After a week off the bike it was so good to get out again and it was a lovely day to boot, a chilly NE wind greeted me though and it was around 25mph! On my last couple of rides my cranks were slipping now and again and I was pretty sure it was due to wear in the freehub, I had the same problem with my last set of Mavic Allroad wheels but they managed over 14000 while these ones have only just passed 10000 miles! So during my downtime I managed to source a real bargain set of Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels which had a Black Friday 55% discount, when the wheels arrived I thought it would be an easy changeover but that wasn't the case!
My rotors are 6 bolt and the wheels are centrelock but I bought adaptors for my Mavic wheels which were also centrelock and thought they would do the job, it turned out I needed different adaptors which were going to be just under the price of a new set of centrelock rotors so it was a no brainer to buy new rotors and it made the job so much easier! I have the same wheels on my 2009 Giant hybrid and they have covered close to 18000 miles and still like new so I'm hoping I made the right choice, first impressions today were very good with a speed of 42.2mph achieved on a big downhill into the 25mph wind!
I decided to head NE into the wind to enjoy the wind at my back on the way home, I was very happy when that wind was behind me and very much warmer! I jumped on to the cycle path at Plains not long after leaving at just before midday, this used to be the old railway line and is in really good condition!
Its only a couple of miles long before arriving in the middle of Caldercruix where I used the back roads to Shieldhill, I was tempted to use this road down into Falkirk but its pretty rough further down and I didn't want to risk damaging my brand new wheels!
So I continued into Shieldhill and used the main road down into Glenn Village which is a very fast steep descent, this was where I did 42.2mph into the wind! This is quickly followed by another nice descent down into Falkirk where I continued NE to Grangemouth and then due north to Airth where I had the Ochill Hills in full view right in front of me with the sun lighting them up nicely!
I continued through the village of Throsk with the hills still in view!
I was nearing the city of Stirling now where I would turn south and finally have that biting cold wind at my back, I now had the Campsie Hills in sight!
I was tempted to go up over the hills but changed my mind and continued through the city and took the road to Larbert instead! I passed the high school and had the Ochil Hills in sight again, not a bad view from the north facing side of the school!
After Larbert I turned SW towards Bonnybridge on a road I hadn't used before, it had some nice downhills but wasn't in the best condition so it won't be getting used again unless they resurface it! I arrived in Bonnybridge and timed it nice to catch one of the narrowboats on the canal!
The man standing next to the boat boarded and I was hoping he might be travelling along the canal which would mean the bridge opening up but I was out of luck this time! I then took the lovely back road back into Falkirk and had another nice view of the Ochil Hills from part way up the big climb!
Soon I was at the top of the climb and grabbed another couple of photos, the first one is looking north and the second looking south where I was heading!
Its a narrow road but very quiet so it gets used a lot as its such a fun road to ride and although I was heading into the wind again there's a lot of tree cover to shelter you from the wind!
I was getting close to Falkirk now and grabbed another couple of photos before the hills disappeared!
The road brings you out at the top end of Falkirk on the road to Slamannan, I don't think I will ever tire of these awesome roads! This is at the top of the first climb looking south!
The road then plunges down into the valley before rising up steeply again, followed by a nice descent down into Slamannan! From there I headed due west to Greengairs and turned south on the back roads to home, I had such a nice ride and was more happy with my new wheels and my brakes are so much better with the new rotors! The day after I fitted them the rain stopped for a short time and I grabbed the opportunity to bed my brakes in on a nice flat road near my street! I also fitted new front pads, my rears were almost new so I just cleaned them up! They were truly awful until I bedded them in, I had to be very careful at the end of my street to make sure I was able to stop and that was on a flat part!
The next 2 days are looking horrendous, especially tomorrow! A possible ride on Friday time permitting...
