First country cycle ride of the year!

The weather this holiday period has been mild but very wet and windy so it has not been a good  time to do much cycling which is a shame as usually there isn't much opportunity to cycle in daylight at this time of the year.

I had originally planned a longer city trip with a friend on Friday but we had to cancel as it was much too nasty outside to be enjoyable. No bikes yesterday when I met a friend in South Queensferry for lunch and a walk through the Dalmeny estate along the coast of the Firth of Forth.  It was muddy underfoot but the path is mostly under the shelter of trees so it was good to get some exercise and a chance to catch up. 

By the time we returned to the town it was dark but it was the right time to take an atmospheric shot of the first Forth (railway) Bridge.  The cafe where we had eaten had framed newspaper reports of the opening of the Forth Road bridge in 1964 - I am just old enough to remember what a big event that was as it replaced a ferry and quickened the road journey from Fife to Edinburgh.  My friend's husband is currently working on the project to build a the second Forth road bridge which will take some of the pressure off the increase in vehicle numbers on the existing one.

But today I did get out on my mountain bike and we did a longish ride from Dunblane, along the Glen Road and through the woods towards Bridge of Allan and back.  Rather drizzly and misty so no photos to prove it!  We've done the Dunblane-Bridge of Allan circuit a few times on different roads.

This time it was via the golf course which required a long hill climb and the lowest gears for me - although it was much easier on the way back down I felt my stamina was faltering.  However I was pleased to see that I can now negotiate the rough patches in the road in the woods which had thrown me off the bike last year - I feel much more in control of the bike now.  Whilst wearing my helmet I didn't really notice the rain and it was a real pleasure to come back to a lovely cosy house and dry off with a cup of tea in front of a wood fire and feeling much better and brighter for the exercise and fresh air.