Today's forecast was wall to wall sunshine, only the sun didn't get the memo!
Not that it bothered me as the weather was just perfect for cycling with a temp of 15C and light winds! Due to weather and family issues my bike has sat idle for a full week so it was such a relief to get the wheels turning again today and with conditions perfect it was a very memorable and very enjoyable ride! I had a rough plan in my head which involved using main roads for the first few miles but I quickly knocked that stupid idea on the head and took to the back roads...
I was on the back road to Hareshaw after leaving the main road and lo and behold I got to the top of the climb and came across a road closed sign! There were no signs warning of the closure but thankfully the workers let me through, I certainly wasn't keen on rejoining the main road! I made my way out to Yieldshields and stopped for a couple of photos before heading down this fun descent!
I took so many photos today and on checking them when I got home I had managed to ruin so many by blocking part of the photos with my fingers, it was my first time wearing fingerless gloves this year so I guess I need to be more careful... After a few miles of awesome riding on the back roads I spotted these youngsters roaming freely with no parents in sight, I guess the farmer was giving the parents a break from the little rascals!
The roads here are just amazing and almost totally free of traffic!
I was nearing the end of the back road just before arriving in Carstairs Village and grabbed this photo with Tinto Hill in the background, another fun descent this one!
From Carstairs I took the road down to Hyndford Bridge and I was going to use the back road to Thankerton but the main road wasn't too busy so I decided to chance it and it paid off, another few miles and I had a closer view of Tinto Hill!
The main A73 was very quiet today which was a real bonus!
I then turned off the main road to take the road to Symington, I had such a great view of the Pentland and Coulter Hills from here and timed it perfectly to catch the train passing!
A few miles later I stopped on the bridge over the River Clyde for a photo, the river is pretty low at the moment despite some very heavy rain recently!
I then arrived in Biggar where I turned north for Newbigging, I recently used this road in the opposite direction which was a huge climb so I was looking forward to descending it today! I stopped for a snack break before tackling the big climb before the descent and grabbed some photos!
This was the start of the climb!
Then came the steep part!
I then spotted a grouse in the field and managed to catch it before it disappeared, these birds are very difficult to photograph so I was quite chuffed with the result!
Then came the descent, that sure was a blast!
As the road flattened I stopped for more photos of the surrounding hills!
This is at the bottom of the descent, the bit over the bridge was amazing!
I then started up the climb to Newbigging, a nice gradual climb this one before the road ramps up into Kaimend! I turned on to the back road through the village to take the road to Auchengray, another big climb followed by a big descent! I arrived in Auchengray and continued north into Woolfords which was another big climb and then a very fast descent down into the valley, at the end of the road I turned NE for West Calder and then turned SW through Addiewell and Stoneyburn and of course the wind had now made its presence known! I checked my weather app and it was showing a SW wind around 18mph, it sure wasn't showing that earlier in the day!
So I switched to level 2 assist and was breezing along, at the end of the road I usually turn north for Longridge but decided to continue SW through Fauldhouse for a change and continued into the wind all the way to Shotts! I chose this way because I knew I would now have a cracking descent most of the way to Hartwood, despite being into the wind I was flying along and loving it!
Once I reached Hartwood it was time to climb again, my second battery was down to 37% so I chose the easier climb up to Hareshaw and I was rewarded with this wonderful sight!
From there I took my usual back roads home and arrived just in time for dinner with a clean bike, I actually caught a heavy shower on the road from Shotts to Hartwood but it only lasted for a minute so I lucked out! What a brilliant ride that was, it was just incredible and apart from my mad decision to use the main road at the start it was pretty much a perfect ride!
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