The storm passed without incident yesterday, it was still pretty wild today and the forecast was showing rain showers pretty much all day! In the afternoon I spotted a clearing in the weather and decided to go for it, I had to think carefully about my route as the wind was still very gusty at times (40-45mph gusts) and there were dark clouds all around! The wind was almost a direct westerly so I headed east to enjoy the tailwind, the road from Salsburgh to Harthill had been closed for a month for resurfacing and it re-opened yesterday so I just had to check it out! What a difference and it was much needed, the descent down into Harthill was just incredible but the wind was swirling a bit here so I took it easy and only hit 40.8mph...
I continued east to Whitburn where I joined the cycle path which runs almost all the way to Dechmont, I was flying along with the wind at my back at over 20mph as there were no pedestrians around and I could hear a noise behind me! I looked back to see a guy on a hybrid bike with wide tyres and they were making such a racket! He was standing on the pedals to get past me, I said hello and he totally ignored me...

That was like a red rag to a bull, as soon as I reached the downhill part of the path I had him in my sights and let rip, passing him like he was standing still....I totally ignored him and had a big grin on my face!

I never saw him again...
Just after passing Dechmont I turned south towards Mid Calder, passing through the village of Pumpherston! Such a cool Scottish place name!

This was the ideal road to avoid the gusty crosswinds with lots of buildings and tree cover, I wasn't going to take any photos today but as I was descending a hill I spotted this stunning view of the Pentland Hills and just had to stop!
I reached my turning point at Mid Calder and it was time to turn into the wind, my plan was to head to West Calder and take the sheltered road to Longridge! I had 4 miles to endure on the main A71 though but thankfully it was a direct headwind and the drivers behaved impeccably, I was glad to reach West Calder though where I was on quiet roads again with lots of tree cover for miles! I reached the junction where I usually turn north for Longridge but I chose to go straight through and head for Fauldhouse to avoid the crosswinds, after passing through the village I had this view ahead which didn't look very inviting...
I was basking in the sun here but the clouds ahead looked a bit threatening!
It looked a little better to the south!
The clouds were getting ever closer and directly on my path!
Amazingly I passed them and it remained dry, I stopped for this photo with the clouds almost directly above me and the road was basking in sunshine! This was looking east after passing the clouds!
I then arrived in Shotts and took the back road to Hartwood, one of my favourite roads and although it was directly into a very strong wind it was still a blast! I stopped a few times for photos to show how much fun this road is!
The final descent into Hartwood!
From Hartwood it was time to tackle the biggest climb of the day up to Kirk of Shotts, on the way up I stopped for photos of the Emus again (I thought they were Ostriches but they aren't)
This photo is my favourite despite its threatening pose, the noise it was making was so scary!
It seemed to calm down for this photo!
Part way up the climb I turned on to the best road in my area, towards Hareshaw!
One final photo just before arriving home, the last big descent with the Campsie Hills in the distance! Those clouds stayed over the hills all day!
Amazingly I got home completely dry, it was my lucky day and it was very glad I decided to brave the winds! After my epic 128 mile ride on Thursday this felt like a little trip round the block, it was hard going into that wind though...