I hit the road with a vengeance as I was determined to stretch today's mileage past the planned Larkhall stop. It was a fairly uninteresting ride as it followed the NCN74 route that was virtually never out of earshot of the M74, but at least the gradients were gentle. I tried for a coffee stop at Beatock village but despite proudly displaying a huge 'Local Services' sign there was nothing but a dozen or so houses and a pub that didn't open until noon. I cracked on and phoned Base Control at 13:10 from Beatock Summit to big up my performance and discuss tonight's accommodation. Whilst Anne was on the case I continued to Abington for a sandwich and pint (of milk!) in the sun at the general store.
As I continued, Anne booked me B&B in Cambuslang (thereby bagging an extra 12 miles). Parts of the route were on a cycleway that was part of the old road and enabled a quick pace with no traffic (see picture), but South Lanarkshire roads use the coarsest roadstone imaginable and soon my vision was blurred and my fillings shaken loose. I'm sure it costs at least 2 mph.
The final bit of the day's run was on new cycle tracks from the Chatelherault Country Park which was great whilst it lasted but not when it stopped without proper warning. This, combined with road closures delayed my arrival at the B&B until 18:15. Overall the day was a good one with light headwinds and punctuated by showers, but the rain did start as I approached the Glasgow area ... no surprises there, then.
A good curry completed the day. Didn't really want to try out the pubs in Cambuslang!
Stats for the day : 84.1 miles at 11.2 mph avg ; 7hrs 29mins in the saddle ; 774 m ascent
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