Public Park And Broken Glass, Bad Combination.

       Another lovely day, isn't our climate wonderful. I have a short memory problem when it comes to our wet and windy, cold and drizzly Scottish weather, because of which, I am always optimistic about our climate. So another wee run out on the bike, again one of those embarrassing short runs. This time very local, headed for Springburn Public Park, my local park. It is not that large but was a maze of tracks and paths lots of them shrouded in trees and shrubs. You can merrily cycle around twisting and turning under the impression that you are going somewhere. It is the public park I played in as a school kid, many centuries ago. As well as football pitches, a bowling green, kids play area, and what is a large green space, used as a cricket pitch, it has three ponds. One is labelled Duck conservation pond, another is a beautiful wild life pond, the third, when I was a boy, used to be the boating pond, where you could hire small paddle boats and for a short period, be a pirate. It is now another wild life pond. At the moment as well as lots of mallard ducks there are swans standing guard over their cygnets. Most of the tracks are smooth tarmac, good for the bike, a few stretches are rather in need of repair.

 

       What started off as a great day went all wrong after about 8 miles or so of pleasant pedaling. Sadly the park has a couple of spots where some idiot has smashed a bottle and left it there for kids to fall on, dogs to walk over and cyclist to get punctures. Yes, you guessed it, I got a puncture, back wheel. Walking is not my thing any more, nor is sitting on the grass fixing a puncture. It's not the sitting on the grass, its the getting back up, arthritis and all that jazz. So I walked a bit, found a tree stump, sat there and fixed the puncture. stumbled back to the path and went to get on the bike and discovered that the front wheel was also flat. Too much bother to fix it, so ended my wee cycle, the rest was a slow rather painful walk pushing the bike. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

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Hope Springs Eternal.

        Well Sunday was a special day for me. After almost 18 months of medical problems from internal examinations to tumour removal, from chemo to fractured foot, from A&E to blood transfusions, from Acute Assessment Units to urine infections, from flu to pneumonia, from being carted off in an ambulance to labyrinthitis, and energy levels that dipped below zero, I was beginning to think that I would never get back on the bike.        

         However, hope springs eternal and Sunday being a nice day, sunny intervals and a light wind, I decided now was the time. So a small outing on the dream machine was called for, and the legs didn't complain too much, though there has been a drop off of power in the wee legs, but I was out pushing the pedals. I'm too embarrassed to say how small a run it was, but I was out there just as a wee test run to see how I got on, and it was fantastic. I am now looking forward with immense delight to a long hot summer that I know Scotland can deliver. Yeeha.

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On The Road Again.

       Well Tuesday was a mild day, a bit overcast, but no rain and little in the way of wind. So who wouldn't want to get out on the bike? First time in quite a long while since I had been on the road, recent outings have been along the Forth and Clyde canal, it's relatively flat, (its been a rotten year with one thing and another), so nice and easy.

      Today it was cycling round and round the Lowmoss area, back on familiar roads round my patch, and it was great to escape the canal. I suppose, as far as cycling goes, I have covered too many road miles, over too many years, to be anything but a bike "roadie". When I started cycling cars were an oddity, one would roll past every now and again, today, it is an endless convoy of tin boxes of all shapes and sizes, flashing past you, sometimes at frightening speed and dangerous close, they call it progress. 

      Glasgow recently hosted the European cycling championships, and I suppose you could say of the council, "Didn't they do well", whole swaths of road were repaired, potholes were sorted, sunken drain covers were fixed. Sadly it was only the roads to be used by the professional cycle racers. All that repair work for a couple of hundred cyclists, when the city has thousands of cyclists that  use the roads on a daily basis and nothing is done to fix the multitude of potholes, crack and broken tarmac, sunken drain covers, on the roads all over the city. I think they got their priorities dreadfully wrong. Surely the citizens of Glasgow deserve as good a treatment as cycling visitors. Then again, the big spectacle is all about big money, and our city council will always pay homage to the big bucks. Ah, that's capitalism.

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Cycling Shoe To Moon-boot.

