Lost*

*or more accurately not quite sure where I was but heading in roughly the right direction...

Had a long, engaging lovely chat on the phone last night and during it, decided today I should cycle.

So, mindful of that, I refrained from one last Red Stag and went to bed; up to a reasonable hour and was out with no more of a plan than to cross the Forth Road Bridge. Then once on the other side.... who knows? My mate cycled east to - Aberdour? a week or two back and would certainly give me a view of home from across the water. But also, I was keen to find a cyclepath that cuts through 11 miles of West Fife and be useful to know for heading to visit the parents.

So a slow shamble up to the Bridge, very blowy on it, and then down through Rosyth dockyards, all bridge infrastructure and military workshops; wide empty roads and a tail wind.

I have a good sense of direction and tend to dot about without a map (I did look at one last night) and let's be honest - NCN route markers are pants! So I did have afew wring turns but knew fairly quickly where I had gone wrong, and backtracked and lo! I did manage to find where the path started.

The path is tarred and no traffic is on it; its an old railway line so is relatively flat and the wind was pretty much behind, so off I sped. Loads of mosses all acid green, ditches with vivid lurid orange water, presumably leeched out iron lending a dazzling hue, sections of ramrod straight birches, the last year's growth all purple against the grey day, sprinklings of small beech trees with the last orange brittle leaves on them, twigs strewn in seemingly random but somehow captivating arrangements on the path; bridges over swollen turbulent rivers, and quieter gloomy barely moving burns, all brown and mysterious.

But after a few miles it was just tedious; road cycling requires you to keep your wits about you, route finding, ever changing gradient, traffic, corners, crossings, lights. But this path was just dull.....

I got a text about 8 miles into the 11 and stopped under a bridge to shelter and answer it. And that broke the spell. I'd been contemplating what to do - just keep heading west, maybe to Stirling or Dunblane and catch a train home, or head south and cross the Kincardine Bridge and head for home along the south shore.

I could tell I was getting colder - initially just the tips of my fingers were cold and then toes started to follow on.

I turned and retraced my steps. At least that way I knew what I had to do and if all else fails, there's stations at Dunfermline, Rosyth, N and S Queensferry to jump a train and get home. But it was now into the wind and rain so I got wetter and progress was slower.

I was delighted to get off the path and instantly hit some down hill sections of the public highway and fairly clattered through the west and south of Dunfermline. The same too with Rosyth, fast sweeping roads, quiet, largely downhill. And then the bridge hove into view. Once I'm on the other side of that, it's largely downhill (OK, more into the wind, but still...) until the final drag up from the Crammond Brig to Whitehouse Road.

Sure enough I did all this but al the time the cold and numbness is creeping knuckle by knuckle, my feet too are now totally numb, not just the front, and changing gear is becoming much more difficult.

Still, I grind up the last hill, coast to Cramond and am hit with a stiff breeze off the sea. Lovely views, looks slightly aggressive sea and sky, but I need to be home and into a hot bath, and dry clothes. I grit my teeth and plough on, the last few miles a mixture of 'will this never end' gloom and 'I'm sooo nearly there!!!' euphoria.

And I stumble off the bike, barely able to unlock the bike shed door my hands are so cold; I walk my John Wayne frozen foot walk into the flat and in about 3 minutes there is a pile of soggy clothes in the washing machine and a bath on.

I'm so cold I can't get my fingers to register on my phone screen to stop recording my ride on Strava....!

Hot bath, stilton and courgette soup, salami sandwich and the world is a better place.

Actually the ride was fine, I feel amazingly good, stats aren't great (ave speed under 15mph), but covered 50 miles plus, so am happy enough with that.

Then the afternoon was spent on housework and the boys came down for dinner and are for the night; so good to sit on the sofa and watch TV (Despicable Me), eat well (honey roasted gammon, roast potatoes, roasted sprouts) and they are fast asleep, tired happy boys.

Tomorrow I see my baby x

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