With touring bike
loaded up I set off around 05:30am for Preston. The sky was
completely clear and the temperature -2degC. My first objective was
catching the train to Glasgow and my concern was what the weather
would be like there. It was a cold and uneventful ride to Preston
Railway station.
Preston Railway Station
The train was to
leave from platform 3 and it was good to see a notice showing me
where my bike should be to align with the bike compartment on the
Virgin train. Departure time was due at 06:40 but the train was
7mins late and no explanation why. The bike compartment access door
was locked but unlocked by an operative whose job seemed to be to
collect rubbish on the train.
Glasgow Railway Station
With the bike lashed
to the carriage wall I found a window seat in the next carriage. I
was hoping for a view of the Howgill Fells as we approached Tebay
but when we got there it was still dark. Our stop at Penrith was
taking ages. I could see it getting lighter as I looked out at the
old castle ruins. Eventually we were told there was a fault with a
carriage door and all of us in my carriage would have to move to the
next carriage. We arrived in Glasgow 25mins late. I parked my bike
on the pavement outside Glasgow Central railway station while
setting my GPS unit.
Glasgow
Then I set off
cycling south to join a cycle track by the river Clyde. It was still
cold but at least there was some veiled sunshine for a while. The
cycle path was enjoyable riding but didn't last long. I left it
where the M8 passes over. I came to a pedestrian overpass of the
road but had to wheel my bike over as it was covered in ice. There
were cycle paths along the roads on the way to Kelvingrove Park
where I had to share the track with a lot of pedestrians. The track
joined the river bank and followed a winding course.
On the Forth & Clyde Canal
Lots of walker and
runners were out including a few cyclists. I had to be very careful
about the constant ice patches on the track but one advantage of the
compacted fallen leaves left over from autumn is that covered in
frost they made a good surface to ride over. I reached the Forth and
Clyde canal and up a zig zag track joined the towpath. I rode east
along the towpath and up by a flight of locks. I followed the canal
through open country all the way to Kirkintillock where I emerged
into the town centre. The pedestrian area here was extremely
treacherous with ice.
Forth & Clyde Canal
A man then a lady
asked where I was going and generally people were friendly or
possibly full of sympathy for me. I didn't get much further before
leaving the canal and heading north to pick up the old railway route
that is now the 755 cycleway. It was a nice ride even with cold
overcast conditions. There were still many icy patches but I managed
to get through OK. The cloud was low and I rode on with little
appreciation of where I was. The railway cycle track finished in
Strathblane.
Milton of Campie
I followed the road
to Blanefield where I turned left on the B820. It was a tough few
miles due to a long steep climb. On the A809 I headed NW along
another road with long climbs, though not as steep. I reached Drymen
where my problems were about to start. The cycleway follows the
minor single track road over to Gartmore. It looked OK at first but
as I got higher it had a covering of frozen snow. I had to get off
and push the bike in the car wheel ruts. Eventually I reached the
summit and would have like to camp but didn't want to risk getting
stranded if it snowed overnight.
Camp 1 Aberfoyle
I had no choice but to press on and
descend to get clear of the snow. It was incredibly hard work
pushing the bike mile after mile. I reached Gartmore and decided to
press on to the cycle track that follows the old railway into
Aberfoyle. I hadn't eaten all day and the last few miles were
difficult due to rapidly fading light. It was almost dark as I rode
into town and my first stop was the Coop to buy water and some
carrot cake. I had to eat something as soon as possible so devoured
half the cake before setting of again. Just to the north of the town
the cycle track heads off into the forest. As I pushed my bike up
the hill a woman driving down told me the higher road was closed due
to the snow. I decided to stay put and camped on a wet snowy patch
of grass near the snow covered tennis courts. The rain began and
continued through the night.
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Whittle Wanderer
