bogside Rd with Gus taking a more direct route up the hill.  We could see Andy in front of us but we never caught him.

Ron had made his own way to the Glamis hotel which was busy with Christmas parties, we were lucky that a large table had just left which seated us all comfortably but the big surprise was the delivery of a large bowl of chips!

The rain which was forecast had arrived by the time we headed back but it wasn't to bad and we made good time. 15 miles - 13.1 mph av

Meikleour - 16/12/12

A good sized group of 8 headed out the Bogside Road via the pig farm led out by Keith, we had a brief stop as Ron mended a puncture, welcomed by some as it was milder than we thought.

Puncture Repair Stop

Charlie was the first to turn at Miegle followed shortly afterwards by Ron, Tom and Brian who were heading directly to Ardler ( they arrived to early and had to divert back to Miegle) the rest of us (David, Gus, Keith, Ian & Norman) headed to Meikleour via Blairgowrie and out the back road past Lairds Marlee Quarry.

We arrived in good time at the Meikelour Hotel and managed to gat a table in the bar for a bowl of tomato, red pepper and chili soup washed down with a pint.  The hotel has it's own ale commissioned from the Inveralmond Brewery in Perth.

Fro,Meikleour we headed towards Perth over the Tay and up the hill to Leyston and Coupar Angus then to Ardler and the Tavern where we warmed up and had a couple of pints today they had Three Sisters from Atlas and Dark Island from Orkney.

We hadn't heard from Donald in a week so we put a pot of tea (empty of course) on the table just to show him what he's missing!

From Ardler it was a nice steady run back to Forfar. - 52 miles 13.2mph.

Finavon 12/12/12

Three set off on another frosty but fairly calm night from the club rooms, this time of year the hill is normally to slippy on the descent so we decided to take the short route direct to Finavon via Oathlaw where we met Tom and Andy for a few pints, before heading back out into the cold night for the journey home again via Oathlaw.  Short night - 14 miles 12.9mph

Mince Pie Run 9/12/12

A pretty cold and windy day greeted a large group of 11 cyclists for the annual Mince Pie run to Tom 7 Mary's.  After much faffing about we headed towards Horny Cross with the intention of heading towards Brechin and back to Forfar but the way the wind was going it was decided the cut short and head for Glamis via Kirrie.  An obligatory tea stop was had at the Park Tavern where a couple early pints replaced the tea of a few!

After tea it was down the hill to Glamis and back to Forfar with the wind behind us most of the way, an effort was made to regroup prior to arriving at Tom's but a few were keen on a seat by the fire and didn't wait!

Thanks to hosts Tom and Mary and all the ladies who helped with the catering for an excellent spread and a good afternoon with a few light refreshments

Drovers 5/12/12

The coldest night of this winter so far, frost on the road but thankfully no wind saw us head up to the Drovers for the regulation 2 pints.

Eight cyclists met up to tonight and the ales on tap were the EB Clockwork  from St Andrews and Ossian from Inveralmond in Perth.  It must have been cold as we were the only people there for the majority of the night, two others arrived and left in the time we were there.

It was a fair bit colder on the return with parts of the roads quite white but we made good time just under 15 miles 12.9mph av

Strathmore RFC - Film Night - 28/11/12

A change of venue as we were being treated to two films by Alan Ferrier  who directed Any Given Sunday - The story of Audax in the UK including footage of the Deeside Loop.

Five of us headed out from the Club Rooms towards the golfcourse and up via Auchterforfar and up the brae to Kingsmuir, we headed out towards Craichie, turning back into towards Ladenford, Lochlands and down to the club where we had 3 films to watch for the evening.