So many more things we wanted to do in Glasgow, have to come back! Managed to have a great day off, even though we also did 14,000 steps!
The routes to Abington and then to Glasgow are what we call ‘getting there’ roads. When on the motorbike, sometimes we have to take a motorway or a crappy, boring road to get to some place good. That’s what the past 2.5 days have been like, not completely getting there roads with nothing interesting at all, but close. Heading back into places good!
Today is the shortest day of this trip, 20 miles from Glasgow to Balloch. We were going to have a leisurely start, but it looks like we’re going to aim for a weather window and race Storm Agnes to get to Balloch before the really big rain and wind gusts up to 80mph. Would be nice to be off the road when that hits!
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We headed out of Glasgow this morning. Traversing Glasgow was so easy. There is a cycle path that runs into and then out of Glasgow along the Clyde and it is so easy to follow. The path out followed the river, then a towpath and then a cycle path, which then took us out of the city and out to Balloch. We even had a Scottish cyclist guiding us at one point!
Made it all 21 miles to the Gowan House B&B in Balloch where Andrea the owner welcomed us well before the 4:00 checkin; we actually got there for 12:30. We had asked if we could come early because the Agnes rain was coming and that was no problem. No ferry cruise on Loch Lomond for us today with the storm. Showered and headed into town to the Balloch Inn for a very warm and cosy pub lunch and to pick up food for tonight (as we’re not going back out into that rain) and for tomorrow’s pedal. Then naps while listening to the rain pound down. The food shop included a nice bottle of wine and charcuterie selection for tonight.
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| Uh-oh, looking like autumn! |
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| That is an interesting one! |
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| Really nice towpath, we don’t often get those |
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| Swans |
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| Cows |
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| This week’s adventures! |
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| Scottish breakfast |
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| Today’s route |
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| Today’s beer |
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| The glass is refillable… |
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| Happy boy! |
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| Great way to while away a rainy afternoon, at the Balloch Inn |
Hopefully, we’ll have an equally nice weather window tomorrow!
Yep, bit of a dawdle this morning mainly along cycle paths. Seemed like we didn’t do much at all but we managed a breakfast stop and a tea stop, pretty much another rest day really. We are on the “Bonny Banks” of Loch Lomond which I think is a fresh water loch and the largest by surface area in the UK (Loch Ness is largest by volume and is said to have a monster!!), from here it’s into Scotland “proper” with mountains, glens, rivers and lochs. We will pass by several over the coming days.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I and my brothers and sisters have been debating over the past couple of days is the detail of our Grandmother’s trip with her first husband (my mother’s father who did when mum was very young) to Loch Lomond on a tandem in the mid 1930s. She was born Edith Campbell (common Scottish surname), became Edith Hesketh when she married for the first time and then Woodcock on her second marriage to Arthur. I have very fond memories of both of them. Eventually she became “grandma Ricky” when she inherited our dog Ricky. It would seem the trip did take place, what is less clear or certain was whether that was a honeymoon trip or whether it took place out of wedlock, if it were the later then I guess it was a pretty “risky” thing to do I would have thought. I think from my recollection of her this could well have been the case!! Anyway married or not I take my hat off to them both, can’t have been easy, they wouldn’t have had 27 gears to choose from and a hot bath/shower every night. Andrew also mentioned that my mother had done a cycle trip in her younger days with her lifelong friend “auntie Kath”, sadly both no longer with us. Seems there is some history of cycling in the genes!!
Today’s route took us out through the west of Glasgow which is where the shipyards are/were, not a scenic route but a glance into the past of this great city. Only naval ships are routinely built here now but in the past great ocean liners were built. Queen Elizabeth 2 was built here by John Brown, launched in Sept 1967 which was probably the last. The Royal Yacht Britannia was also built on the Clyde.
Tomorrow it “back to business” with hills and everything, hoping to fit it into another “weather window” and avoid a soaking. Can’t be many more days before the cycling leggings go on!!!
You deserve an easy day of riding. The towpath sounds lovely. Not so much on the rain. Hope you keep finding good weather windows. Steve certainly looks happy with those pints.
ReplyDeleteWe’ll keep dodging the rain, although tricky tomorrow!
DeleteLove seeing the beer pics. Always interesting to see how it's done in other countries. In the end, doesn't matter really...it's "all" good!
ReplyDeleteHe did find one tonight that he didn’t like, think it might have been a less expensive beer that he drank when he was young…
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