Ride - Scotland, Glen Falloch
The modern sense of the word “screwed” includes “in a bind” and “in unfortunate circumstances” but originates in the mid seventeenth century probably in reference to instruments of torture (e.g. thumbscrews). The phrase “I bit off more than I can chew” is thought to have originated in mid-eighteenth century America as a metaphor of taking on too much work. So it was that I struggled up the wooded slopes of Breadalbane just above Crianlarich where the West Highland Way cuts the corner between Strath Fillon and Glen Falloch cursing my self silently that I was so screwed because I’d bitten off more than I could chew. For reasons I won’t go into here, I haven’t ridden much in the past two weeks but wanted to fit in the Tyndrum and Glen Falloch pinewoods on the same day whilst the weather was friendly. Ascents I could have tackled in the lowest gears a few weeks ago reduced me to a state of hike-a-bike, especially the last 0.3-mile, 300 foot ascent.
Glen Falloch is the most southerly of the ancient Scottish pinewoods. The mature trees are sparse and there is little evidence of natural regeneration after centuries of over-grazing. There are supposed to be fencing and regeneration efforts underway but they weren’t obvious to me and I didn’t have time to look today.
Where
I started this ride on the West Highland Way after riding the Tyndrum pinewoods. The ride was pretty straight-forward apart from the aforementioned Breadalbane single-track-from-hell. At the bottom of the hill where the Bogle Glen Drovers Road heads towards Crianlarich, I headed down Bogle Glen on the Old Military Road towards the A82 road and the railway which follow the bottom of the glen. I crossed under the road and railway and rode a short distance before embarking on the return journey towards Tyndrum via the A82 mostly this time.
Pic 1 - riding down the Old Military Road and looking across Glen Falloch at the sparsely populated Scottish pinewood
Pic 2 - from the southwestern edge of the pinewood looking uphill in the direction of Crianlarich
Pic 3 - SurPug at the end of the underpass at the A82
Gallery
Gear and Nutrition
Same as Tyndrum except my rear wheel fell off. I suspect the release lever on the spindle caught on something and the rear wheel pulled off. Luckily I was man-handling the bike across a difficult section connected to a fence and not riding at the time and the wheel was easy to put back on.