Blairgowrie - 27/01/13

Six headed from the leisure center into the wind, it wasn't to cold but the wind made it feel worse than it was, we were heading for big Stuart's house for lunch and departed out to the Bogside Rd, we had only completed about 6 miles, just before we got to the sawmill, when we had to stop to put the waterproofs on.  We took a right turn towards Alyth, leaving Norman to carry on home to polish his new bike,  and straight across the A926 and took the back road past Shanzie and into Alyth.

From there we were heading to Tullyfergus yp the long drag of a hill, it was pretty snowy at the bottom and a wee bit of pushing was required, there was talk of turning round but we pressed on and right enough it cleared up.

We caught our breath and regrouped at the top and headed down into Rattray getting sandwiches at Tesco before going to Stuart's house for cups of tea and a wee bit chocolate cake.

After lunch we had the wind behind us and we picked up the pace on the road to Coupar Angus we were over 25mph on the flat and it didn't slow much till we got to Ardler when Gus, Charlie and Leith headed straight home and David and Ian stopped for a few refreshments in the Tav, 2 pints of Edinburgh Gold went down well whilst watching St Mirren get the better of Celtic.

The temperature certainly had dropped by the time we got out but with the wind behind us we were home before dark - 49 miles

Route here if you would like to try it out

Sunday run along the coastal path

A very wintery Sunday as 5 of us Dave,Gus,Charlie,Keith, and Ron set off up the Dundee Road.
El Capitano was unwell but we kept to the planned route over a slithery Carot Hill then down by Kingennie and Dobbies Garden Centre where we went down through Monifeith to join the path.
Very little snow lying at the coast but a strong headwind had us working hard all the way.
Stopped for a coffee in Carnoustie then continued up the new coastal path to Elliot Junction where the path turned to mud so we crossed the railway and continued on through the Golf Course and into Arbroath.
Turning up by Hospital Field we had the wind behind us now and were going well up past the now defunct Cycle World before turning off to Redford. A few miles along the road my rear wheel exploded tearing off about 18" off my rim. Luckily had the chunky cycle cross tyres on and managed to cycle home on the flat tyre and it stayed on what was left of the rim. Slow going about 13kmh but we eventually made it back to Forfar.

Wednesday Pub Run to Glamis 16th January

Four of us Dave,Gus,Keith and Charlie headed out to Glamis on a bitterly cold evening.
Went the usual route by Ballindarg and Roundyhill before heading down the main road to Glamis.
Met Ron there, the bar was fairly quiet. Headed home the main road.

The Lycra Lads

With thanks from the Courier

ACC Christmas Lunch - 13/01/13

Eight headed out in a light snow shower for Roundyhill.  Heading up the Dundee road to Inverarity we turned right towards the Glamis Dundee road via Gateside & Wester Foffarty.  We were on the main road for about half a mile before turning right to Rochelhill where the road was white in places before heading down the hll to Slaughs and Eassie Primary School.  We then turned right and a slight wrong left turn took us to the A94 West of Castleton so a quick sprint up the main road took us back on track down through Cookston and right onto the Bogside Raod at Craigton.  

After a cold 22 miles we arrived at Roundyhill where we were joined by Kip, Donal and Stuart.  Jim served us some beer then we enjoyed a fine lunch including turkey for those who still hadn't had enough after Christmas.

The snow fell continually during lunch but it was not lying so the journey home was fairly easy even though the wind had moved slightly and was no behind us as we had hoped.

If you wish to follow the route click here

30 miles, 12.1mph av total ascent 1358ft approx

Bothy Camping Night - 04/01/13

Twelve club members enjoyed a grand night in the bothy on Saturday with Keith serving up a hearty soup, onion bhajis and a Thai chicken curry  washed down by two barrels of Carnousties finest ale - fantastic!

The day had been fairly mild but as night fell the clouds cleared ad a by 10 there was a bit of a frost on the way, six camped out overnight

The campers minus Colin joined by Jim the bothy jani!

Montrose - Sunday 30/12/12

The last run of the year saw seven head out from the leisure centre on a fine day, we were heading for Montrose and Duncan had offered to make the tea.  We had, what we thought was, a light wind behind us as we took the main road, Ron was first to turn at Milldens then we turned off left towards through Farnell where Jimmy turned off then onto Bridge of Dun.

We were a wee bit early for Duncan so we headed up through Dun to the Hill of Stracathro where we turned right for the long slow descent into Hillside where we met up with Duncan, who was out for his eggs, and on into Montrose 29.5 miles.

After a few cuppies we headed back to Forfar on the main road turning off for Kinell turning right at Pitmickie crossing the main road  at Glasterlaw and right to Guthrie to avoid as much of the main road as possible.  We had another half mile on the main road before turning off for Trumperton then Letham where Charlie headed direct for home, Gus, Ian, David and Norman enjoyed a couple of light refreshments in the Commercial Inn.  A discussion was had about why it was not on the Wednesday night list, a decision was made to add it at the start of the next quarters list in Feb and see how we go!

The wind had picked up by the time we got out and we had a cold windy run back via the Lour Road. - 52 Miles 13mph av, assent 1955ft (Route Here)