Distance 40.77 mi | Time 2:32:31 | Speed 16.0 mph | Elevation 1,385 ft
Source: Ride 13/01/2018
Not a bad day today, little wind and 5°C so I’m wasn’t going to freeze my arse off. Decided to do a loop around the Forth as it’s been a little while since I’ve done that. Not my best performance today but not bad for this early into the my season.
A cold but sunny day with little wind around so I did an easterly loop around the Forth. Because the route is flat it was a reasonably fast ride.
Well first ride of the year and it was a cold and very wet one. Absolutely pissing it down so suffice to say I didn’t get far before I was soaked through. Cut my losses before I became to cold to ride being soaked to the bone so only did 12 miles.
Another bitterly cold but sunny day so decided to do a quick ride around the area and be home for lunch. Tried to stick to the main roads but because I was on my mountain bike I wanted to go along some of the “less well used” roads. This was fine to a point but going down hill on one particular road I came to a point where it was just a sheet of ice which forced me to get off the bike and walk down the hill very carefully, some minor slippage but I made it to the bottom in one piece. I decided to stick to the main roads after that until I got home.
After a couple of days off for Xmas and because the weather was crap, today was the first sunny day we’ve had although it’s still bloody cold, not much higher than 1°C. So I decided to cycle to Dunfermline and back which was about the right distance I wanted and I would be doing this on the mountain bike not the road bike so it would be a slower longer timed ride and I wasn’t wanting to go far as I would be out in the cold for longer. I took the mountain bike because there was a sprinkling of snow around and the roads although clear were slippy. Anyhow boxing day ride was 43 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes at barely 13 mph and that was enough for me as my fingers were going numb
Another very cold and frosty start this morning so I decided to ride to Gartgosh it wasn’t too far and I new my way without having to map a route. The leg out was up to Shieldhill and along to Slamannan but I was riding against the wind which made a cold day even colder with the wind chill. Suffice to say my hands and feet were cold numb and a little painful, I even had to put on a forth layer of clothing which I carry in my camelbak for said occasions. Thankfully once I hit Gartgosh I would have a tailwind and my feet and hands were able to warm up a little bit. Took the road to Westfield home as it was a little bit hillier which would also help me to warm up so by the time I got home I wasn’t a popsicle
Its a cold day but no frost thankfully so I decided to take a router over the Campsie Fells, going from Falkirk to Lennoxtown and up Crow Road. This to me down to Fintry and Kippen and the A811 which I rode along to Stirling. It was then up to Bannockburn and then back to Falkirk clocking up 53 miles.
Another frosty cold day to be cycling but a necessary evil, I did have plans of going up Crow road (hill climb) but when I saw the snow on the hills I thought better of it. So stuck to the lowlands today cycling to Kilsyth, past Croy and onto Cumbernauld. Then from Cumbernauld to Denny and over to Stirling but turn off before hitting Stirling to head back home via Falin and Airth.
Another cold start this morning but thankfully no frost. Headed into the wind going towards Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch, then into Stepps and back through Mollinsburn and Cumbernauld with the wind to Falkirk. 47 miles clocked and back in time for lunch.
Well it was another frosty start to the day and I didn’t have anywhere in mind to ride so I headed south up to Shieldhill and let the bike take me where ever it wanted. In the end I did a kind of figure 8 through Linlithgow following the quieter country roads with a few more hills thrown in for good measure, in total clocking up 45 miles.
Well it was a cold frosty start to this mornings ride but now that I have my road bike back I wanted to test the new groupset on the hills. It was along to Longcroft and up the first hill of the day a 25% shot sharp shock to the system thank god it’s a small hill and I had very low gear ratios, on my original groupset I wouldn’t have got up it. It was then onto the Ochil hills and up to Sheriffmuir a bigger hill but not quite as mental steep as the first but there are still some 15% sections in it. Then it was all down hill to Bridge of Allan and back home again clocking up 42 miles.
Ride 29/10/2017 Carron Valley Trails part 2
So it’s back to Carron Valley to find the rest of the trails I missed last week and this time I was able to find them all It’s basically a figure 8 spread over a 5 mile course. There are stretches of dirt track and then some off road cross country sections cycling through the woodland all specifically designed for MTB. It’s classed as RED level which means there are some tricky sections and jumps but nothing too technical. There are 2 levels above this BLACK and ORANGE where black is extreme and Orange is for experts but there are none of these types of trails around here. Anyway I did four laps clocking up just shy of 20 miles and it was a reasonable workout