Beyond the Service Course: Lomond Hills

A non-profit cyclist and St Andrews alum was on her way from Land's End to John O'Groats, so we thought we would pitch in what we could, and help take her on her next small leg, from St Andrews to Falkland. While not particularly warm, it was at least sunny and let our bodies heat up along the low road while not pushing too hard. Pretty standard until Craigrothie, when we quickly got off the A916 and kept on with the Fife Cycle Route along a beautiful road. Rolling hills without crazy steep ramps, quiet one lane roads, calming woods, and beautiful vistas all made for as near a perfect road in Scotland as you can get. Some technical bits made it all the more enjoyable. A steep drop off capped the great road and we headed towards Falkland. After mistakenly taking a lap through the town of Falkland, we ended up at the fantastic Pillars of Hercules; by far and away the best organic supermarket I've yet experienced in all of the UK, and its in St Andrews backyard. Local fruits and vegetables, organic oils and grains, great looking cheeses (and much, much more; surprisingly broadly and well stocked for how small it was)--for a moment I stopped missing the great markets in New York. After a quick coffee (which Fraser raved about), we decided to carry on up the Lomond Hills: the hardest climbs in Fife. Rated Cat. 3 (instead of Cat. 4 like all the others) the climb's continuing steepness and decent length meant that after our legs had blocked up due to a slightly long coffee break, we were suffering. A thrown chain on the lower slopes didn't help as I had to regain my rhythm while on some harder ramps. The climb was just long enough though, and after I stopped pedaling squares, that's all I had to do, just keep it in a low gear and keep the legs moving at a high enough cadence to not need to rise out of the saddle. Cresting the top granted us with beautiful views of Lomond Resevoir, Glenrothes, and even the coast since it was sunny enough. The descent was entertaining enough, if a bit straight and narrow. Turning back towards St Andrews my legs were feeling the miles and the vertical meters--every incline, every turn in the wind, every jump to get back in line burned my muscles. The fact we were headed straight in to the wind helped nothing. But the miles ticked by, the roads became more familiar and we began to cool down as we approached St Andrews again, chatting about how fantastic a ride it had been, how incredible the new places we'd seen were, and trying to make plans to go back again soon.