Ironman felled by 'friendly fire' incident

The forecast was foggy, the temperature freezing, and the tempo frenetic!

The Three amigos were due to ride out as the sun was rising in the east and the last whisps of fog tumbled away to the east in the growing westerly breeze.

When the fog had finally cleared there was only two amigos. The Ironman had slept in!
Not quite the stuff of spaghetti westerns but this is Fife.

A quick call from the Ironman and the rendezvous was re-established. The Fit One and Bigman were united with the Ironman.

It has been 5 weeks since the Fit One had been out on his bike and so this would be a test of how much the swimming had maintained his base fitness.

The plan was to head to Perth, (Scotland)via Scotland's best kept secret glen on the road to Dunning from Yetts of Muchart. The Fit One was on his road bike whilst Ironman and Bigman continued to become re-acquainted with the saddles of their respective MTB's. The Ironman was sporting his new waterproof shorts - without the Pierre Cardin designer belt. Unlikely to be a blow up on Mont VeKnockhill today.

It was good to be out as a larger group again and there was lots of chatter. As they approached the entrance to the glen, a local in a 4X4 advised there was black ice on the road. But The Three Amigos are fearless and were not put off by the warning.

Onward they pressed taking care when crossing the frozen rivers traversing the road. The Fit One had lost his pump to the road once already and replaced it. Some miles into the glen he 'discharged' the pump again. This time it flew in the direction of the Ironman who, unbeknown to everyone, happened to be finely balanced on black ice. The trajectory was enough to send the finely balanced Ironman into a less than finely balanced spreadeagle position. The fall was like something from the movies. In reality it only took seconds, but in felt like hours. Hands flaying, legs tossed about like clothes in a washing machine and then it was over. An eyrie silence fell on the scene. Bigman waited for movement, concerned that the kiss of life may be required. And then he groaned. There was life in the Ironman.

The Fit One, using all his medical knowledge suggested sticking the damaged knee in the ice at the side of the road. It seemed like a reasonable idea, if he had planned to be there all day!

It was decided to abandon Perth as the four mile down hill into Dunning would not be any safer. Instead, the posse headed back to Yetts, then Dollar, and along the foot hills to Stirling.

A carb stop was agreed at Corrierri's. You must recall thees guys are in serious training. This means discipline around diet. That meant it was critical Bigman dived into a caramel and apple pie drowned in vanilla ice cream. It was magnificent. Duracell, we missed you!

After some debate, the return route was via Tullibody and Alloa then up to Forestmill and back via Saline. A fair pace was maintained and The Ironman rode off any risk to stiffening up of the leg. He had planned to return home via an alternative route. However when Bigman suggested that he would understand if Ironman was not fit to climb the Saline hill, The Ironman climbed the Saline Hill. He is The Ironman.

At the final climb of the morning testorone was in the air. There had been no sprints so far and the drone of the Ironman's stead was increasing just behind Bigman. Ironman was heard to encourage The Fit One to attack the Bigman ( as if he had not done enough attacking with the Excocet pump). He drew along side The Bigman,a wide grimace linked his ears. Bigman politely enquired whether he could sustain the pain, and in an instant he was gone, leaving Bigman to whoop and smash the air with joy. It felt good. The boys were back and it was a fantastic day.

Later on that day, Bigman met Ironman in the supermarket. Ironman rolled up his trouser leg to reveal his knee cap.Assuming this was a new Posse ritual Bigman rolled up his trouser leg to reveal his knee cap. The other shoppers merely assumed it was a meeting of the masons.

Hopefully a few more miles will get added tomorrow to circa 100k today.