Cupar Ardennes

It's hilly. It's forested. Some farm land. Cupar is the biggest town at its edge. The Cupar Ardennes are born. (Map with an outline of the area below). I've just begun to really explore this area and yet each new road I take, I end up enjoying. Just like its namesake, there are some savagely leg-breaking climbs. At the top of each one, however, you are inevitably rewarded with a wonderful view. Kilmany was an interesting small town, babbling brook running through, old stone houses, and a very hard, but very fun muur just outside of it; yet this muur has a stinger, 2 switchbacks make things particularly painful if you're not geared just right. Rolling hills offer fantastic climbing practice. There are some very fun, steep, and fast descents: great for handling practice. All in all a nice day with Jamie and Laura, despite a little fall from Jamie. That didn't prevent him from spinning quite easily up the Strathberg. I hope to revisit this area again this weekend.






View Cupar Ardennes in a larger map

Group Rides and "Recovery" Rides

Had a wonderful turnout on Saturday afternoon under the always shifting skies of Scotland; a big group of us (at least 10, if not more) rolled out with nothing more than good conversation and hopes the rain would stay away. Everyone chatted amicably along the bike path, no crashes, no drama, little head wind all was well for cycling in Scotland. No one was close to getting hit by a car or bus; turns were easy and all the riders fell in line easy. Had some fun little sprints on the way to Tentsmuir, people shooting off left and right with others chasing them down, lots of banter towards a rider who previously had managed to crash while threading through a very wide gate. When we arrived we were all deeply tempted by the barbecues producing delicious smells; perhaps Yogi Bear lives in Tentsmuir and not Jellystone? We turn around and head out, a few miles down the road I begin to wonder where all the responsiveness in my bike has gone. Turns out it went out with all the air in my front tire. After having my ego thoroughly diminished when the new PhD easily rolled the tire bead onto the rim with his bare hands (I still can't figure out how he did it--alas I guess I'm still stuck with levers). Four guys who stuck around to pace me back to the rest of the ride fell into a line and we began to hammer (note: ego booster: having 4 people wait for you on the side of the road, I felt like a regular GC contender). After arriving in town, most riders went their separate ways, but a few of us hung on to add some miles on a simple Kemback loop. A mile past St Andrews, my bike felt awfully spongy. I look down and the only thing preventing a loooooooooooooong stream of creative expletives at this point was the company of others. A borrowed tube and a hand pump later we were on our way; personally I was quite skittish at the surprisingly low amount of air in my rear tire. Hand pumps just don't work. Luckily there were no mishaps and I collapsed when I got home after about 3 hours out in the saddle.
On Sunday (yesterday, at the time of writing) I wanted to do an easy ride. I selected an easy parcours. I told everyone I was doing and easy ride. Rest the legs. Unblock them. Take it easy for the week of pain coming up. It was not to be. Every single time I moved off the front, the pace shot up. Again and again and again. There was no need for this, it was Sunday. God's day of rest. My day of rest. All cyclists' day of rest. And on the 7th Day thou shalt go spinning, as the Aprés Velo 10th Commandment dictates. This is obvious to all of those with even the most basic understanding of group ride etiquette; something that has yet to be widely learned among the cyclists of Britain. If you want to go hard, join a group that goes hard or just go on your own, don't hammer away on someone looking for recovery after a long week with lots of miles in the legs. It's inconsiderate. Perhaps even rude. Especially when the recover-er then has to spend most of the time on the front keeping the pace down, which means he should have just gone on his own anyways. That's my rant. I guess on the positive side of things, I got to take one of my 3 favorite roads in Fife.

Saturday:


Sunday: Largo, Elie, Crail:

A Roubaix Celebration and Another Ride with 6 Whole Roadies

On the Sunday of Paris-Roubaix, I headed out with Jamie for a quick spin. We started towards the Balmullo quarry, a very quiet stretch of road, if a bit rough and dirty (strewn with rocks). It generally meanders uphill and there are some lovely views once you get deeper into the Cupar Hills. We descended down Craigs Hill and while it was a pity there was a Tractor in the middle of the road about 2/3 of the way down, it was probably a good thing as it forced us to scrub some speed and safely approach the turn. Down into Kemback and up Ceres d'Huez will never get old for me, although fighting into a headwind up the false flats to Ceres I could usually do without. Long fast descents beckoned and we hurried back into town--but seeing as it was Paris-Roubaix Sunday, we felt obligated (although you never need to convince me to take cobbles) for a quick Pavé du Market run. Yesterday we managed to get 5 whole roadies out, plus a sports center trainer for a group ride with 6 people, remarkable for the road cycling club. We essentially did the reverse of the Sunday route, up Mart Road Climb, which since it was sunny ended up being beautiful at the top, over to Ceres d'Huez which turned out to be as fun going down as it is going up. Getting rained on in Ceres, dropping further down hill (I was determined to get as much descending as possible) into Kemback, before turning up to Dairsie and then heading straight back to St Andrews.

