Road cycling at its glorious best!
Today I had no route planned, my only plan was to cycle the best roads I could think of in my locale and I came up with a near perfect route! It was super hazy so I made the decision to keep my phone in my bag and just ride my bike with zero distractions! Just minutes after setting off I was hurtling down Bowhousebrae road (known as booze brae locally as its right next to a whisky distillery
) at almost 42mph, that set the tone for the day! As I mentioned yesterday the wind was no factor for a change and after my recent rides that was more than welcome!
My next road was Newhouse to Harthill, starting on the awesome cycle path that runs from Newhouse to Salsburgh! After Salsburgh its a big climb to almost 1000ft before the road plunges down into Harthill, I was nudging 40mph on the way down! From Harthill it was time for the big climb up to Longridge, this is followed by a huge descent down into the valley before the road ramps up again towards Breich! Near the top of the climb I took the back road to West Calder, passing through Loganlea and Addiewell!
From West Calder I started a 4 mile climb towards Harburn and turned off the main road before the village to take the back road towards Woolfords! At the end of the road I had another big fast descent down into the valley and straight into another climb, quickly followed by a long twisty and very enjoyable descent! I then turned on to the A704 and joined the A706 at the top of the climb towards Forth, a 3 mile climb this time! This road can be very busy at times but I was lucky today and got to enjoy a cracking 4 mile descent down into Wilsontown and Stobwood, this road is just sublime in this direction and always makes me smile!
Then it was time for the climb up to Braehead, quickly followed by another cracking descent towards Carnwath! I turned west part way down the descent, on to the back road to Yieldshields which is one of my favourite roads with little to no traffic! Its full of ups and downs and twists and turns and just makes you smile from ear to ear, it really is amazing and its no surprise I use it very frequently!
I stopped for a break and a snack next to a narrow back road that leads to Springfield Reservoir, which is used a fishery! Its a no through road so basically it just takes you to the reservoir (and a farm) and you have to come back the same way!
I decided to go have a look, I made my way up the big climb and there was a sign for the fishery at the top! I took one look at the road into the reservoir and about turned immediately, it was full of big potholes and certainly not suited to a road bike!
You would need a 4x4 off road vehicle to go fishing there...
I enjoyed the descent back to the road though and made my way up the big climb to Yieldshields, then it was another nice descent down into Carluke! From there I took the road to Braidwood which was mostly downhill, then I decided to head down the big descent which leads to the Clyde Valley! I wasn't going all the way down today though!
Part way down I joined the road to Carluke and took the back road to Law Village, the first part is all downhill and just amazing!
Then it was the big climb up through Law Village and at the end of the road I joined the A73 for a short time, passing through Bogside where I took the back road to Morningside! I enjoyed 2 big descents into the village before taking the big climb up the back road to Allanton! Then it was another descent down into Bonkle where I headed up the big climb to Hareshaw, only to be thwarted by a road closure! This was the road that was flooded recently so I'm guessing they were working on the drainage!
So I had to about turn and I decided to make my way down to Cleland, another lovely big descent to enjoy before another climb up to Newhouse with 65 miles in the bag! Just 3 miles to home now with some nice big descents before the final big climbs to home! I thought about circling my town to make it a 70 miler but decided against it as the roads were getting busy now as people were heading home from work! This was probably my most enjoyable ride this year so far, just amazing roads on a truly fantastic bike!
This profile image tells the story of a truly amazing ride on fully dry roads, it was a beautiful day with sun all the way!
