Cake stops
A here are of few of the
cake stops that are favoured by cyclists:
Kinross - the Church
Centre, can be found in the High Street beside the traffic lights. This
one is popular with the Fife & Kinross District Association (F&K
DA) of the Cyclist Tourist Club.
Lochleven leisure Centre,
a regular meeting point by members of the F&K DA. The Centre is
situated between Kinross and Milnathort, the cafe' is also used by cyclists
Powmill - the Milk
Bar, situated just off the A977 on the Crook of Devon side of the village,
this one is also popular with a lot of cyclists.
Strathmiglo
- not too far off the Dryside Road route, in Strathmiglo is Kinnears
Bakery. This is one of my favourite cake stops. Not exactly healthy
but the selection of pies and cakes are very well recommended, and they
have never refused to refill my water bottles. Yes I know, Strathmiglo
is in Fife, but it is near Kinross!
Let me know if you can suggest
any more, being so close to home I do not use them much.
Cycle Shops
Leslie Bikes
They used to have a shop
in Kinross, they have relocated back to High Street Leslie. (01592 -
741786) Andy has an extensive stock and the best bike shop in Fife.
Leslie Bikes
Kingdom of
Fife Millennium Cycle Route.
The route comes from Dunfermline
over the Cleish Hills, skirts Cleish village heading for Kinross. From
Kinross, it bypasses Milnathort on the old railway line which has been
made into a cycle way, then heads out into the countryside and the Dryside
Road going all the way to Strathmiglo.
There is an official Fife
Cycle Ways web site, at the moment the site is not worth a damn as it
consists of only one page and that is "Under Construction."
I will make a link to the site if Fife Council ever get around to making
the web site operational.
An information terminal
is can be found at the Kinross tourist information centre. A sensible
place to locate it in one respect but I find it odd having the terminal
so far off the beaten track and a cyclist has to negotiate a potentially
dangerous roundabout to get to it.
The terminals are touch sensitive
and come with an infuriating range of noises and features detailing
all of the Kingdom of Fife Millennium Cycle ways. Other information
terminals are sited at various locations on (or near) the Kingdom Cycle
Route.
For
further information, follow the link towards the Total Cycling web site
and follow the links to the Local Routes and the Kingdom Cycle
Route.
Total Cycling
- Kingdom Cycle Route pages
Medical
/ First Aid
No one ever believes it will
happen to them, but if the worst does happen it is worth knowing that
the local doctors' surgery can be found beside the swimming pool, on
the road between Kinross and Milnathort. Just do not tell them that
I sent you!
There are two hospitals nearby
with Accident and Emergency Departments.
To the north is Perth Royal
Infirmary and to the south (and nearest) is Queen Margaret Hospital
in Dunfermline. Due to a rationalisation programme, Fife NHS Hospitals
Trust are moving the A&E department to the Victoria Infirmary in
Kirkcaldy.
What this means is this...
if you are badly injured (trauma) in Kinross you will be taken to Ninewells
Hospital, in Dundee (35 minutes away) or the Victoria Infirmary, in
Kirkcaldy (25 minutes away), rather than the closer Perth or Dunfermline
hospitals. Remember - these times do not include the time for the ambulance
to get to you. Stay safe.
Public toilets
Apart from the Granada Motorway
Service Station, there is only one public toilet in the whole county
situated on The Muirs, in Kinross, opposite the Green Hotel all the
others have been closed.
Roads...
Nowhere in the county of
Kinross are there any cycle lanes or advanced stop lines.
From a cyclists
perspective, cycling
on the M90 is out for a start! Be
very careful on the motorway roundabout outside Kinross, you have to
negotiate this roundabout in order to visit the Tourist Information
Centre beside the motorway services. See below about the A977.
I do not like the A977
Kincardine Bridge to Kinross Road, this former trunk road still
carries too much heavy traffic for my liking.
The A91 Stirling to St.
Andrews Road is slightly better and is "quiet" between
Dollar and Milnathort. Going east, a good alternative is to follow the
Kingdom Cycle Route to Strathmiglo and Dunshalt then the road to Ladybank,
Kingskettle and Cupar. If you have plenty of time follow the Kingdom
Cycle Route all the way to St. Andrews.
A911 Milnathort to Glenrothes.
This road is a bit on the narrow side for quiet cycling. It is unpleasant
to cycle upon from the county boundary at Auchmuir Bridge to Glenothes;
a narrow road and its uphill to Leslie. There is no quiet alternative
route.
B9097 - between the M90
and Glenrothes - I hate this road. It carries a lot of fast traffic
and I can usually count on at least one idiot driver trying to have
a head-on collision with me on this road.
B9097 - between the M90
and Crook of Devon is another matter, it is a great road, more or
less well surfaced and popular with time trialists.
B996 Kelty to Glenfarg,
this is the main route north for cyclists and is a good road for cycling.
I usually use the Netherton Road just outside Milnathort when going
north. Kelty to Kinross is generally quiet, though on Friday
evenings this road is infested by boy-racers going to the car auctions
and is always good for a "laugh" on Sundays when anyone with
any kind of driving licence of any vintage goes to the Sunday Market.
Safety
As with everywhere else,
road traffic is unpredictable, though I personally do not like the B9097,
south loch road. It is used by heavy lorries and "fast" cars
as a route to and from Glenrothes.
For solo riders going off-road,
I would strongly recommend writing out a route card giving details of
where you are going and when you expect to be back and when to start
looking if you do not return on time. Leave it with someone trustworthy
and if the worst does happen at least the emergency services will know
where to start looking for you.
Horses are something that
deserves respect if for no other reason than it is a ton of unpredictable
animal. A horse does not like being surprised especially when it is
approached suddenly from behind. It could be well and truly "spooked"
by the time you pass it and in a good position to knock you off the
bike. Let the rider (and horse) know you are approaching in good time
and slow down when approaching the beast. As for the riders, they are
some decent riders out there and some that are in dire need of a personality
transplant.
Security.
Kinross has not suffered
much from bicycle theft, though Sands Supermarket have installed a set
of Sheffield Bars in their car-park beside the shop on the High Street
in Kinross. Bring your own D-lock. Generally it is safe enough to leave
your bike locked up outside the shop or in the case of the Church Centre
chained to the railings.
The council have installed
a set of Sheffield Bars outside the Post Office Sorting Office in the
High Street and another set outside the County Buildings. A set of "wheel
benders" and sheffield bars have been fitted to the County Buildings
beside the library.
Loch Leven Leisure, also
known as the "swimming pool" between Kinross and Milnathort
has a set of robust bars to secure bikes to, conveniently located outside
the cafe area.
Tourist Information.
The Tourist Information Centre
(TIC) is situated beside the Moto Motorway Service Station and Dobbies
Garden Centre. The TIC has a terminal for the Kingdom of Fife Millennium
Cycle way.
Perthshire
( & Kinross) Tourist Board
|
