Another ride location ticked off. Whitelee windfarm. Again I drove there. For similar reasons to yesterday. It would have taken me over two hours each way, the weather was horrible first thing so I wouldn’t have left early. If things were different I would have thought about it. As it was I arrived just after it opened and really enjoyed the day. 

I got changed into my cycling gear and headed off. It was straight onto hard packed gravel.

look closely; you can see my bike

Not surprisingly the wind was blowing hard. 

The beginning of the ride was into it, head-on. The terrain was fairly flat, but at times it felt like I was climbing a pretty steep hill.

There is even a boating lake. 

I guess a sailboat would get up to high speed quickly, I only saw a row boat though.

Soon after it was time for food; and a rare selfie. I prefer to be behind the camera and it’s also difficult to take interesting pictures of yourself when there’s no-one about.

Here what I achieved.

A test shot looked appealing, so I kept it.

arty test shot

And a more conventional shot.

Soon after I left the farm for a road section. When I looked at the route beforehand I noticed this section leading to a short about turn section. I didn’t alter the plan but thought when I cam to it I’d just turn off and miss the little bit. When it came to it, I forgot and rode on. I’m glad i did, it lead me to a cafe. In the middle of no-where I was surprised by it, and how well setup and modern it is. The Heron farm shop and kitchen was great. Not much vegan stuff on offer but they did check the ingredients of a few cakes to see what they could offer.

As you can see I did partake of a pastry.

After leaving the Heron the road was fairly flat again, until it wasn’t. A small, deep valley served up the hardest climb of the day.

Soon after it was back toward the windfarm.

Then onto a wet path.

Then gravel again.

Soon after I arrived at the visitor centre again. Sitting in the van to eat my lunch. Walking into the cafe I noticed there were showers. Had I been muddier or sweaty and I’d brought a towel I could have had a clean up too. Someone put a lot of thought into the building.

Some thougths on my visit.

It’s exposed, obviously it’s very windy, so wrap up. 

Rain was on the cards but only started properly a couple of miles from the end of the ride. 

The paths are well surfaced. My road bike wouldn’t have been ideal, but you won’t need mountainbike tyres. On the far side of the park a little detour leads to the Heron. I’d recommend it.

You can get cleaned up if needed.