A chilly start to a beautiful day, I was going to set off at first light around 7am but it was a bit frosty so I waited until 8.15am when the temp was around 5C! The wind was from the SE and only around 10mph so just perfect for cycling, I had planned a route just over 100 miles out to Kinross to circumnavigate the beautiful Loch Leven! From start to finish it was just incredible, I pretty much picked the perfect route on amazing roads! I made my way down to Grangemouth where I stopped for a photo of the Kelpies!
I love the reflection of one of the Kelpies in this one!
From there I made my way out to the Clackmannanshire Bridge where I stopped for photos of the River Forth and the stunning Ochil Hills!
I got an even better view of the hills after crossing the bridge!
I then made my way to Forestmill and stayed on the main road this time, my plan was to turn off and take the back road into Dollar! I forgot how amazing this road is as I haven't used it for 10 years or more! The village of Dollar is situated in the foothills of the Ochils!
From Dollar I used the main A91 towards Milnathort, thankfully it was pretty quiet and is such a great road and mostly smooth! The first 4 miles are all uphill, nothing steep though and the road passes through some lovely villages with proper Scottish names!
Pool of Muckhart and Yetts O' Muckhart where the climbing ends and then I had a nice 5 mile descent, passing through the village of Carnbo! Just after the village I turned off the main road to take the back road to Kinross! I had my first views of Loch Leven now as I departed Kinross on a cracking road which passes through many little villages!
The hills to the east of the loch look were looking amazing also!
I arrived in the village of Scotlandwell at the 50 mile mark and had a short sharp climb before a cracking big descent down into Auchmuirbridge which was my turning point! From there I had a big climb out of the valley on this amazing twisty road!
This was near the top of the climb looking back down!
I had this lovely view of Loch Leven and the Ochills at the summit!
After the climb comes an amazing twisty descent and I was soon right alongside the loch!
It really was a glorious day, it wasn't that warm but just nice for cycling and I was absolutely loving it!
After passing the loch I joined the back road to Cleish, another amazing road with awesome views of the Ochils pretty much all the way!
Its a very narrow road but mostly in good condition and I met just one car in 6 miles!
At the end of the road I turned towards Knockhill Racing Circuit but turned off part way up to take the awesome back road down to Saline, mostly downhill and lovely new tarmac for the first mile!
I stopped for a break and a snack on my way down and grabbed a couple of photos!
From Saline I took the back road to Forestmill and near the village I took the back road that joins the main road near Kincardine, its mostly downhill and a lot of fun! The main road is great fun also and once again mostly downhill and the stunning views of the Ochils made it even more enjoyable!
A short time later I arrived in Kincardine and crossed the Kincardine Bridge before joining the cycle path towards Grangemouth! I then took the main road to Carronshore and arrived in Falkirk, from here I decided to head for the Falkirk Wheel which joins Forth and Clyde and Union Canals! I was hoping of see the wheel in action but I was out of luck, I grabbed a few photos of course!
I have only seen it action once, its just your luck if you don't have hours to spare!
I then took the canal path to Bonnybridge which was thankfully quiet!
I arrived at Bonnybridge and was having a snack when these 2 appeared, not sure they would like a Mars Bar...
From Bonnybridge I used my usual back roads to home, arriving with just over 107 miles in the bag! What a fantastic day it was, I loved every minute!
I have managed to squeeze in 3 imperial centuries this month, I made the most of the nice days!
