The Three L's

That's Linlithgow, Livingston and Lanark - and were the three major towns on my route yesterday which took me over the 100 mile mark for the first time in about 8-9 years!

On the Saturday night I'd driven over the Campsies (hills to the North of Glasgow) on my way home and had encountered what can only be described as a blizzard - this had led me to rethink my route for the next day which involved climbing up to above the snow line (not that high round here at the moment!)

The only feasible direction appeared to be East as a result and so I was up until midnight planning myself a new route.

So come the Sunday morning I set off (forgetting my sunglasses this time - see my last post) and readying myself for 7 hours of rain and 23 mph Southerlies (as per the forecast).

The rain failed to materialise but alas they were spot on with the winds which was thoroughly enjoyable while heading North but a bit of a shocker in the other direction!

It was a fairly eventful ride all in all. After about 10 miles I got lost in Easterhouse (not the best part of Glasgow to be seen wearing flourescent Lycra). So after looking both ways I beat a hasty retreat along my route to refind the correct road.

About an hour later I passed a group of cyclists going in the other direction and we exchanged hearty greetings. I then heard what appeared to be barking. I glanced around and sure enough there was what looked like a pitbull rapidly bearing down on my rear wheel and (more importantly) ankles. I put some considerable amount of pressure into the pedals, accelerated to 20mph and, after about 5 seconds, the wee bugger gave up. It was like something out of a cartoon. Very odd.

The route as a whole took me through some really stunning and surprisingly remote countryside considering I was never more than about 20 miles from a motorway and no more than 25 miles from Glasgow or Edinburgh at any point.

Certainly a route I shall be doing again, though hopefully with less wind next time. Having said that the wind did allow me to have some fun on the run in to Glasgow. The last 8 miles or so are downhill into the Clyde valley and with a tail wind as well, I found myself coming off a roundabout exceeding 35 mph and gaining on the car in front. It was a long straight stretch of road and I pulled into his slipstream and sat behind him doing 40mph for a little way (he looked very surprised!)

Further down the road, a motorcyclist pulled out in front of me and accelerated up to 30mph. I saw him glance in his mirrors and do a double take as I proceeded to catch and overtake him. Fantastic fun.

Looking forward to next weekend and whatever the weather shall throw at me.