On Saturday, as planned I rode up to Loch Tay with my touring gear, where I met up with Laura and Oli who'd driven up in the car. Its not a particularly long way - 38miles in total to where we camped at a site at Loch Tay. It was good fun going camping, and worthwhile testing out the touring kit prior to the week away. Previously when I've ridden to Killin either on my own or with the club I've always used the main A84 to the majority of the trip. Having seen how good some of the cycle paths are and how much more interesting it is using them it makes me wonder if they could be incorporated into club rides more often. Watching races like Paris-Roubaix, where riders tackle the notorious pave, or Italys Montepaschi Strada-Bianche shows that road bikes are capable of the odd section of poor road surface. We often go out of our way to include hills in our cycle rides, why not throw in the odd gravel road too? The Dukes pass for example can easily be climbed on forestry fire track!
So rather then just riding directly up the A84, I stuck mainly to back roads and cycle paths which provide an excellent alternative for riders who are not keen on heavy traffic and aren't in a rush. From Dunblane I rode over and joined the Doune cycle path which is tarred and flat and much nicer than the A820. At Doune I joined the Deanston Road (B8032), which runs along the south side of the Teith up to Callander. This road is virtually traffic free and is a great scenic ride up alongside the fields and river. The surface isn't brilliant, but its quite acceptable.
At Callander I joined Sustrans Cycle Route 7 for the climb up to Loch Lubnaig. We used to use this path a lot when we lived in Callander and I found it much preferable to dragging my heavy bike up the hill from Kilmahog on the main A84. The surface is smooth gravel, and despite being on slick Continental Gatorskin 28 tyres I found it pretty good going. Smooth enough to ride comfortably along on a touring bike, but not as fast as tarmac. At the Ben Ledi car park I did rejoin the A84 for the section up to Strathyre as I fancied making some quicker progress along the flat tarmac. I've ridden cycle path to Strathyre a few times before and its much the same - smooth gravel. I thought I'd leave that bit and check out the next section which I've not ridden.
So I rejoined Sustrans7 at Strathyre for the section up to Balquhidder and LochEarnhead. This section of the route is on a minor unclassified tarred road which initially runs through pine woods, and again not a single car: great riding in the morning sunshine! I had assumed the cycle path would follow the main A84, and that Balquhidder and Balquhidder Station (on the main A84) were pretty much the same place. They're not however!, and the cycle path takes you a few miles off the direct route, via the small hamlet of Balquidder, before you cross the valley and join another road back toward Balquhidder Station. I found the maps on my Garmin handy at this point as I was able to easily workout where I was going. At Balquhidder Station the cycle route again becomes a prupose built gravel path, initially dropping down a bit toward the back of Loch Earnhead before a rather steep climb up some zigzigs up the hillside at the start of GlenOgle. Gradient on this was maybe 10-12% and on the touring bike it was a bit of a grind, but it doesn't go on for too long before flattening off onto the old railway line. The run up the glen has had some recent improvement work and its excellent. 2-3% gradient, smooth gravel surface with Glen Ogle and the main road below. I was very glad I wasn't on the main road as I rode up the glen, watching trucks and traffic make their way up the climb. From the top of Glen Ogle its a fast descent to Killin. I just rode down the main road for this section, as I could easily manage 25+mph all the way, and find traffic less of an issue when I'm going faster. I think the Sustrans route takes a different way but I didn't bother checking.
What would people say to including more untarred sections in club runs? I know the Davie Bell Memorial Road Race in June will include sections on gravel roads, and the Ayrshire clubs use untarred stuff fairly frequently. I think it would be quite good fun to have the odd section thrown into some club road runs. Might help folks bike handling.
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