From Glasgow Queen Street to Croy (some 10 miles north-east) takes 12 minutes by train. From Croy train station we follow the hill down to the Forth & Clyde Canal at Auchinstarry quarry (a popular spot for rock climbers), and then up and through Kilsyth. It is here in Kilsyth that we join the great natural elevator into the hills, the Tak Ma Doon road.
In terms of cycling climbs (or downhills) there are few hills in Europe that can rival the beauty and/or difficulty of the Tak Ma Doon road from Kilsyth to the Carron Valley on the top of the Campsie plateau. The road, like the Crow Road (from the Gaelic crodh meaning cattle) was formerly a drove road for four-legged beasts and was never really designed for those with two legs (or two wheels for that matter). Thankfully, cars and cattle are few and far between lending the road a silent aspect that accords it a certain meditative quality as one ascends it. The peace and quiet on this road is all important, as it allows the mind to space out, and to align itself with the vastness of space that confronts it.
About halfway up, I get off the bicycle (or is it the other way around?) and walk the rest of the way with the bike at my side. No sense in forsaking that silence and those views.
'P is for Paradise - At the top of the Tak Ma Doon looking south'
Upon reaching the top of the Tak Ma Doon (some 2.75 miles in length and 500 metres in elevation), and as with all great elevators, the Tak Ma Doon reveals a celestial component to the human soul. The views are amazing - on a clear day, one can see Scotland from end to end (at least from east to west). The views, too, in one's head, having just scaled the face of these fells, are much clearer too! From here, it's all downhill more or less to the Carron Bridge and Carron Reservoir a few kilometres away nestled in the hollow of the hills. At the Carron Bridge Hotel, take the B818 west towards Fintry. It's a beautiful road, quiet and occasionally forested, and always hugging the reservoir's gentle shores.
A gathering of cormorants on the Carron Reservoir.
If you're brave enough you could make a detour into the Carron Valley forest and follow the path to the Meikle Bin, the Campsie Fells highest point. It's not much of a hike since you're already three quarters of the way up. And the views are stupendous...
The view south over the Little Bin and the Carron Reservoir from the summit of the Meikle Bin.
From the Crow Road looking north to the Gargunnock Hills.
Just before Fintry, take the B822 which climbs the less steep Crow Road (the Campsie Glen Highway) and then descends to Lennoxtown on the other side. Again, the subdued nature of the hills and the road (mixed in with all those endorphins ) conveys a strange sense of the timeless.
Approaching Campsie Glen on the Crow Road with Lecket Hill shrouded out in front.
Freewheeling down to Lennoxtown, we join the wonderful Glazert Water path which takes us all the way to Kirkintilloch a few miles away. From here, it's a two mile jaunt through Kirkintilloch and Lenzie to the train station and the train back to Queen Street. All told, excluding the detour, it's about 40km station to station, and, taking it at a leisurely pace, the trip takes around 4-5 hours.
It's an afternoon at the end of the world... la petite boucle...
... the short circuit
Lenzie Train Station (with crow).
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