Col du Climpy

This ride into West Lothian and North Lanarkshire is over some varied terrain, with a few opportunities for provisions. However, it also features the fearsome Col du Climpy...

 

 

The route starts and ends at Balerno High School. This is easily found at the end of the Water of Leith footpath/cycle route (part of NCN75). Alternatively, approach via Juniper Green and Currie along the A70 Lanark Road. Balerno has a couple of small shops, including a Scotmid which might be handy for some last minute snacks or drinks. 

 

Start the ride by heading towards the traffic lights on the A70. Take a left towards Carnwath. The road heads out past the city limits, with a couple of small undulations to warm up the legs. You pass the small grass airstrip of Kirknewton on your right and you might see some gliders circling round. Carry on along the A70, with a short hill alongside Harperrig Reservoir and then a couple of down hills sections with some nice bends. After around 15km, you'll see the turn off for Harburn and West Calder - the B7008. Take a right here.

 

If you've been struggling into a bit of a headwind, you'll now be glad of some respite and you might take this opportunity to steal a drink from your water supplies. Follow this well-surfaced B road past Harburn Golf Club and into West Calder. When you get to the traffic lights, take a left and an immediate right, now heading on to the B792 to Blackburn. You'll pass the turn off for HMP Addiewell and then reach another set of traffic lights at around the 25km mark. Head left onto the B7015 through Stoneyburn and Fauldhouse. 

 

Stoneyburn has a few shops and a lot of speed bumps. These are easily bypassed if riding solo - but groups of riders might want to take a little care. On leaving Stoneyburn, carry on along the B7015, crossing the A706 (care!) and heading into Fauldhouse. Here, you'll have a short, fast downhill section and then come to a junction. Take a left, now on the B7010 for Shotts. At the next junction - around 35km - take another left onto the B715, the Headless Cross Road. Follow this road for around 500m to the junction with the A71 and go straight across this (care!). 

 

You are now on the start of the days major ascent. Stop here for a moment, gobble a snack bar and a gel and gird your loins for the challenge ahead. Grab a low gear and be prepared to just grind your way up. As you start the climb, don't let yourself be fooled by the section of road you can see. Each twist and turn brings another horrifying view of a seemingly vertical wall of road and not until you reach the little alpine hamlet of Climpy itself should you start to relax. Watch out for other, lesser, cyclists around here too. Local rumour has it that Lance gave up on his 2009 Tour de France plans after being broken hereabouts. Now savour the hard-earned descent before another wee climb into the village of Forth. 

 

Forth has a couple of shops and a filling station and is around the half-way mark. If simply carrying on with the route, take a right turn onto the A706 towards Lanark then, after around 1km, take a fast left onto the unclassified road to Braehead. As you get into the next climb, take a right onto the B7016 and carry on up through Braehead, which has a little pub, a school and not much else. Another fast descent follows. The road here has been recently resurfaced and is now smoooth, smoooth black-top all the way down to the floor of the valley.  After a few more short hills, reach the A70 just alongside the Edinburgh-Carstairs railway line. You've now covered 50km.

 

Take a left towards and through Carnwath. A couple more shops here might tempt you as this is the last opportunity for any supplies before Balerno. At a mini-roundabout, take the first exit - the A70 to Edinburgh. The A70 is a fast road, though not particularly busy and sight-lines are genreally good. If you've had that headwind for most of the day, this is where you get your reward as the open nature of this section makes the most of it and will have you whizzing along. 

 

Not long after leaving Carnwath, look for an unsual round house on the right - named Hagrids Hut. There are a few more smaller hills on this return route, but once you pass the turn-off for Tarbrax, you've also passed the highest point of the route and when you see the Harburn turn off on your left, you are now retracing your wheel-tracks all the way back to Balerno. Remember to take a right turn at the traffic lights to get back to the start point at the High School, and you might also want to pop into Scotmid for a hot drink or ice cream depending on the weather.

 

Distance: 80km 

Ascent: 468m

Estimated time: 3:30

 

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