Phew what a scorcher....

I bet you think I'm going to talk about the weather - I'm not, well I might a little.

Decided to blast round the Carnock Saline Bike Path route at lunchtime today.

I got the bike out earlier than normal as I hoped to miss the heat of the day (oops mentioned the weather!). Just as I pulled it out of the shed it started to rain (oops done it again!) - so I retreated to the office until the shower passed. Cleats attached, stopwatch started and I was off - the first 5km were slow at 11 minutes - 30 seconds down on the last time out. I was disappointed but at least I climbed the wee hill up to Saline and had the benefit of the wind and a downhill.

The road over to Forestmill gently rolls with the West Fife hills but there are no hills to speak and I was able to keep a good speed up. A quick check of the Timex showed that I'd done 10km more in 15:15 - I was feeling good as I turned off towards Clackmannan and the end of the cycle path.

Disaster on the cycle path, my phone rang, guilt or plain stupidity drove me to answer it and my pace drifted below the key 30kmp I was trying to keep up. After a few minutes I hung up, gritted my teeth and put the power down. The speed was good but the path is a place for all forms of recreation and it's only fair to slow down when passing others using the facility. So another 10km done in 19 minutes - a bit slow. It was touch and go whether I'd beat my previous time. I still had 6.5km to go and the Col de Carnock to ascend......

Off the bike path I had a wobble on the gravel but once back on the road kicked the bike hard and flew up the hill, grateful to reach the top I turned and sprinted down the hill to the finish at the pub - 59 minutes 51 seconds and 81 millieseconds - under the hour for 31.5km - happy with my days work.

On my wasy round my thoughts turned to a wee challenge for the Gillespie Wheelers. The same route round on a time trial basis with riders going out every 5 minutes.....It can be the Col Epic!

More on this later....

Yesterday I went for a run and spin set - it was pretty hot(oops I did it again) but really enjoyable. Makes me wonder if I wsn't born to live in warmer climbs.....

Off for a wee run to enjoy the sun.....