# crow rd ( lennoxtown,glasgow)



## jim55 (5 Feb 2012)

iv never done it and didnt even know where it was ,,so i looked it up on google and thought id take a drive up to see what it was like ,,,fark me !!!,,no way i could do that,,id need a really spinny gear to even think about it ,,my geared bike is def not suited for it the lowest on that is 39*18,,,id need about 39*30 or something ,,i passed a few bikes on the way up but (unsurprisingly)it was all geared bikes i seen ,,does any body do this on fixed ,,massive respect if you do 
(btw loadsa snow and a fair bit of ice up there by the beyond the car park


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## GlasgowGaryH (5 Feb 2012)

Usually end up doing it in a kind of fixed gear sort of way,30x25 basement gear on my bike. I have normally run out of gears by the zig zag corner at the bottom.


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## zizou (5 Feb 2012)

Its one of the 'classic' climbs for those in Glasgow (or more generally west / central Scotland) i dont think i've ever been over it at a weekend without seeing some other cyclists.

I dont think i could do it in 39*18 but with the right gearing its not too bad after the first corner as it is the sort of gradient that allows you to get into a rhythm. However once you get to the car park you think thats it (and indeed the worst of it is over) but it still goes on for a fair bit yet and on a hot summers day that is usually where i start getting stinging eyes with the sweat running into them 

Good loop to be done going up the Crow along the Carron Valley then over the Tak me Doon - easiest doing it clockwise because the Tak from the Kilsyth side is pretty hard. On a clear day you can see the Forth Bridge from the carpark at the top of the Tak


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## HLaB (5 Feb 2012)

I thought it was overrated tbh, the Tak Ma Doon road along from it is more interesting; the last time I was up that, a couple of weeks ago in below zero temps halfway up we passed a group of bare chested neds pushing a shopping trolley. The first time I did the Crow Road (albeit from the Fintry side) I did it into a strong head wind and went to change up to the big ring for the descent, I was already in it so a 52/26 can get up it. On the steeper side I'm guessing I'm in the 39/24or25 at the steeper bits. I like zizou's loop and have done similar a few times although only anti clockwise, I've never been doon the Tak Ma Doon just up


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## boydj (5 Feb 2012)

Preparing for the 2009 Trossachs Ton, I drove over to Fintry and parked up in the rugby club and did the Crow Road in both directions - with about a two mile cool-down in Lennoxtown . It's harder coming over from Lennoxtown, and probably a safer ride coming over from Fintry. I did it on a triple - 30 x 25 or 26 (bit of a softy, I know) - though coming from Lennoxtown I was on the 42 not too long after the car park.

On the subject of fixed gears, there's an old boy in my golf club who was a fairly serious racer back in the 50's and 60's. One of the standard club runs was to cycle from Greenock up to Aberfoyle and over the Duke's Pass. Most of them were on fixed. He once told me about he and his brother being stopped by the police while training on a racing tandem in Newton Mearns having been clocked at 49 mph.


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## SoloCyclist (19 Feb 2012)

I did this climb today and found it OK for 53/39, I think my smallest gear is 39-25,but there wasn't any wind today. I did find the road by Carron Valley reservoir a bit of a wreck, luckily enough I had to go slow as there was loads of ice on stretches. The road was pure white. Missed the turning for Tak Me Doon and kept on going to Denny.


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## jim55 (19 Feb 2012)

i done a wee loop around the campsies and (shamefully )i had to get off and push at the devils elbow out of strathblane heading to milngavie way ,,so there is no way i could manage the crow just now (in my defence its 39*20 is my "easiest climbing gear",when i change my cassette im gona try it and see how far i manage
ps anybody have a gradient for the bit i was on tdy ,,clipped in and on that gearing i just gave up


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## SoloCyclist (19 Feb 2012)

I'm going to try that the next time then. I'll go over Crow Rd keep going to Fintry-Killearn-Strathblane-Milngavie. At least I shouldn't get lost that way :-)


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## big vally (20 Feb 2012)

I've done the Crow a couple of times on my single speed bike, 42/17 ratio.

