Ride It Callander Extra Long Route.

Right after last weeks shitey weather I wanted to take another shot at doing the ride I wanted to do last week but couldn’t because of the weather. Up this time is the Callander extra long router of 42 miles and 5500 feet of hill climbing. Last time I got a chance to do this was in 2012 when the weather was like today, sunny I also made a slight change to the route to avoid the Rob Roy Way route which I just hate as I have to walk it as it’s far too technical for me. The new route had me riding on the fire roads pretty much all the way round with a small stint on the A81 a far easier route for me It was then up to Brig o’Turk and up Glen Finglas Hill which is a bitch of a hill to have towards the end of your ride, a few feet shy of 2000 feet high. All in all a good days riding and now I’m tired.

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander Road 2015.

So its day 2 of the Evans Cycles Ride It event in Callander and today is the road event. 3 courses to choose from rather than the 2 for the MTB, we have short, medium and long, I signed up for the medium of 55 miles. Its been raining since yesterday and that meant that today was going to be a very wet ride so full wet gear on today. I’ve done the short version of this but not the medium, the short has you ride up Dukes pass and down to Aberfoyle only once and back to Callander. With the medium you do a figure 8 and ride up Dukes pass twice, one loop around Loch Venachar and the other around Loch Katrine. This was a tough ride and the rain didn’t help, glad I didn’t do the long route!, by the time I got to the end of the event I was pretty wet. This would be a good ride on a warm sunny day but anyway 55 miles knocked out over 4000 feet of hills, not too shabby

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander MTB 2015.

Well I did sign up for the long route but the weather this year is just atrocious! Last year I was riding in the snow and was able to do the long router but not this year. About 40 mins in just after the first feed station the weather just took the piss with gale force hail storms, it got so bad I had to stop and hide under a tree, along with everyone else. Thank god I took my wet gear, but that didn’t stop me getting wet a cold. Last years section where I crashed had been removed so I made it to the second feed station unhindered. This is where the long and shot routes split, I decided to cut my losses and took the short route, it’s still pissing it down and I’m riding the road event tomorrow and want to be in one piece for that.

Ride It Callander MTB 2014 by PaulLund at Garmin Connect – Details.

Well this was going well until I went over the fucking handlebars coming down a hill! Luckily I fell into a muddy stream which cushioned the fall, but I still came away with a few cuts and bruises but worst of all I was wet now Can’t stand being wet it makes me very cold and on a cold day like this, this is a big issue for me, and I was only half way. I soldiered on but never got warm again, although I did eventually dry, until it rained All in all it was a good ride, well at least it didn’t kill me this time round, last time I did this it killed me twice over, but that was a far tougher route than this years. Anyhow made it back to the start knackered but not feeling terrible.

On Saturday 15th September I did the BHF’s Windsor to Bath off road bike ride, which is a 105 mile off road ride along the Ridgeway and canal to Bath. Tough ride but a good one to do.

Unfortunately my garmin went flat before I completed the ride so I lost all my ride data and since I was riding against the clock I didn’t stop very often to take pictures, other than when I was eating.

Although the garmin went flat I do still have the route mapped out for the garmin saved as a course. I’ve attached it along with the photos below.

Evans Cycles Ride It Callander Road event 2012 by scotlund@blueyonder.co.uk at Garmin Connect – Details.

Well after yesterdays punishing ride I wasn’t going to do anything big here so went with the short route of 25 miles. A slightly better ride but with tough bits at the beginning and end.

Evans Cycles Ride It event Callander by scotlund@blueyonder.co.uk at Garmin Connect – Details.

That was the most brutal ride I’ve ever experienced! Decided to go for the extra long route which is 40 miles long but i did not expect to meet a 2000 foot hill to climb! Suffice to say I really struggled with this one and spent a good time walking it, and even that was a struggle. Took me a hour to just walk up it and 5 hours to do the full ride, and coming down the other side was scary as its all stone paths, very uneven and at speed! Think I’ll stick to the long routes as they are only 30 miles and no insane mountains to climb.

Just as well it was flat the last 8 miles!