2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
RabH
Well-Known Member
I was hoping to get out yesterday but I woke with a very annoying head cold, my nose was running like a leaky tap! When I woke this morning I was feeling way better, close to 100% so I had to get out! We have already had our first frost which is unusal for September, this morning I went for a drive and had a really nice walk! The temp was finally in double figures near to midday so I set off at 11.45am without any real plan, the wind was a westerly and around 20mph so i decided to enjoy a tailwind to get myself warmed up! One of my local back roads has been closed for almost 2 years and I discovered it was open again so I had to check it out, of course its a big climb!
It joins the back road past the Blackhill transmitters which is another big climb, in fact just 8 miles into my ride I had already climbed 1000ft which helped to keep me warm on a chilly day!I grabbed a few photos of course, firstly Roughrigg Reservoir!
The climb up past the transmitters!
Near the top of the climb looking north with the Campsie Hills in the background!
The final climb before a nice descent which was very welcome!
Of course after the descent it was straight back into a big climb up to Kirk of Shotts and then a cracking long descent down into Allanton, surprisingly the road was completely dry which is very unusual! From Allanton I took the back road to Carluke and then Yieldshields where I had a nice view of the Pentland Hills way in the distance!
The road from Yieldshields to Carnwath is just amazing and mostly downhill!
The main herd of Alpacas were in a field out of sight but the 4 troublemakers were still camped in the field next to the road!
After passing the Alpacas I had another big climb before the big descent down to Carnwath, I had some nice views of the hills all the way!
The final descent down into Carnwath with Tinto Hill in the background!
At Carnwath I joined the awesome A70 NE towards Tarbrax, its just amazing all the way with climbs and descents and twists and turns that just make you grin from ear to ear and I had a 20mph tailwind making it even more fun today!
I left the A70 to take the back road to Auchengray, another cracking road with more nice views of the hills!
The road into the village of Polkelly, population around 10 I would think!
From there I headed north through Woolfords, which starts with a big climb and then flattens out here!
Then the fastest descent of the day, just under 42mph and the road keeps going down for almost 3 miles with a couple of small climbs thrown in! At the end of the road I turned east for West Calder, 44 miles in and it was time to turn directly into the 20mph headwind! I really picked the best route to enjoy the wind today, now I would have over 20 miles of a chilly headwind! I passed through Addiewell and Stoneyburn before tackling the big climb up through Longridge! Then a nice descent down into Whitburn where I joined the cycle path west to Harthill, after passing through the village I took the back road to Blackridge which meant doubling back on myself but I had a tailwind again for a couple of miles! I also had a nice view of the Ochil Hills to the north!
I arrived in Blackridge at 58 miles and turned west for home with 9 miles remaining! I was going to add 3 miles to bring my mileage to 70 but my 67 miles brought my yearly total to a nice round 5500 miles! I need 1061 miles now to equal my 6561 from last year, so I may well break my record this year all going well! What a fantastic ride in nice conditions, all of the climbing kept me nice and toasty in the chilly wind!
@Chazmo I won't be doing any racing anytime soon, especially not on gravel...
I love my long rides and going fast but racing isn't for me, I will leave that to Stefan!Attachments
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
The bike shot really makes me really want to be there.
