9 September 2006 Fife Coastal Path

2 hours, 11km.

One of the MTB mags recently did the whole coastal path from dalgety Bay to Tayport over two days. Gave the impression the whole thing was eminently bikeable.

Drove to Leven to pick up the path as I thought that would give me a more picturesque section to try.

The main problem is that the signage disappears at points, so you often don't know if you're on the right route. It might seem kinda obvious that you just keep the sea to the same side all the time, but I ended up riding up the path to the clubhouse (from the course direction) of one of the golf clubs, round it, up their driveway and through their car park. Looking at the website later I see where I went wrong, but it wasn't signposted - and the magazine people did the same thing.

I guess the path is really designed for walking. Some sections along the dune tops are on narrow deep ruts that make pedalling impossible, and coming back through Lower Largo, you hit a one-way street no entry sign that forces you up a steep tarmac hill and onto the main road.

It is a beautiful route though so I may do some more research and find a section that works better than starting at Leven.

Update: After cleaning my bike, and upon reflection, I can't really recommend this to anyone. That amount of sand in the drivetrain just can't be a good idea. Maybe some other sections will be a little more inland/higher level.