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I Swallowed a Bug
Jun. 1st, 2008 12:07 amIt was an absolutely glorious day in Glasgow, so I celebrated by cycling 50 miles. That wasn't actually the plan - I was supposed to cycle from the flat to Loch Lomond, where there was a food fair, and back again. The cycle route out to Balloch turned out to be very pretty, well surfaced and, most of all, flat. It took me around 2 hours to do the 20 miles, allowing for stopping, pumping up my tyre, getting lost, and swearing at my two colleagues, Paul and Eric, for cycling too fast.
The food fair was fun - good food (scallops, fish and chips and ice cream with tablet) and the company was excellent - unblinkered drove out to meet me, sha_d and munchkin were in attendance, and four of the Spanish consultants I'm working with turned up too. Paul decided that rather than cycle straight back, we should "pop over" to Drymen, and then come back via the first section of the West Highland Way, a long distance footpath which runs from Milingavie, near Glasgow, to Fort William (or possibly Inverness - I forget).
His reasoning seemed sound - it was only five miles to Drymen, then 11 miles back to Glasgow, so it would be a shorter ride, the Drymen Show would be fun, and we would have great views from the path. Oh, and a pub was mentioned, too.
So I let myself get drawn in.... Well, he wasn't completely wrong.
Drymen is 5 miles by car from Balloch. The cycle route is 9 miles. And from there it was about 17 miles back to Milingvie. And another five from there to my flat. Oh, and the route wasn't as flat as the canal and river towpaths we'd come up, strangely enough. We actually had to push up some serious hills, as well as lifting our bikes over styles, fences and, in one case, a stone wall. And there were lots of gates.
Still, the views were stunning, the chat was good, and the pub was excellent.
The weather was so good that I've had a cold compress on the back of my neck all evening, and have some excellent farmers tan going on. My legs seemed to have held up ok - the knees are creaky and my back is knotted, but nothing that a bath and, hopefully, eight hours sleep won't sort.
All in all, a very enjoyable day. I had intended to put up a google pedometer map, but the interwebs are being cranky.
So the route was the Kelvin Walkway till it crosses the Forth and Clyde Canal, the canal to it's basin at Bowling, a bit of ducking and diving around Dumbarton and then up the River Leven to Balloch. From Balloch National Cycle Route 7 to Drymen, then route 7 to the West Highland way, then along that to Milingavie, then rejoining the Kelvin Cycleway at Maryhill Park.
Spaced out Ned encounters, 2, bugs swallowed, at least 3.
Padded cycle shorts are great, not having a hat which covered the back of my head was bad, and the new rucksack from Edinburgh Bicycle Co is great.
The food fair was fun - good food (scallops, fish and chips and ice cream with tablet) and the company was excellent - unblinkered drove out to meet me, sha_d and munchkin were in attendance, and four of the Spanish consultants I'm working with turned up too. Paul decided that rather than cycle straight back, we should "pop over" to Drymen, and then come back via the first section of the West Highland Way, a long distance footpath which runs from Milingavie, near Glasgow, to Fort William (or possibly Inverness - I forget).
His reasoning seemed sound - it was only five miles to Drymen, then 11 miles back to Glasgow, so it would be a shorter ride, the Drymen Show would be fun, and we would have great views from the path. Oh, and a pub was mentioned, too.
So I let myself get drawn in.... Well, he wasn't completely wrong.
Drymen is 5 miles by car from Balloch. The cycle route is 9 miles. And from there it was about 17 miles back to Milingvie. And another five from there to my flat. Oh, and the route wasn't as flat as the canal and river towpaths we'd come up, strangely enough. We actually had to push up some serious hills, as well as lifting our bikes over styles, fences and, in one case, a stone wall. And there were lots of gates.
Still, the views were stunning, the chat was good, and the pub was excellent.
The weather was so good that I've had a cold compress on the back of my neck all evening, and have some excellent farmers tan going on. My legs seemed to have held up ok - the knees are creaky and my back is knotted, but nothing that a bath and, hopefully, eight hours sleep won't sort.
All in all, a very enjoyable day. I had intended to put up a google pedometer map, but the interwebs are being cranky.
So the route was the Kelvin Walkway till it crosses the Forth and Clyde Canal, the canal to it's basin at Bowling, a bit of ducking and diving around Dumbarton and then up the River Leven to Balloch. From Balloch National Cycle Route 7 to Drymen, then route 7 to the West Highland way, then along that to Milingavie, then rejoining the Kelvin Cycleway at Maryhill Park.
Spaced out Ned encounters, 2, bugs swallowed, at least 3.
Padded cycle shorts are great, not having a hat which covered the back of my head was bad, and the new rucksack from Edinburgh Bicycle Co is great.