But even more respect to one of the guys who went over it on our ride out last week, he was on a single speed 48/18. Out the saddle all the way, but he still beat some of the geared road bikes up


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## tug benson (10 Jun 2012)

I done the Tak Me Doon road yesterday and i struggled a wee bit, it`s a bitch of a climb..

I was in 2 minds wheather to stay on road and just go onto lennoxtown to do the crows road, how does the crows road to the Tak Me Doon road?


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## HLaB (10 Jun 2012)

IMO the Tak is harder, as it varies more and has steeper sections whereas the Crow is more consistent.


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## tug benson (10 Jun 2012)

cheers for that, think my next longer ride i think i`ll do crow road.... the tak me doon road was a bit of a killer, sadly i had to stop and get of the bike, shockingly i was only one turn away from the top and i felt like a really mug


HLaB on my strava i see your name on a lot of my local routes, you seem to be at the top of most charts, that must be some going

on the Tak-Ma-Doon road (full) i am 124th of 129 with a time of 27:46, some people must do that hill like it`s a breeze, can`t believe some of the times...


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## HLaB (10 Jun 2012)

My KOM's are falling everyday, the lbs owner found strava and climbs where I might have been 15-30secs ahead of other's, he's nearly a minute or more faster than me, you'll see his name crop up a lot on the climbs in Fife. I'm only 65th on the Tak Ma Doon, I reckon I could do it faster but it was covered in ice on my pr and iirc I stopped when my mate came off, but I couldn't do it 5 minutes faster.


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## gavintc (10 Jun 2012)

jim55 said:


> i,my geared bike is def not suited for it the lowest on that is 39*18,


 
I realise this is an old thread, but just spotted the gearing in your OP. This is remarkably high and I would suggest unusual. Even pro racers have a bottom gear of 39/21. Personally, I would change the cassette for a 12-25 if I were you.

Crow Road is a good workout. I spent some months in Glasgow and this was one of my evening rides - up to the car pak and then back to the city centre - a good climb.


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## HLaB (10 Jun 2012)

gavintc said:


> I realise this is an old thread, but just spotted the gearing in your OP. This is remarkably high and I would suggest unusual. Even pro racers have a bottom gear of 39/21. Personally, I would change the cassette for a 12-25 if I were you.
> 
> Crow Road is a good workout. I spent some months in Glasgow and this was one of my evening rides - up to the car pak and then back to the city centre - a good climb.


I cant remember if Jim did or not but I've been telling him that for a while now


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## SoloCyclist (17 Jun 2012)

What was going on on Crow Road today? There was some sort of event.


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## HLaB (17 Jun 2012)

SoloCyclist said:


> What was going on on Crow Road today? There was some sort of event.


I think the Trossachs Ton was today it goes up the Crow Road or did when I done it a few years ago.


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## tug benson (30 Jun 2012)

Done the crow road today, great hill, just a really hard slug all the way up it... by the time i`ve got there from alloa i`ve all ready done roughly 30 miles, the wind was blowing and it was pishing down all the way from falkirk to lennoxtown so my legs were feeling it before i started the hill.....cycled all the hill, didn`t stop at the car park, didn`t stop till i got to finirty when i needed to pee.....when you get to the top and head down to finitry the road is great fun, very fast, i really enjoyed that, also the road down through kippen to the A811 was also good fun...


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## jim55 (30 Jun 2012)

iv changed the rear cluster a while ago ,iv now got 39*25 and the crow is something id like to get under my belt ,but of late my cycling has been very limited ,i started a new job and its not really ideal for commuting and into the bargain i developed a bit of sciatica ,iv honestly not cycled on the road for about a month now !!but i shall b back ,asta la vista baby lol


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