Oh look... another hill

Yesterday we had our first real test in terms of endurance. We did part of National Cycle Route 7 which took us from Balloch, at the bottom of Loch Lomond to Aberfoyle and back. A distance of around 43/44 miles. Now, that may not seem too bad in terms of distance but when you add in hill climbs that seem to go on forever it kind of makes it a different proposition.

I met the Mauro, Tom & John, at Central Station around 10am and we got a low level train out to Balloch. The weather was ideal for cycling. Not too warm and with an underlying chill in the air when you were travelling. We stocked up on provisions and then headed off to find the start of the cycle route.

The first part of the trip was pretty easy, there were some hills but nothing compared to what was to follow once we hit Drymen. After that it all changed. On leaving Drymen there is a climb that seems to go forever. In reality it was probably only a couple of miles but when you're not used to it it feels like forever. Anyway, the one good thing about hill climbs is that once you reach the top you get to go back down the other side. We flew down the hills and at one point I nearly hit 45mph (see bottom-right hand part of image). Anyway, the hills kept coming as did the descents but we managed to get past them all.

We reached Aberfoyle around a couple of hours later. We sat out in the sun in the beer garden of some pub on the main street. Sitting on something a lot wider than a saddle felt sooo good. Before long though we had to start making our way back along the same road again. This time though we at least knew what lay ahead which in some ways made it easier... at least mentally. Mind you, when faced with a long climb it is still daunting.

Hill climbs in some weird way are good friends to have. Each time you do them you have to put in a lot of effort and in the end any effort you put in you usually get back in the form of better endurance, more strength in your legs or whatever. They are also a good gauge of how your training is going. The first time you attempt a long hill climb you may be struggling. If after a few more training sessions you try again you will probably find that they become a lot easier. Anyway, back to the run...

The journey back to Balloch didn't seem to take as long as before. We did get held up by some cows going in to get milked but we got back to Balloch around 5:30pm where we promptly celebrated in our usual fashion with a bottle of cider in Tullies.

By the time I got back home my mileage had increased to just over 51 miles which is my best yet. Still, got to reach the 70 mile mark before we go to Sweden.