Day 14
Hamilton to Braco 53miles/3128ft ascent
I was given a lovely send off, not to mention some tasty sandwiches and more bananas. Originally I had planned to get onto the trails of the West Highland Way, then the up/down route through Tayside before pushing and panting to Loch Ossian via Ben Lawyers and Innerwick. However a few days ago an old friend of mine from my student days in Aberdeen had got in touch to say that if I was passing be sure to call in. This was too good an offer to pass on so instead of riding trails that I had already done on a recce in Easter I found myself passing through where I used to live in Viewpark, near Uddingston. From there it was interesting, engaging and varied back road riding past wee places like Glen Mavis before a fast descent to Cumbernauld via a weird road semi-blocked with two crash barriers.
Proper rain today but I had put on, zipped up and fully embraced my waterproofs and was safe, comfy and happy inside this wee Gortex life support system. I even managed to film another Reel to post, hoping for sympathy donations as I was seen riding in the rain. One great thing about riding in the rain is that I do not stop nearly as much as usual so I made good time through Denny and then started to pick my way towards Stirling. Here I was pleasantly surprised with how quiet and pretty the riding was to Dunblane and eventually Braco. I even managed to ride some off road trails somewhere near Dunblane before arriving in Braco to meet some tail end traffic from their summer show. The guy in the local shop was very friendly when I popped in to buy my supplies for the next day and a bottle of wine for my hosts.
My pal and his wife lived at the end of a very quiet road and to begin with I was unsure which house was theirs. I am sure to some folk it looked a bit strange as this cyclist went up and down, then round and round until homing in on the right house. There I was treated to a big hello after 26 years hug! My stay in Braco was another lovely, unexpected surprise on the ride and emphasised to me once again how going with the flow sometimes is the best thing to do.
A Teacher trying to Divide. 