Turf Blog 31-01-25

Turf Zone – FarShore

The Loch Leven Heritage Trail was much colder than I expected this morning. Okay, it was cold but I was still feeling the cold while wearing a thermal long-sleeved t-shirt, another t-shirt, a fleece jumper, a windproof jacket and a waterproof jacket on top. Yes, the air temp was not much above freezing and the ice on the puddles confirm that. Anyway, I’m going to head for the outdoor shops in Edinburgh tomorrow and spend some of my pension on a warmer jacket. First stop Alpkit, then Tiso, followed by The North Face and finally Cotswold Outdoor.

Apart from the above, we (that’s myself and ChoccyMuffin) both enjoyed our chilly ride on the Brompton’s along the 13-mile trail around Lock Leven. We started at Kirkgate Park in Kinross for ease of parking and a nice view, and followed a clockwise direction, bagging around 38 zones each along the way with all 38 unique to ChoccyMuffin and 13 uniques for myself. The trail here is generally good with a well-compacted gravel surface but with a few rougher weathered sections and also a few very muddy sections which tested the small wheeled Brompton bikes to the full. We can both feel our legs have done some work today.

Quite a few trees down following Storm Éowyn, though most of the big trees had been cleared. The main hazard was the small branches and twigs, which seemed to delight in being regularly picked up by the rear wheels with a few entangling themselves in the rear gear mechanism. At one point my gears were changing up and down by themselves. Closer inspection revealed a thin supple twig had wrapped itself tightly around the derailleur. Easily cleared.

A picnic lunch as scoffed on a handy bench just after zone SluiceHouse, which turned out to be poor timing as we soon came upon the café at RSPB Vane Farm. We were a bit too full to enjoy any of the delights on offer. Perhaps next time. We left the zones in Kinross for another day, as we hope to take a boat trip to Castle Island and take zone LochLeven, a zone which has not been taken since September last year, probably as this Historic Scotland site is only open 1st April to 30th September. Should be fun. Back with more soon.

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