Up about 5.30 am but takes me ages to get ready this morning, partly because I didn’t manage to get my phone and stuff charged last night but the laundry room is open and there are sockets I can use to get this done.
Finally on the road on the road for Gretna and the obligatory photo shoot at Gretna – feeling (ridiculously) guilty that I have jilted Bertie Bike and have Phil with me this time.
And then on to Carlisle.
Very slow and tired today – found a McDonalds for 2nd breakfast – had food with me but it’s cold and damp outside so I wanted somewhere I could sit inside in the warmth, use the toilet and charge my phone (again – using phone to navigate is a huge drain on the battery). I’ve missed breakfast – I’ve barely gone any distance and it’s already after 11am and I end up having a chicken wrap – there doesn’t seem to be any tables with sockets to charge my phone and that I can keep an eye on the bike at the same time -and the door to McDonalds is open so it’s not very warm – so I’ve not ticked many of my boxes but do have something to eat and use the toilet.
Now using cycle route 7 – lovely quiet scenic roads – enjoyed it for a while but hard work and I don’t feel as if I’m making a lot of progress so peel off and pick up the A6 and head through Penrith & Shap – much busier but still good and easier on the legs.
Before joining the A6 I came through “Unthank” – another place name I’d not heard of before – (stolen from the web) “Unthank” typically originates from the Old English word “unþanc,” meaning “without leave” or “without consent.” This often referred to land that was occupied or farmed without the permission of the landowner, effectively making the inhabitants squatters.
After the village of Shap but just before the highest point of the A6 I took a left turn and headed east to try and find a spot to pitch the tent – nothing looked suitable and now I’m in “I’m not supposed to wild camp England” I was feeling a bit more cautious but after a few more hilly miles (and the wind was picking up) I was glad to see signs for Moor House Farm Campsite. A hasty tent erection – making sure nothing got blown away – a lovely spot but little if any shelter from the wind. Shower and straight into tent to hide from the wind and hope that sleep will take over.
Up early and on the road by 6am. Grey and driech but in a nice cooling way. New roads for me in some nice rolling country side. Was aiming to get to get to Carlisle today but knew this was probably a bit too far and even more so having not got so far the night before. Put my ear bud in to help with navigation – never particularly like using them as they are not comfortable and only ever wear one at a time – right ear has a newish piercing which gets in the way of ear bud so left one goes in – progress is made but then I stop getting directions – whether by phone or ear bud it’s not the first time it’s cut out – but then sometime later I realise that I’ve lost the dam thing and having puffed up a hill and not sure when it’s come out I don’t go back to look for it and I’ve now become a horrible litterer of the countryside.
One minute I’m in rolling countryside and the next I’m in a very built up area but passing through this fantastic underpass.
Then past this very phallic mausoleum in Hamilton Park.
Need to push the bike on a steep hill through Chatelherault Country Park and it’s famous hunting lodge – hoping I get better on the hills before I reach the Swiss / Italian border.
I’ve been on cycle route 75 and now 74 – 74 I’ve used before – it’s a well used cycle route between Gretna and Glasgow – super direct and easy but boring as anything and not much to see on the way but I do get another picture of this cycling globe – this time with Phil rather than Bertie.
Feeling tired – def won’t be getting to Carlisle – not convinced I’ll even manage 60 miles – have a pit stop at a wee post office come shop come cafe in Abington and feasted on a large bakewell tart flapjack – finally something kicks in or the cycling moon and stars have lined up – no uphills, the wind is with me and my legs are feeling good and get another 30+ miles in before deciding I need to pitch the tent for a night. Was going to look for a wild camping spot but fancy a shower and could do with getting phone and tracker charged up. Remember that there’s a campsite I’ve stayed at before – Bruce’s Cave Campsite – so named as there is a cave where Robert The Bruce is said to have hidden – and I head there – it’s about 5 miles North West of Getna Green. Tired now and sun is going down- I want to get the tent up before it gets dark – I take the last right turn to the campsite and then get stopped as the barriers are down for the railway line level crossing and I wait and I wait and I wait – no sight or sound of a train coming and it starts to rain – I can actually see the entrance to the campsite but can’t get there – finally a train going north shoots past – yipee I think, I’m ready for a quick take off when the barriers go up but they DON’T!! – they still don’t – while I’m waiting Karen phones and we manage to have a conversation and a huge double rainbow comes out – finally a long goods train passes by but south this time and then barriers go up and finally get to pitch my tent for the night.
