Glasgow – Drymen – Aberfoyle – Dukes pass (or around Loch Katrine) – Callander – Thornhill – Kippen – Fintry – Crow road – Glasgow
110-120km via Dukes pass (about 150km around Loch Katrine)
This is a longer ride with plenty of good climbing. It also has a few flatter sections that might be fun if you are eager to try a little time-trialling. Much of it is on smaller roads that get very little traffic, which certainly adds to its attraction. But what really makes this ride special for me is the scenery and the little memories that I’ve collected along the way. It reminds me of spring, the days when the weather is getting good enough again to take on a longer ride to the north side of town.
I usually set out from the West End and head through Bearsden, but you can also start from Milngavie and go via Strathblane. The Bearsden route takes you past Queen’s View where in spring time you can enjoy gazing at the snow-capped hills to the north. This will bring a smile to your face and assure you that going out this morning was the right decision. Both roads out of town can be busy, but I usually start around 8AM when there is less traffic. This will get you to Drymen by 9 and from then on you will be on much smaller and quieter routes.
From Drymen I take the old pipe track over the hillside. This is a single track road, which can be a blessing and a curse. There are usually no cars, but when there are, passing can be frustrating. I’ve ridden uphill with blasting horns behind me. No matter how happy or calm I might have felt, this always gets under my skin. I just want to scream “Your honking does not magically beam me up to the skies! Can you not wait one minute until I can pull over in a passing place?” But equally, there are drivers who pull over at a passing place as they see you heading towards them. I’ve even seen a driver readjust his car so I would get the nicer paved bit of the road and would not have to ride over gravel. The single track road is in a fairly poor conditions and this is something to be mindful of. On the descent to Dalmary your two choices pretty much are to ride through the potholes on the sides or taking the gravely centre. I usually clutch my brakes and hope for the best. In dry weather I do not mind the road conditions too much, but on wet and windy days this descent can be sketchy.
From Dalmary the route takes you through Gartmore on some fairly pretty winding country roads and then on to Aberfoyle on a bike path. This is a good place for a brief stop, to refuel and get ready to climb up Dukes pass, one of my favourite climbs. It is here I really start feeling like I have left Glasgow and everything else in it behind me. Surrounded by trees, the road slowly meanders its way up. If you are lucky and early enough you can sometimes see the morning mist rising up around you. The descent is just as stunning and a couple of weeks ago it treated me to a most amazing cloud inversion over Loch Achray. Those are the moments I cycle for.
In Aberfoyle, you also have the opportunity to extend your ride even further by going around Loch Katrine. Despite the pretty rough surface, I quite enjoy this route and have taken it on a couple of occasions. But a few words of wisdom, this is one of those routes that is much longer and harder compared to how it appears on the map. The road is very undulating with multiple sharp climbs that can easily leave your legs hurting by the time you reach the visitors centre at the end of the loop. This is you still hours away from town.
Regardless the route you take from Aberfoyle you will eventually take the A821 into Callander. This is a fairly flat section so you can either relax and rest or get down to your drops or TT bars and do some harder work. I prefer the first and enjoy the views of Loch Venachar that stretches most the way into Callander. This is another good place for a short stop and if you came over Dukes pass, is also marks the half-way point.
From Callander I take the straight route into Thornhill. Again, it is a pretty quiet road that starts with a bit of a climb after which you will be rewarded with a very nice fast descent on pretty good roads. When you are tired, this might even feel lovely. If only it was not “spoiled” by the views of Fintry hills and the Campsies across the Forth Valley. Yes, you will be climbing those soon. The section through the Forth valley itself is completely flat and very exposed, which means it can be either fast or slow, depending on which ever way the wind is blowing.
You are now getting back close to town again and you will start noticing a lot more cyclists on the roads. On the very nice days, especially in early spring, they all have massive grinning smiles on their faces and you will be waiving at each other like long-lost best friends. Hold on to that energy as two more bigger climbs and another smaller one still separate you from home. First, the route will head uphill through Kippen to the Top of the World. It’s usually on that climb that I start feeling the kilometres in my legs and it can sometimes seem to drag on. It’s nice to have a riding partner here. On one occasion with Ian M we got into a heated discussion on professional cycling. (You can guess which one of us initiated that one!) It really helped to pass the kilometres.
The lay-by at the Top of the World is like an informal cyclist social club. I like stopping here. And when I say “like”, I mostly mean “need”. It’s become a bit of binge corner for me, kind of “let’s see what all we have left in our back pockets”. Leftover crumbs from the sandwich that looked less appetising in Drymen, that chocolate Easter bunny you got at work, maybe some past Best Before bars you did not really like, anything goes. Just eat.
Hopefully by the time you have reached Fintry and made your way to the Fintry Kirk the sugar will have started to reach your blood stream, but sometimes I make an additional brief stop at the Kirk. On one such occasion the local reverend invited us in for a tea. I was very tempted but to my disappointment my riding partner declined. I gave his back an evil stare as we went up Crow. The first time I opted for the Loch Katrine diversion I also really struggled here. It was the visons of Coca-Cola bottles in the Lennoxtown corner shop got me to the top of Crow. There I was passed by a pair of cyclists who I had seen on few occasions that day. Having noticed me earlier too, they started a chat to compare routes. I must have looked visibly bonked as they suggested I try to hold on to their wheel back to Glasgow. I would have had to literally hold their wheel to get back with them. I declined.
After the short flat section between Lennoxtown and Stathblane you finally come to the last climb of this route, up the road to Milngavie. There are two options to choose from and I take the old Mugdock road that starts steep. Cars are always parked on one side of that street, making it effectively a single track road. One time, as I was suffering through this section, a car came down from the bend above and stopped to let me pass. As I got close, I saw the guy behind the wheel smiling and clapping his hands vigorously, spurring me on. I broke out in laughter and spun my legs just a bit faster past his car.
After the initial steep start the road flattens out and undulates its way into Mugdock. The ride is in the bag by this stage and you can enjoy the views of the town as you descend into Milngavie. On a few occasions I have considered getting the train from Milngavie to West End, but the knowledge that I’ll reach my lunch faster pedalling has stopped me from doing that. Even on that one occasion when I had to resort to the magic combination of caffeine and sugar.
Long rides take you through ups and downs. But despite the annoyances, and the occasionally accident, wonderful things also happen when you ride your bike. One summer evening I was cycling home from work feeling quite deflated. I was so behind with work, not at all due to my own fault, but just nowhere near where I wanted to be. As I was stopped at a light, two guys walked past me. One turned right in front of me, fist pumped me and said “You are doing so well!” Damn right, I was doing well!
