Fife Autumn "Sportive"

Chilly, freezing, arctic, bitter, biting, frosty, glacial, crisp, cutting, icy, polar, frigid, just plain cold. This is what greeted Enrique, Mark, and I upon are arrival at the car this morning, seeing as it was covered in ice. After packing and heating it up, we headed towards Falkland to enter what was perhaps the first event in the history of the St Andrews Road Cycling Club. Fog enveloped the Cupar valley, the first couple pictures were taken from the top of Tarvit Hill, about a mile and a half south of Cupar, in one you can see the Lomond Hill in the distance. All along the way the roads were socked in with fog and the temperature gauge in the car never broke 1ºC, not even when we arrived in Falkland. Changing was a miserable process, despite the urgency and speed with which it took place. All signed in and ready to go, we rolled out through the messy thick soup shivering in our saddles. The pace was for once agonizingly slow, as all we wanted to do were some sprints simply in order to build body heat. At times I was almost embarrassed to speak as it felt like my face and lips were going numb, rendering even the simplest phrases almost unintelligible. The opening was a slog, in no way hilly or difficult, but trying to get the legs ticking and warmed up was nearly impossible until, luckily, a few miles in the sun began to burn through the endless gray. Within another few miles, thankfully warmed a little, we descended along a beautiful road that weaved with the motorway before dropping off into a forested and foggy valley or canyon complete with arched bridge (which I do not have any pictures of since I was having too much fun but its the B996). After that the group trundled along through fog, chatting away the miles. After getting yelled at by an old timer for trying to get off the front so I would have time to lower my seatpost (after which we had to spend a few minutes chasing back on since we had to stop while in the group) we tried to just follow along and play nice while trying not to crash--or get hit--by a wayward rider. An awfully paved road followed, with potholes every few meters practically but once past that it was an easy spin home. The whole event was less sportive than group ride, although I am happy I paid the entry fee as a whole new section of roads in Fife opened up and I can't wait to get back to explore them further, so pay attention for a little trip sign up.