Fantastic much needed toasty shower – think I used more than my fair share of hot water but it was bliss – apart when I realised that I seem to have lost some of my skin on my right butt cheek – probably not more than a pin prick but felt huge when the water hit it!
Day 1 – cycle to work with a loaded bike – having the usual why are my bags too full and too heavy – what should I have left behind – what have I forgotten – why do I have a huge bag of banana chips, cashew nuts and dried fruit with me that is probably taking up a 1/4 of the space in one of my panniers, etc etc.
Good day at work and then we are on our way properly. 1st wee hill between Stirling and Denny reminds me how unfit I am – then it’s onto the canal tow path and it’s a perfect evening for getting some miles under my belt – sun is out but not too hot, gentle breeze and no midgies – so perfect that I forgot to turn left and leave the canal at Auchinstarry to start heading south. I accidentally carry on to nearly Kirkintilloch – I could have turned left at Kirkintilloch and headed south from there but it’s much more built up and I reckon less possibilities for a wee bit of wild camping.
So it’s back to Auchinstarry, turn right and head south from there but not before having a blether with a fellow cyclist.
Didn’t get as far south as I would have liked but found a wee spot in some trees, near to a football stadium to pitch my tent for the night – dark coloured tent great for a wee bit of stealth camping – hi vis pink jacket not so much but nobody seemed to notice me putting the tent up.
27 miles / 1 wild camp / 1st item lost and / or forgotten – my cheese is in the fridge at work / 1st item broken – I’ve managed to break the mouth piece for my water bladder and lost most of my water in the process.
It’ over s 2 years since I last put anything on my blog. I came back from Romania and all was good until the last Sunday in October 2023. I wasn’t cycling nearly as much – really just the commute to and from work but I was increasing the running and was on target for the Liverpool double marathon (one on Hogmany and one on New Years day) at the end of the year and then things went a bit pants for about 18 months – my left knee no longer wanted to run and then issues with right hip and back – no marathon far less a double one – I was feeling decidedly unfit. And when all seemed to be getting better I was involved in an accident while walking past a well known supermarket chain, in London, towards the end of 2024 – an almost 2 meter tall metal cage fell off the tail lift of a delivery van, hit me on the back of my right shoulder, threw me to the ground and I smacked my head off the supermarket’s big glass window – luckily the cage was full of empty carboard boxes and not tins of baked beans – but my last day of site seeing was abruptly cancelled and was swapped to me having a visit to casualty and spending my last day in London feeling sorry for myself.
Roll on to 2025 and things definitely seem to be looking up – not much running – just a few Parkruns – but the cycling has increased – not as much as I would like but definitely increasing ………. AND in less than 3 weeks time I am heading off on another big bike tour – fingers crossed it is big and I don’t have to turn back after a few miles down the road – the aim is to get from Alloa in Scotland to Sicily, Italy but only time will tell if I get there or not – so watch this space and I will try and keep you updated and if you click on “2025 Alloa to Italy Bike Ride” at the top of this page you should be able to see how far I have got (or not as the case may be).
So here’s a wee photo update of what I’ve got up to this year –
Great week in Devon – mix of walking, cycling and catching up with Kath to celebrate her 80th birthday. The cycling was a mix of super easy bike trails to brutally hard up hills and not much in between – with me pushing on some of the rougher steeper sections while Karen gracefully sailed up them on her bike. We also managed a quick visit to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall which has been on my to-do-list since seeing a picture of it about 25 years ago and it was worth the wait.
I took Bertie on the train to Edinburgh and cycled back to Alloa, via Cramond with the intention of walking the tidal causeway to Cramond Island – half way to island I realised I not read the tide times properly and made a hasty retreat and cycled home with very wet and cold feet.
Not walking – but a quick walk up Fryrish with my Dad – a fab wee hill that looks over the Cromarty Firth.
My first overnight bike / camping trip since coming back from Romania – put the new tent to the test and saw this great French film in the wee art Art Deco cinema in Aberfeldy – the film was about a wayward nun who entered her convent into a cycling race – quirky and silly but very good fun. The tent was great but light weight means less durable – grand in a campsite with manicured grass but will the ground sheet survive rougher terrain – to buy or not to buy an extra ground sheet??
