Cycling Stuff

 

Hugh in Clyde Muirshiel Park, 14 Oct 2001 (digi by John Carroll)

 

Honest, I'm enjoying myself !!

Get on yer bike !

I love cycling and enjoy road and off-road stuff. I love cycling through burns in the highlands as much as doing roadie stuff in the west of Scotland. Living in Glasgow www.gobike.org.uk , you're relatively fortunate in having access to a fair number of cycle tracks connected to the National Cycle Network www.sustrans.org.uk . 

Plus, there's loads of brilliant stuff in the Trossachs and long distance routes such as the Great Glen Cycle route http://www.greatglenway.com/ only around 200ks (120m) away while thru in the east of Scotland, Edinburgh and the Lothian area www.spokes.org.uk offer a great range of cycling tracks (many of which put Glasgow's network of paths to shame !) 

Cycling in the Western Isles of Scotland is a great adventure too and, on the Uists, Barra, Tiree and Benbecula in particular, the roads are very flat........For info about where's the nearest National Cycle Route (NCR) to you, check out: www.sustrans.org.uk

This section of the website will give you some general pix of recent cycling and some info about cycling trips in Scotland.........

 

Hugh cycling on Skye, November 2002 (digi by Stuart MacDonald)

So what bikes do I ride ? I have four bikes at the moment (April 2005).  Current Road bike is a GIANT Speeder; off road bikes are a MARIN Bobcat Trail '01, TREK 800 and TREK 4300 (the latest addition). 'Been cycling with SPD since the summer of 1995 and I won't even begin to tell you about my first totally embarassing experience riding with SPDs. (All I will tell you is that a crowd of Paisley kids had a right laugh at this guy squirming about on the road - after toppling over at a red light - on his side , trying to disengage feet from pedals !)

Heather, John and Hugh cycling the Union Canal, April 2002

 

The great thing about all-terrain / off-road bikes (ATBs) is that - when it comes to hillwalking - you can use them to access some of the more remote Munros .(And they look pretty good for posing on!) Only thing is.... its not ideal cycling with a big pack - try it for fun some time - and cycling with big mountain boots and SPD pedals....

Sure so going through burns - like on the pic below - provide spectacular pictures but you get totally soaked. Not funny given that you haven't even started walking ! Its not the first time I've closed my eyes while cycling through a burn at full speed bumping over slippery rocks etc... Scary, but fun....

Sure enough of the babble - moving onto the pictures....... The picture below was taken in August 1999 en route to bagging Creag Mhor, a Munro in the Glen Lochay (Killin) area. I know, I know, its a total pose . An incredible amount of time was saved using the bikes. (And some good pictures were taken )

Munro bagging cycling in Glen Lochay (image by John Carroll)

 

The picture below was taken on one of the National Cycle Network routes (NCNs www.sustrans.org.uk ) at Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire around 16k's (9 miles) west of Glasgow. Its hard to believe that in the early 1980's this was a functional railway. Incredible short-sightedness resulted in its closure (Glasgow Central - Paisley Canal - Kilmacolm railway line) in 1983. This used to be a railway which linked Houston, Bridge of Weir and Kilmacolm with Paisley and Glasgow. Happily, the line between Glasgow (Central) and Paisley (Canal) was restored in 1990 but the rest of the line is now dedicated cycle track. At least Sustrans  www.sustrans.org.uk/ (this is the charity who build and maintain much of the National Cycle Network) have made very good use of the old railway line.

At Bridge of Weir on the National Cycle Route (by Hugh Spicer)

"smile and look as if you're having fun !!"

 

In Clyde Muirshiel Park, 14 October 2001 (image by John Carroll)

 

 

From an old railway bridge on the National Cycle Route near Kilmacolm (by John Carroll)

"Oi ! What y' doin up there !?"

 

En route to "bag" Braeriach, Cairngorms, June 1998 (by John Carroll)

 

En route to bag a Munro near Balquhidder ! (by John Carroll)

"Well that's my feet wet and I've not walked an inch yet !!!"

 

Stopping for a pose on an old railway bridge near Bridge of Weir (by Hugh Spicer)

 

Miles and miles of cycling path near Bridge of Weir...(by Hugh Spicer)

 

 

 

Stuart at the south end of the island of Rum in September 2002 (digi by Hugh Spicer)

 

In Clyde Muirshiel Park, 14 October 2001 (image by John Carroll)

 

 

In Clyde Muirshiel Park, 14 October 2001 (image by John Carroll)

 

 

 

 

164k's recorded on the GPS !

Sure so I use a GPS www.garmin.com mainly for hillwalking and climbing but they are also great for cycling. You can buy special brackets that fit the things onto your bike's handlebars. GPS's tell you total time on the move, total distance covered (in k's and miles) and loads of other useful stuff and give you a fairly accurate reading of your position at any given time.

 

Bike accomodation on ScotRail TurboStar trains

Its convenient the way it obstructs the payphone !

I use ScotRail www.firstscotrail.co.uk train services quite a bit to get the bike to where I want to start cycling. Many of ScotRail's trains are not exactly all that bike friendly tho' !  If you're travelling in the Strathclyde (SPT) www.spt.co.uk area you're sorted because bikes travel free of charge and you don't have to book in advance . As long as there is space available your bike is fine. If, however, you're travelling on the West Highland Lines (Oban, Fort William, Mallaig etc) or Highland lines (Perth, Pitlochry, Inverness) then its a whole new adventure. For example, the Glasgow-Inverness train can - on some occasions - accomodate only 2 bikes (yeah 2!) per train. And you have to book your bikes in advance..... Above is a view of my old TREK bike on the way to Glasgow from Pitlochry on a ScotRail TurboStar train.....

Dyllan on the Schiehallion road on a November 2001 circular tour from Pitlochry (digi by Hugh Spicer)

I've cycled round most of Scotland and there's loads of off-road stuff which is just crying out to be used. Try the following links for some route ideas. Feel free to e-mail me at mail@hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk if you'd like further info.....

http://www.scottishcycling.co.uk

http://www.gobike.org/

http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/

http://www.homestead.com/falloffalot/contents2.html

http://www.greatglenway.com/

Plus check out the cycling stuff on my other pages at:

www.hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk/gg.htm

www.hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk/glw.htm

www.hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk/pitlochry.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Cycle Runs in Scotland

Routes in and around the City of Glasgow

 

 

Routes in West Central Scotland including Cowal & Cumbrae

 

Routes in Arran and Bute

 

 

 

Routes in the Scottish Highlands & Islands

 

Other Stuff