Again, I have to praise the little 'back-line' that runs to and from Paisley Canal to Glasgow Central. From my eyrie in Cessnock, it means I can jump across the motorway and be at Dumbreck station in less than five minutes. Another blissful 13 minutes or so takes me through the corridor of a hundred thousand trees to Paisley Canal. From here, I merely freewheel down the hill to Paisley's other station, the grand Gilmour Street, where a train arrives within minutes to whisk me and Pegasus off to Drumfrochar. The bottom line is that this means if I leave my gaff at 10.10am, I am here before 11am. Amazing really! The train (or the 'travelling lounge' as I like to call it) is a great way to extend your home range.
On the above map just follow the red line out of the station at Drumfrochar. I took the red way onto the B788 which ends up going past the 'Jesus Saves' sign below, but it's a busy little road at times and Christ almost died for our sins again when another brainless SUV driver pulling a trailer decided he could overtake me on a bend and not worry about the car that was just approaching from the other direction (which of course he couldn't see). So, the blue line is way emptier and safer and still leads us down to the sustrans path which will take us back to Paisley.
Surely, one of the great train station exits in the known universe, the view over the estuary from Drumfrochar Station . Our path is not down the way towards the sea but in the other direction up into the moors, via the Old Largs Road. And it's a belter! A bit like life itself, the way ahead is steep to start with but soon levels off. There are a couple of bends where if you are coming down the other way can be a little hairy (as in 'make sure your brakes are in good nick!). As I was heaving up this glorious morning some nutball in a mountain-bike over-shot the bend and ended up missing me by a couple of feet or so (mostly down to my expert manoevring and perceptual capabilities [ahem], but it could have ended in tears for both of us. As I always say, you could be the safest cyclist in the world, but all it takes is some jobby in a car (or on another bike!!) to put an end to all that. Thankfully though, this is a rare experience and I did see the funny side of it, especially a few seconds later as he and his bike parted company and he vaulted a hedge I had just passed, ending up in a field full of stationary, startled sheep.
Passing the golf course (Whinhill) and Corlic Hill to the left as we head straight ahead up towards the reservoir. An alternate route would be to take the wee path up to Corlic Hill (it goes all the way up practically), and cycle down carefully the other side joining up with the road at the eastern end of the Gryffe Reservoir. Last August I came the other way and what a beautiful hill it is. You can find the post and pics from the top here:
http://cyclingmeditations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/paisley-canal-to-greenock-via-corlick.html
I'm not ready yet to die for your sins, so consider taking the much quieter road (marked in blue on the map above).
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