It was a nice day for the time of year so I went for another long one, +6C at 8am felt like Spring and the dry roads were a real bonus! There was a 20mph wind from the SW and it felt like I was riding into it all day, maybe it was swirling... I headed south for Lanark and with it being a Sunday the roads were pretty quiet and riding into the wind wasn't putting me off in the least!
Looking down towards the Clyde Valley from Lanark!
I passed through Lanark and stopped at Lanark Loch for my first break, strange to see it deserted but it was still early....
I continued Southeast and was so happy that the main A73 was quiet, its such a fun road to ride on a Sunday but a nightmare during the week with all the trucks! Its my type of road with lots of ups and downs and with the roads being dry it was just awesome and you have amazing views on both sides with the Tinto Hills and the Pentland Hills!
I was nearing Symington and I spotted an old Transit van in a layby with the hazard lights on, the driver was on the phone so I'm guessing he was calling for assistance! A short time later I heard a strange noise and looked back tosee the van heading my way very slowly! He passed me on a climb and the noises were unreal, it sounded like the propshaft was loose or something! He passed me on this climb and I then passed him going down the hill in Symington, I was amazed it was still going!
The horses were all wondering who this strange guy with the bike was, did he maybe have some food?
The River Clyde with the Tinto Hills in the background!
I was now heading for Biggar which would be my turning point today, the roads from Biggar heading north are just fantastic and its always a tough decision which way to go as you can go straight to Carnwath with big climbs and big descents or turn east towards Elsrickle which has less climbing but a lovely big descent which would be almost wind assisted today! I went for Elsrickle which is more scenic also, this is looking back at the big descent!
Nice views of the Tinto Hills from Elsrickle!
I then continued northwest towards Newbigging and was intending to keep heading in that direction towards Carnwath but passing through Newbigging I decided to take the road to the east to Dunsyre thinking there was a road that would turn north a few miles on! 6 miles on and I was starting to doubt myself when I saw a sign for Biggar, I stopped to check on my phone and there was no signal so I made the decision to head back to Newbigging! I will check this road out again soon as it was really good, I just didn't want to head back to Biggar and tackle the climbs again
I did grab some photos on this road, it was a pretty nice view!
Looking at my map when I got home I definitely made the right decision turning around, it would have taken me many miles off course! From Newbigging I headed up the big climb to Carnwath and took to the back roads most of the way home and even arrived home with a spotless bike, most unusual and most welcome as I was knackered now!
What a brilliant day of riding, it doesn't get much better at this time of year!
@Chargeride Nice Mini van, I used to work on them back in my mechanic days, they were a pain to work on