Top of Craigs Hill

Top of Craigs Hill

Top of Craigs Hill

Sunday's Ride:


Wednesday's Ride:

Back in Scotland

After my bike decided to break its derailleur hanger while I was re-assembling her after the flight--pushing me towards hate in our love/hate relationship--I stole my girlfriend's to squeeze in what turned out not to be a quick ride (not that that's ever a bad thing!). Including myself, we had five whole roadies out today, a truly incredible feat for the St Andrews Road Cycling Club. Some good chat and a nice warm-up out past Morrisons and towards Mt Melville let my tired body get used to her bike (not as long and low as I like, but it did more than fine--in fact it's certainly better than my bike I decided). We slammed into the headwind for miles unfortunately, but with four others to form an effective and fairly respectable pace line made the work a whole lot easier. We turned towards Cupar after passing through Ceres, descended the A916 with rain nipping at our heels the whole time. By the time we turned towards Pitscottie we seemed to be stuck in the middle, but it did begin to let up--only when we decided to lengthen the ride. We spun down the Kemback valley (my favorite) to take the B939 climb, a savage helling-esque climb--albeit without cobbles--when the rain caught back up with us and started to increase I was rueing the fact that I had failed to find the Castelli Gabba rain jersey (look it up, it was literally invented for use in Belgium [by Gabriel Rasch, whose nickname is "Gabba"], which very often has a similar climate to Scotland). With several others to talk to, I found myself not minding the rain as much as I normally would. We decided to do a cobbles blast in celebration of the weather, before a quick climb up St Leonard's Hill and a coffee and ice cream at Janetta's with some more good chat before heading home to make dinner.

Tarvit

A916

A916

Boys in Strathkinnes

Strathkinness, looking at Guardbridge

End of the ride

Photo: Jamie

Photo: Jamie

Photo: Jamie

Belgium Day 6

The last day, unfortunately. With some more touristy things on the agenda for the afternoon, decided to just take a quick spin around Brussels. Like city riding anywhere, there was lots of traffic, lots of cars, lots pedestrians, lots of stop and go, clipping in and clipping out. But the copious miles of bike lanes, respectful (for the most part) drivers along with frequent, beautiful parks and interesting city scenery made it more than tolerable, but rather enjoyable, if not optimal. The 500th Anniversary park was spectacular, the palaces and the gate were awe-ingly huge, the other parks were quiet and rather scenic for being in the middle of a congested city. While I still felt a little blocked up from the previous day and a little bit still from Saturday, it was a good last ride for Belgium, this time around. I hope I can return as soon as possible, but I think I may stay further out in Flanders next time.

Belgium Day 5: De Muur

De Muur van Geraardsbergen. Mur de Grammont. Kappelmuur. If you’re a cyclist, this must mean something to you. Hopefully it will mean quite a lot. Hallowed ground for those of us on two wheels—only the Madonna del Ghisallo surpasses it in terms of sacrosanct stretches of road--and perhaps only then because the eponymous Saint is the Patroness of cyclists. I consider myself extraordinarily lucky and privileged to have had the chance to ride up its slopes. The role it has played in creating legends of the sport, Merckx, Museuuw, De Vlaminck, Maertens, and maybe even Boonen? Perhaps Cancellara (I admit to my own bias on the latter, but all the hype surrounding his ability started after his acceleration to drop Boonen on the Muur before taking the win in the 2010 Ronde)? The pitches are brutally steep, the cobbles damning. Even though it may only be a kilometer or so from the town to the chapel, it drains your legs as much as any higher rated climb. Each turn I made sent chills down my spine, I could envision each turn, each stretch from race footage over the years. Even though it was a quiet spring morning, the energy surrounding the road was palpable; it felt as though the lifeblood of the sport was running in a river down the road. The road keeps getting steeper with few places for respite, which is a pity because the scenery is remarkable. The legs need to keep turning over, even though I was in a stupidly high gear (thanks to a lack of a front derailleur), it is very easy to stall out and then be forced to walk if you don't just force yourself to keep pedaling. Where Cancellara initiated his fatal blow on Boonen I was effectively doing squats each pedal stroke to keep the bike moving forward it was so steep. After one final kicker to reach the top of the Muur, I was greeted with the chapel, much smaller than I expected, it really just is a chapel but no less beautiful or significant. Every cyclist needs to make this pilgrimage, if you have any appreciation for the sport it is imperative. This is the only sport where amateurs can partake in the same arena as the pros. The rest of the ride was standard fare after that, rolling hills, the Bosberg, lots of farms. But the feeling of riding up the Muur will always live on inside me.

Yes, the climb is literally signposted throughout town

The base in town

Eddy Merckx Monument, no town in Flanders is complete without one

The Chapel of the Kappelmuur

Belgium Day 4: Unblocking the Legs

Just a quick ride up around North Brussels to the Atomium in a park just north of the city. Trying to stretch out from the day before, I was hoping for a flat easy ride along the canal to a minor hill in the park, but less than a kilometer in, we hit a nasty stretch of cobbles that lasted for at least two kilometers. My hands felt better than the day before, but that in no way helped their situation. The park was beautiful, although as an American it always felt weird to cycle on what seemed to be pedestrian paths. We passed the Japanese and Chinese Pavilions for the old Worlds Fair (same reason why the Atomium was built). Hit the same stretch of cobbles on the way back of course. Not much else to report about the ride. Went to Oudenaarde afterward to catch the PROs do a much longer version of what I had done the day before. Tom Boonen won handily, when he did--even during every move he made--the crowd around me erupted in cheers and support. He really is the Flemish golden boy despite his past indiscretions. Walking around the finish village was incredible, the tech on the bikes, the PROs, and the DS's all easily accessible. Managed to see Matt White (DS for GreenEdge, former PRO), Johan Bruyneel, Alain Gallopin (DS's for RadioShack), Roger Theel (basically Cancellara's mechanic, any race Fabu is at, Theel is there as well), Johan Van Summeren, Gregory Rast, Heinrich Haussler, scores of others as well, just can't remember them. Also before the race had finished I went into the Centrum Ronde Van Vlaanderen, basically the museum for the Tour of Flanders, while all in Dutch, had some great exhibits. I personally loved the over-size connect-4 game with Omega-Pharma and Quik-Step (pre-union) as the tokens.

Japanese Pavilion

Chinese Pavilion

Atomium

2011 Paris-Roubaix Winner, Johan Van Summeren

Gregory Rast