I forgot to mention in my last post about my 100 mile ride, my heated gloves lasted for the whole ride at the lowest setting and I actually had 4 bars left on one (they only have 4) and 3 on the other which is very impressive! Today they got a test in the wet and passed with flying colours, I think I found the holy grail in heated cycling gloves!
Another hilly and chilly ride, with rain forecast throughout the afternoon but with the weather looking abysmal all week I just had to get out! The SE wind is still persisiting and making it feel very cold! 25mph once again...I was well wrapped up though so it wasn't an issue! I made my way down to Falkirk, passing Hillend Loch on the way, it was good to enjoy the cycle path this time with no ice around!
Just as I arrived in Falkirk the rain started to fall but luckily I was turning west so the rain was behind me, I then turned north down the big descent into Bonnybridge and stopped at the canal for a quick photo!
I then had a climb up to Denny before taking on the 3 mile climb up to the Carron Valley, the first part of the climb is a steep one at Fankerton!
After a couple of miles up the climb I passed these 4 rascals!
I think they thought I had food for them but they were out of luck...
I reached the summit and enjoyed the twisty descent down over the bridge at the River Carron!
With a 25mph tailwind the ride along the valley was a total blast, I stopped for a couple of photos at the dam at the start of the Carron Valley Reservoir!
The road here is just amazing, it wasn't the nicest day for photos but it didn't stop me!
These descents with a 25mph tailwind are just awesome and I was nudging 42mph down the steep part!
I reached the valley in the foothills of the Campsies and it was time for the 3.5 mile climb and the rain had started to fall again, it wasn't behind me this time! I stopped for this photo at the start of the climb!
The climb starts at just over 300ft and rises to just over 1100ft at the top, this was around the 900ft mark!
Just over 1000ft now!
I was now looking forward to the descent down into Lennoxtown and I had a tailwind at the first part and hit 47.4mph!
Amazingly I could see blue skies ahead of me and stopped for a few photos before continuing down the descent!
Lennoxtown down in the valley!
The descent then turns 180 degrees directly into a headwind, I struggled to hit 25mph down this steep part!
I arrived in Lennoxtown and stopped at Whitefield Pond for a break and a snack and some photos!
A few years ago I stopped at this bench and managed to leave my phone on it, a good 5 miles on I stopped for a photo to discover my phone wasn't in my bag! I had to make an about turn and head back and luckily my phone was still on the bench, I was very lucky that day!
As I set off again the rain returned and I had to remove my glasses to see where I was going, at this point I was heading SE towards Kirkintilloch so directly into the wind! Its such a great road though so I was still enjoying it, I soon reached the canal near Twechar and stopped for my final photo!
I passed over the canal at Twechar and had a big climb followed by a big fast descent and then I was heading east towards Cumbernauld, the rain was persisting but thankfully it wasn't heavy! From Cumbernauld I made my way south towards Luggiebank where I had another big climb up to Wattston and over the back roads to home, the rain had abated now and I managed to get the bike washed before it returned! What a fantastic ride despite the wind and rain, I just hope I can catch a break and get another ride this week at some point but its not looking hopeful!
