............ and then there were two

I awakened to a brilliant sunny day with the temperature already over 20 degrees.

The posse was meeting at Chez Fit One at nine o'clock with the intention of circumventing the two bridges over the Forth, a distance of 66km.

In the Posse was Santiago and pardner, The Fit One, Ironman and me (Bigman).

The assembled Posse headed over the bridge on peleton style. The last time I remember enjoying such heat as this early, on the road bike, was the morning we climbed Mont Ventoux last year. That was epic. Today would be just as epic.We met a fellow cyclist, clearly distrusting of the weather forecast, as he had full winter longs including red luminous over shoes!

The posse were in minimalist mood,with Santiago the only posse member with a jacket on. The winding roads around Newton were pleasant to meander along. Santiago and Pardner were heading to Parklands Bistro for coffee and went a different route. The residual posse of three headed along the main road towards Boness. On a slight climb, we lost sight of the Fit One. After a small detour we picked him up only to find he ahd a problem with his rear hub . To continue would have been foolhardy and he planned to join Santiago for coffee and return home. He planned to call the Doc for emergency repairs.

And then there were two.

With great speed we sped through Grangemouth which spewed us on at Skinflats and onto the flat road leading to the Kincardine Bridge. We were blasting along at 38kpm. A cracking pace. On crossing the bridge we met the man with the red luminous overshoes, still wearing his winter longs!

We blasted back to Culross where we enjoyed a refreshment in the garden of the cafe before re-mounting to head home. On the climb up to the Rosyth road a fellow roadie came into view and he was wheeled in before the second half of the hill.

My crankshaft has been coming loose since the Etape, and so the return through Cairneyhill provided and excellent opportunity to get Bill at Hardie Bikes to sort the problem. The service, as always was magnificent. After recounting tales of last weeks Etape, I was back on the road heading home after a cracking day out.

Another 66km of circumventing the world completed.