I was looking forward to a ride tomorrow, with light winds forecast and only a 10% chance of rain it was looking promising! I had a doctors appointment at 11.30 this morning and when I got home I decided to check the forecast again and it had completely changed, with fog and mist and a 20% chance of rain...
With the weather today being half decent, I decided to head out after lunch and set off around 12.30pm! There was a chilly NE wind blowing and it was around 20mph, thankfully it was 4C so no ice around which meant I could take the back roads again! I had a route in mind but it was scuppered a short time after I left, I was heading down past my old high school and got to the bottom of the hill to find road closed signs and was pretty miffed there was no warning at the top of the road!
The most annoying thing is there is a cracking back road right where the road was closed but it has been closed for months for some reason, so I had no choice but to turn back and climb back up the hill...
At the end of the road I turned east for Plains and immediately turned south up the back road past the Blackhill transmitters, its a beast of a climb and the road was caked in mud but no traffic whatsoever! I reached the end of the road and turned east again and just 10 miles in I had already climbed 1000ft! Thankfully I now had a 5 mile descent to Harthill, normally I get close to 40mph down this descent but today I couldn't even touch 30mph into that biting wind!
I passed Polkemmet Country Park and turned south to take the road through Longridge, another big climb but its quickly followed by a lovely fast descent with the wind almost at my back here so that was a real blast! I turned east again to go through Stoneyburn and although it was into the headwind again its a nice 5 mile gradual descent! I continued on to West Calder where I turned SW and then south towards Forth, now it was a 5 mile climb which starts about 560ft and reaches 1100ft at the summit but I had that lovely tailwind now!
After reaching the top of the climb I had another cracking descent, just before reaching Forth I turned on to the back road to Braehead which is another of my favourite roads with sweeping turns and descents for a few miles! Then its a big climb up through Braehead which is quickly followed by another awesome fast descent down into Carnwath! 39.6mph down this one, its another amazing road all the way down to Carnwath! I didn't actually pass through the village though as I turned west here for Carluke, another big climb which passes through Kilncadzow and then a cracking descent into Carluke! The road through Carluke starts with another fast descent, I hit 40.1mph on this one! The speed limit is actually 40mph...
I then turned north to take the Carluke to Morningside road where the back road to Allanton was still closed, but it meant another 2 big descents to enjoy down into Morningside! From here I turned NE into the headwind again and up another big climb towards Allanton, from there I took the big climb up the back road to Hareshaw! Then down into Newhouse and a turn to the north for home through Chapelhall just before the rush hour! This is a very busy road so I was glad I made it before the traffic was manic, for this reason I didn't take any photos today as I knew I would be pushed for time!
I really got my mojo back today and was flying along, it was such a brilliant ride despite the road closures! January is proving a fruitful month so far with 245 miles covered already, only 307 in December due to the awful weather! There's a really cold spell coming with a possibility of some snow showers but any chance I get I will take it!
@DaveMatthews I know you mentioned 4C wasn't a nice temp for riding, today it was 4C with a windchill around -2C but I had such a great ride and never really felt the cold! Heated gloves and lots of thin layers and a skull cap to keep my head warm made it very enjoyable! The skull cap can be worn under your helmet and is way more comfortable than a balaclava, it keeps your ears nice and warm and your bonce of course!
