Had to post this view of the three bridges from near the Hopetoun estate. A rough runner event was in progress when we passed through. Looked like fun!
Nice spot for lunch just off the Way. Be careful though, the signs here give directions for the Thomas Muir Way. You'll end up in Glasgow if you follow his Way. John's Way follows the Strathkelvin railway path to Strathblane. The rain started pouring down just before we stopped and didn't really relent for 4 hours. This is Alan trying to decide whether to get going again after lunch.
In one word - wet. Route out of Dunbar on a long straight path beside a main road in the rain wasn't particularly inspiring. Soon enough though it turned onto country lanes through nice rural countryside with rolling hills. The route crossed a ford (we took the bridge), cut across wheat and bean fields and through a memorial forest of Scots pine. Nice - even in the dull damp conditions. The McGavins stayed with us to near North Berwick- just over 11 miles for the kids. They seemed to enjoy it and didn't complain about the weather or odd steep hill. The relatively slow pace and house fire though had us behind schedule so from North Berwick Alan, Celia and I more on less team time trialled it. Conditions were poor with heavy downpours and dull conditions - it was the right thing to do and we covered the last 20 miles to the Premier Inn in Musselburgh in 90 minutes. Summary Left Dunbar 5.15pm, arrived Musseburgh 8.30. 31.24 miles, 2 hours 34 min cycling time. Avg speed 11.88mp...
Too wet to take photos along this final stretch. The first bit along the Strathkelvin cycle path was easy going but wet, dull and dreich. After Strathblane the route started to let its hair down with a steep climb on a gravel track and a downhill that included a rock filled descent - fine for mountain bikes (except for those with dodgy brakes) but not so easy on my touring bike. The route then followed the West Highland Way on flat but puddle filled tracks until Croftamie. The final stretch to Helensburgh was straightforward and dry along minor roads and cycle tracks. All straightforward except for a wee tumble I took into a hedge after hitting the edge of raised draincover. Special mention has to go to wee Charlotte who managed the whole 57 miles 'without putting a foot down' on any of the hills. Phenomenal!!
Comments
Post a Comment