After 12 days of crazy weather it was time to get the bike back out for a much needed ride, I have enjoyed some nice walks in the past 12 days but the bike is way more fun! When I looked at the forecast last night it was showing light winds with a less than 5% chance of rain, of course when I woke this morning it was raining!
The forecast was now showing a 30% chance of rain...I wasn't intending to go out early anyway as I had told my sister I would drive her to the park for a walk in the morning! We encountered rain most of the way to the park but it wasn't heavy and we lucked out with a nice dry walk!
So my plan was to have an early lunch and head out around midday, minutes after I left it started raining but it wasn't heavy and I was dressed for it anyway! Thankfully Storm Bert, which lasted for 3 days had cleared all the snow and ice so the back roads were fine for riding! I took the back roads down to Allanton and decided to take the main A71 out to Kirknewton which would be 18 miles from Allanton! Luckily it wasn't too busy which surprised me, probably just lucky with my timing! I wasn't so lucky on the weather front though with rain coming and going regularly and sometimes a little heavier than I would have liked!
Thankfully by the time I reached Kirknewton things had cleared up and remained that way until I got home!
The sky to the north was clear for most of the day and at Kirknewton I had a really nice view of the Ochil Hills!
I could also see the Queensferry Crossing which was closed for 15 hours at the weekend due to dangerous ice falling from the cables!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg7x01xx70o
In contrast to the clear skies to the north, it was very different to the south with thick cloud shrouding the Pentland Hills in places!
Thankfully I was about to turn SW towards Carnwath which was fine!
Here I joined the main A70 which is much quieter thankfully!
Its full up of ups and downs and twists and turns, my kind of road!
Many years ago I was cycling along it with 4-5 feet snow banks on each side, the road goes up to over 1100ft in places and in those days was very prone to wintry weather! All was fine today with a temp of 5C keeping the ice at bay! I continued SW and had some nice views of the Pentlands to enjoy along the way!
Then I had the big climb ahead up past the Harperrig Reservoir! The scene ahead looked rather bleak but it didn't rain!
At the top of the climb now!
The photos don't show how dark it was here, the thick clouds were hanging over the hills and the reservoir! It was a very different scene to the NE, this is looking back down the big climb!
A short time later I reached the western side of the reservoir where the sun broke through the cloud!
I continued SW along the A70 and soon had another big climb ahead!
Then its straight into a big descent for a couple of miles!
Still blue skies to the north with some fluffy clouds starting to build!
Then came the fun part of the A70!
The road levels off after this descent before another equally fun twisty descent, I then decided to turn north before Carnwath and take the back road towards Auchengray! I just love this rollercoaster road!
Just before Auchengray I stopped for a snack and grabbed a few of photos with the sun starting to go down! In the distance is the road I was about to take, which goes over the railway crossing!
I was heading down the big descent over the railway crossing when the lights started flashing and the barriers came down, in what seemed like no more than 30 seconds the train hammered through at very high speed and the barriers remained down! Another minute or so passed before another train hurtled past in the opposite direction! Why people take chances at crossings when you see the speed the trains pass at is beyond my comprehension...
I was now heading down the back road towards Braehead but didn't go through the village this time, opting for the back road to Yieldshields instead! Just as I was passing through the village I managed to catch the almost setting sun out to the west, I was glad the clouds had managed to block the low sun for the past while!
I was now heading towards Carluke on one of my favourite back roads and from there I remained on the back roads back to Allanton, where I headed up the climb to Hareshaw with the light fading fast now and 7 miles still to go! The lights I have are basically just to be seen and certainly not for riding in darkness so I put the hammer down for the last 7 miles and only just made it on the unlit back roads before it became pitch black! I was sure glad to see the lights of my home town, I wasn't intending to do anywhere near 73 miles but I was enjoying it so much so just kept going! I will be more careful next time though and make sure I don't get caught in total darkness like today!
I now only need 82 miles to equal my record from 2020, I was beginning to think it was getting away from me with no riding for so long! What a day anyway, I was back in my element again and loved every minute!
