I finally got a day without howling winds so it was time for an epic ride again! I decided to leave at first light around 8am, it was a bit chilly at -1C but didn't feel that cold due to the lack of wind! The downside of leaving at this time is fighting rush hour traffic as the back roads were ruled out due to possible ice so I had to use the main roads, thankfully it was mostly incident free! I decided to head to Callander which is always a favourite ride, more so in the warmer weather of course!
On my way I stopped at the Whitefield Pond in Lennoxtown to grab my first photos, the Campsie Hills were lit up in the morning sun!
The wildlife headed towards me in the hope of some food, it wasn't forthcoming
I was still heading NW towards Aberfoyle and the weather was so lovely, I was in cycling heaven as these roads were pretty quiet and the scenery was so nice in the sunshine! The difference in temp was very noticable when I was out of the sun but I was well wrapped up and my heated gloves were keeping my hands nice and toasty!
@Readytoride This was my first long ride since receiving the new batteries and they lasted for over 7 hours on the first setting, they switched off just a couple of miles from home so I was very happy with that
I had my original batteries in my bag just in case but I didn't need them!
You can see the frost in this photo which was taken near the village of Dumgoyne!
A couple of miles further and I took these contrasting photos, the first one is facing north towards the Dukes Pass and the second is facing south from the same position!
While I was stopped these 2 started trotting towards me in the field opposite, they suddenly stopped and turned away...maybe they didn't like the look of me
I arrived at Braeval where I thought about using the high route over the Dukes Pass from Aberfoyle to Callander but on arriving at the roundabout at Braeval where it would be a left turn for Aberfoyle it was still very frosty so I turned right instead towards Port Of Menteith! I was pleasantly surprised to see some lovely new tarmac up the climb, sadly just as I crested the climb it was back to potholes and a very uneven road! Thankfully as I continued on the road improved again, I reached the top of a big descent and grabbed this photo before I descended! These 2 guys were pretty fit as they flew up the big climb, no electric assist for them!
I passed the Lake Of Menteith and just had to stop for some photos, the only Lake in Scotland as all the others are called lochs!
Right at the waters edge!
This one was taken from the village of Port Of Menteith!
I continued on towards the village of Ruskie and grabbed this photo from the top of the climb looking back down, this road had also received some lovely new tarmac and was a real joy to ride!
This is just before reaching Ruskie, the temp had climbed to a balmy 4C now!
The roads here were in pretty good condition thankfully!
A few miles later and I arrived at my destination of Callander, this is from the bridge in the centre of the town!
I had now covered 51 miles and was using my second battery after switching my first one at 26% with 39 miles covered, I was now heading east towards the city of Stirling where I had my only incident of the day! Its one of those places with constant roundabouts and I was going along fine until almost the last roundabout when I was going straight through and noticed a white Audi approaching the roundabout to my left which meant I had right of way! I kept looking at him and thought, this guy isn't slowing down which he most certainly should be
I let out a roar for him to slow down as he was heading straight for me, thankfully my voice was heard and he finally braked and looked at me as if to say, whats your problem? Total idiot...
Anyway I finally got out of the city and was heading towards Airth, from here you get a nice view of the Ochil Hills!
This is looking back towards the Wallace Monument!
The final photo of the day looking towards the Clackmannanshire Bridge in the distance, just before arriving in Airth!
Onwards towards Falkirk now and I changed my second battery at 25% with 82 miles covered so I got 43 miles from the second battery which was pretty good considering the cold temps! So I now had a fully charged battery with around 20 miles to go and lots of climbing to come, so I cranked the assist up to Sport (level 4) and flew up the remaining hills with relative ease despite some pretty tired legs! I did have one more incident going through Glenn Village when a van decided he just had to get in front of me before the huge climb up to Shieldhill, his pass was actually fine but I was right on his tail down the descent before the climb and hit a big drain right in the middle of the road which I didn't see because I was so close to the van! Thankfully I kept control but it really jolted me and my right shoulder was very painful for a bit! Thankfully the pain passed soon and I enjoyed the remainder of the ride home!
What a brilliant day, it really makes a huge difference when you don't have a howling wind buffeting you all over the place! I had a very filthy salt covered bike when I arrived home so it got a good wash and a chain lube, then it was my turn to get a wash and boy did I enjoy that hot shower!
