I didn't get to cycle to Knockhill on Sunday but I sure made up for it yesterday! With an awful forecast for the remainder of the week I made the most of the last nice day, I had things to do in the morning (including a lovely morning walk at the park) so didn't get out until midday! It was a beautiful but very blustery day with gusts around 30mph from the west so I made the most of that wind for the first 25 miles, my average speed was 18mph at that point! I headed out to Torphicen and started the climb up to Beecraigs Country Park, this photo part way up the climb will give you an idea of how nice it was!
This is at the top of the first climb!
I continued up the second part of the climb and had a blast shooting down the fast descent before taking on the next climb up to the park where I had this nice view of the Ochil Hills!
Then I had the steep descent down into the valley to look forward to, 41.1mph down this one! Time for more photos while I had a snack!
It was such a clear day so I had a good view of the Forth Bridges from here!
I continued down the valley and had a big climb coming soon up to Kingscavel, the climb can be seen here!
The fields are so lush now!
At least I had the wind at my back going up the climb, this is from the top looking back at the country park!
I passed Kingscavil as I didn't want to go down that scary descent with a 30mph crosswind, opting for the descent down into Bridgend which is tree lined so I was protected from the wind! From Bridgend I took the road to Philpstoun and stopped at the canal where I was rewarded with this wonderful sight!
I waited around for a bit in the hope they would take to the water, grabbing more photos in the meantime!
I waited a good 10 minutes and they weren't budging so I reluctantly left and decided to head over the bridge and grab a photo of the canal from there!
I jumped back on the bike and glanced to my right to see the swans and cygnets entering the water but it was right into the sun and my photos were truly awful, then my luck was in as they passed under the bridge!
This was my first time taking this road but I knew it would bring me out near Linlithgow at some point! I was passing a farm and this beautiful white horse was posing for a photo!
Eventually the road brought me back to the main road into Linlithgow where the town was busy as always, I was glad to get through and join the back road towards Standburn! Its another big climb and directly into the 30mph wind now, thankfully I did get some respite thanks to the trees! At Standburn the road is like a rollercoaster, rising and falling and twisting and turning and is great fun even in blustery conditions! I then had the awesome descent down the back roads to Avonbridge, which is tree lined so I was protected from the strong crosswind!
A few photos from part way down the descent!
At Avonbridge I took the back roads to Slamannan, with a bit of a detour up the big climb towards Shieldhill which got me out of the wind for a bit! I stuck to the back roads all the way home and arrived just in time for dinner with just under 64 miles covered! I wasn't finished yet, my plan was to have dinner and head back out in the evening to get the remaining 36 miles I required for the 100! I enjoyed the break and was feeling good when I set off just after 6pm, heading SE down to Allanton on mostly back roads! At Allanton I joined the main A71 towards Breich, the road was deserted at this time of the evening and I wasn't complaining!
I opted for the big climb up to Climpy and had the gusty wind pushing me up the climb, then enjoyed the descent down into Forth with the intention of taking the back road to Braehead but the road was closed! I decided to just continue and see where the road took me and spotted a sign for Auchengray, as I continued along the road it dawned on me where it would lead me and I knew I had a big climb coming! I had seen the road many times passing through Auchengray but it was a rough looking road so I didn't fancy heading down it before! This time I was going up so at low speeds it was no problem at all, I don't think I will be descening it anytime soon...
I could see my next road from the top of the climb and knew it would be straight into the wind! It starts with a big descent and then its a gradual but long climb!
Eventually it flattens out!
It was worth all the effort for the following views of the Tinto and Pentland hills! It was such a beautiful clear evening and totally deserted, I knew at this point I was doing way more than 100 miles!
The photos don't actually do it any justice, it was just breathtaking and I had this view for many many miles! I was now on the back road to Yieldshields and the 100 miles came up just 2 miles after passing through the village! I was now enjoying the recently resurfaced road to Carluke and then headed north for Allanton where I took the road down to Bonkle before heading up the big climb to Hareshaw and on to Newhouse and back home on the main road which was deserted at such a late hour! I arrived home at 21.30 shattered but on a real high after such an excellent day on the bike!
I had my shower and conked out soon after, waking up at 8.45am...
I did get up for the toilet a couple of times having consumed litres of water but had no problem getting back to sleep!
Back to back 112 milers, I'm looking forward to a break now..
Hopefully, your pedalling might help you reducing some of the podge!
Now, Marcin Twaróg and Bartek Swacha of MG allowed pedal e-bikes on a honest principle.
