With the decent weather holding out I just had to make the most of it before it goes downhill again! I took my 3 batteries for this one, 2 fully charged and 1 charged to 80% which in hindsight was a mistake as you will find out if you read on...
I set off at first light just after 8am with a chill in the air but it was 5C so no danger of any ice and I was greeted with dry roads for a nice change, most unusual at this time of year! The wind was from the SW and around 20-25mph, I decided to head north and use the back roads down to Cumbernauld which is a proper rollercoaster and a lot of fun! I had this view of the Campsie Hills early on in my ride!
Just after this there's a big fast descent and as I was hurtling down it I saw the headlights of a car coming up in the other direction, its a very narrow road so I pulled in and waited for the car to pass! Just as well I did because the idiot driver flew round a blind bend at high speed!
I don't want to think about what might have happened if I hadn't stopped at the side of the road and for all he knew there could have been a car coming down the hill...so not the best start to my ride but I soon got back into the groove!
From Cumbernauld I headed west into the wind to take the back road to Twechar, it starts with a big climb and ends with a big descent and brings you out at the canal!
I then continued west towards Kirkintilloch where I turned north for Milton of Campsie and then NW to Lennoxtown, at this point I decided I would tackle the big climb over the Campsie Hills because I had 3 batteries with me! I usually avoid the Campsies when I'm doing a big ride but it just felt right today so I went for it and was rewarded with this lovely scene part way up the climb! I was surprised to see the fields down below covered in frost...
I continued up the 3 mile climb and was looking forward to the big descent, stopping part way down for some photos!
I stopped again near the bottom of the descent for these photos!
From there I headed for Fintry, its been a while since I have used this road in this direction and its another great road full of ups and downs and twists and turns and the scenery isn't too shabby either!
Eventually the road leads to Killearn where I turned north to join the main A81 towards Aberfoyle, quite a bit of climbing here but I had the wind at my back! I reached the turnoff for Aberfoyle but decided to turn east towards Port of Menteith, this road also starts with a climb up past the Aberfoyle Golf Course! Its a bit of a strange golf course as it sits on a big sloping hill, I always imagine the golfers striking the ball and it just runs down to the bottom of the hill...
The tiny clubhouse!
Conditions were excellent and the dry roads were very welcome!
A short time later I had a nice descent to enjoy!
Just round the corner the Lake of Menteith came into view!
The descent keeps on going!
Another view of the Lake of Menteith just before arriving at the village of Port of Menteith!
It was time to start climbing again and me being me decided to take the big climb up past Loch Rusky, a real beast of a climb and its actually my first time climbing it on my e bike! I did descend it last year or the year before but had only climbed it on my road bike and it was a tough one, much easier on the e bike of course but level 2 assist was required! Near the top of the climb I reached Loch Rusky!
A short time later I reached the summit and was looking forward to the big fast descent, just after this the road plunges down into the valley and leads to Callander!
The clouds had rolled in when I reached Callander but Ben Ledi was still looking amazing, it is just below Munro (3000ft) status at 2884ft! Last week it would have been completely covered in deep snow...
I stopped for lunch in Callander before heading SE on the main A84 towards Doune, thankfully the road wasn't too busy which was a relief! I continued SE towards the city of Stirling and thought I would be brave and tackle the 4 mile climb over the Campsies at the eastern end, yes I'm a glutton for punishment...the climb was straight into the wind!
Near the top it gets really steep at Loch Coulter and I turned the assist up to level 4 and was treading water, I stepped off the bike to get a couple of photos and realised why it was such a struggle! The wind was insane, it must have been close to 40mph at the top!!!
Looking back down the hill with the Ochill Hills in the background!
Loch Coulter!
At this point I had covered 80 miles and depleted 2 batteries, I switched to my final battery which was only charged to 80%! I only had around 30 miles to go but I had a lot of climbing ahead, at least I had a long descent first which was the main reason I decided to take on the Campsies! I would also have the wind at my back for 14 miles which was a welcome relief so I conserved a lot of battery power, I flew down the descent at a rate of knots and was in pure cycling heaven!
Then I reached Bonnybridge and knew the remaining 20 miles would take quite a toll on my battery as it was mostly uphill and for the best part directly into a strong headwind, I wasn't wrong and on the first big climb I had to use level 3 assist to make progress!
Before I knew it the battery had dropped to 49% with many climbs remaining, thankfully some were sheltered from the wind and I managed to use eco mode at times and then came the big climb up to Slamannan and I had to go to level 2 and soon the battery was at 30% with 9 miles to go! At least the big climbs were over now but the wind was now a big factor, on the flatter parts I was turning the assist off and battling the wind and any small inclines I had to use eco mode to make any progress! I reached Longriggend and had the descent down into Caldercruix but it was directly into the wind so I had to use eco mode again and as I reached Caldercruix I had 23% remaining, luckily I knew a shortcut which would bypass a tricky climb there!
I now had 4 miles to go which was mostly flat until I reached my home town so I managed to conserve the battery and as I arrived in my home town I still had 23% and was confident of making it up the final climbs! The big worry is hitting 20% as the battery tends to drop off a cliff and as I headed up the final climb I had 18% remaining and just as I turned into my street it dropped to 10%...I made it phew!
I did have the option of my second battery which was at 21% as a possible backup but it wouldn't have given me much distance!
Anyway all's well that ends well, what a brilliant day I had!
2025 has now arrived for me, 2 rides totalling 173 miles and 11,627ft of climbing! I will enjoy a few much needed rest days now and see what next week brings...