No camping this time but cycled Alloa to Crianlarich and stayed in the climbing club cottage – onto Connel (near Oban) the next day to see my Auntie Jill and then returned to the cottage for a 2nd night before cycling back to Alloa the next day. Seeing Scotland at it’s glorious best – sunshine and NO midgies and even the seals came out to play on Loch Etive. Not impressed with some of the drivers – overtaking where there was no space to overtake!
Another weekend combining cycling and culture. Cycled to Pitlochry after work on the Friday – it had poured it down in Pitlochry most of the day but I got a mostly dry run – got there in pretty good time but I was glad I had booked my ticket for the theatre for the Saturday night and not the Friday night. I did the Faskally Parkrun on Saturday – a tough hilly 3 loops in beautiful scenery – think if I’d done this a few months later it would be a hellish midgie fest though – I’ll definitely do this run again but only at the right time of year. I made my way back to the Pitlochry Backpackers Hostel where I was staying, via the Dam – the Dam was interesting but a shame that they have had to close (health and safety) the viewing chamber where you used to be able to watch the salmon on their migration – now the migration is monitored by CCTV. Disappointed not to see salmon but unexpectedly bumped into family which was much much better, and had a lovely meal and catch up with my cousins Steve and Brian and 2nd cousin Murray – thank you Murray for spotting me and going on selfie duty – my arms are too short and you are all too tall and I wouldn’t have got us all in. My first time visiting the Pitlochry Festival Theatre – went to see the play about Nan Shepherd – “author, teacher, hillwalker and lover” – the description doesn’t do her or the performance justice – great performance and I would definitely recommend going to see it.
Yesterday was the usual 7 mile bike ride to work on a cloudy and slightly dreich morning but by the time I finished at lunch time the sun was well and truly out and I came home the long way – approx 58 miles – heading east from Stirling, going past the Grangemouth refinery (whatever your views are on the oil production I still love seeing this industrial architecture), got a glimpse of an old diesel locomotive where the cycle path runs alongside the Boness and Kinneil railway line, past Blackness Castle and through the grounds of Hopetoun House before heading across the Forth Bridge (now only open for busses, taxis, bicycles and pedestrians) and heading west for home, stopping at the Sutlery village shop in Charlestown which has a perfectly placed bench outside and sells really good rocky road – I had to google “sutler” and it means (short abbreviated version) a merchant who sells goods to an army camp – and then stopping again in Culross enjoying the views and the evening sun before the last 8 or so miles home.
Some of you may have noticed that my bike has changed from black and yellow to bright shiny blue – Bertie has been put into semi-retirement- he is going to have a rest while me and Phil head off to Italy – named Phil because he is a Genesis Bike! Me and Phil didn’t get off to a very good start – we were not bosom buddies – in fact I wanted to list him (this only makes sense if you watch Kirstie and Phil’s (not my bike) Love it or List on TV) and get rid of him after the first 20 miles – the first 2 miles for the seat – but with a different seat, different handle bar grips and a wee bit of fine tuning I think we are good to go (fingers and toes crossed).
So 2 and a 1/2 weeks to pack, plan a rough route and get going – I love the photos on the cycling blogs where they have their gear neatly laid out so folks know what they are taking, so I thought I would share my take on this –
And that’s it – I’m waiting on the bus home from work – would normally cycle but Bertie Bike is having some respite care at the bike shop – hopefully get him back soon
The first 30 or so miles cycling home was on a mostly good mix of quiet roads and cycle paths. But hard work at times – the stretch between Strathclyde Park and The Forth and Clyde Canal is surprisingly (I thought – although not sure why I was surprised) undulating. Luckily no punctures as there was a couple of stretches with a lot of broken glass.
Joined the canal tow path near Kilsyth – nice and easy cycling and I don’t have to think about navigation as I’m on the last stretch home and I’ve done this bit loads of times. Sun is out as well and the canal is really pretty with the water lillies on it and the wild flowers alongside it.
Make it to Karen’s house – she’s been keeping my house keys safe for me as well as sorting out any geeky gadgety problems I’ve had and helping from afar when I’m panicking about taking Bertie to bits and other maintenance problems.
The heavens open not long after I get to Karen’s so I delay cycling the last 7 miles home until the rain stops, which it does and I make it home just before the next downpour.
Although I complained about being cold at the beginning of my trip and I’ve got very wet at times but overall I’ve had good weather and it was toasty toasty in Romania. Coming back after a spell away you appreciate how green it is – a different vibrancy to it compared with other countries so the rain can’t be all bad.
Now I’m back time to enjoy catching up with friends and family but also got a few ideas for future trips!