         Last week Stasia and I decided we would head for the Isle of Bute with the bikes and enjoy a few days cycling on the island. We booked into a wee cottage in Rothesay. Unfortunately the day or so before we left for the Isle, while doing some DIY in the garden, I dropped a rather heavy piece of teak on my left foot. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when we arrived in Rothesay, my foot was "loupin", (throbbing with pain). So it was a visit the the local Accident and Emergency unit, efficient examination, Xray, and told I had three small fractures on my foot, fitted with a "moon-boot" and handed a walking stick. Back at the cottage I thought, the "moon-boot" is to hold the foot firm and support the bones, well, a cycling shoe with its solid sole and tight Velcro straps would do just the same. Undaunted, off we went for a short cycle along the coast, stopping at a quiet spot, I sat and admired the view, while Stasia wandered along the beach. After a while it was a pleasant cycle back to the cottage. However by this time my foot was complaining something terrible, so it was back on with the moon-boot and that was the end of our cycling around the Isle of Bute. Now home and the foot is still "loupin". 

Enjoying Isle of Bute sunshine.

Stasia doing her walk-about.

Not the ideal cycling shoe. 

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Two Stables And Not a Horse In Sight.

       What has happened to Scotland? Glorious sunny weather day after day, "Aye, we'll piy fur this, mark ma words."  However, in the meantime let's grasp it while we can. Still trying to get some miles in my legs, it was back to the Forth and Clyde Canal, stretching it a little each time out. What a great afternoon, the canal was busy with walkers and cyclists, as well as the odd boat chugging its way along, with people sunning themselves on deck. I was also delighted to see a group of school kids canoeing their way along the canal. I passed two "Stables" but not a horse in sight, they are both now eating houses. One Lambhill Stables, where I saw the canoeists, the other, The Stables near Kirkintilloch, in the past, I have sampled its hospitality and it was very pleasant, both were busy.

 I never got this at school.

Lambhill Stables.

The Stables near Kirkintilloch.

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Back On The Road Again.

         I have been out on the bike quite a few times recently, but have never bothered to post anything about the journeys. The main reason being that they have all been of the soft option, easy and short, along the Forth and Clyde Canal. 

          Today, for a wee change, I thought I would have a go at my favourite patch, the Campsie area and post a few photos, just to let my friends know that I am still out pushing the pedals. Though nowadays I don't refer to myself as a cyclist, more an old guy who goes out on his bike.  Part was on the road to Strathblane, where my old legs complained a little at the hills, and my pace was pathetic. The other part was on the Strathblane Railway Path. I suppose it used to be a railway that served the rural area, until Beeching put paid to that. I never feel happy on these cycle paths and canal paths. They seem too narrow, and with joggers, dog walkers, families with prams and kids, and cyclist, all moving in both directions, I get a little frustrated and apprehensive. I'm happier on the road I just have the vehicles to contend with and they are all moving in the same direction as myself.  Well that's my wee moan over for the meantime.

The road at Strathblane just before you enter the cycle path.

A view from the cycle path.

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A Second Start.

 

       After a very late and false start to my cycling season about a month ago, I was hit with some more problems. So feeling good and Friday being a beautiful day, start number two was scheduled. So Stasia and I set off for the same very easy, and very short, relatively flat run along part of the Forth and Clyde canal. I can't believe it is halfway through May and I am just starting (again) my cycling season, what a crap year. However, once again that wonderful feeling of pumping the pedals, looking around at the countryside and enjoying the brilliant weather. Being a weekday, the canal path was not that busy, at the weekends it can be a bit of a nightmare as it very popular with walkers, runners, families, dog walkers, couples with prams and of course cyclists, it is not a wide path. It was also good to see that the canal was relatively busy with various pleasure craft. A stop off at the Stables, a favourite watering hole on the canal bank a little before Kirkintilloch. A great afternoon, and the legs didn't complain too much, but seem to have forgotten the word "pace".

Some "canalfarers" at rest.

The bridge at Kirkintilloch.

The Stables, a pleasant watering hole on the canal near Kirkintilloch. 

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A Welcome Sign On A Short Run.

      After six months of medical problems and a prolonged winter and forced inactivity, my thoughts were sadly turning to, would I ever get out on the bike again. Saturday was a beautiful day so after a few trials of trying to get my leg over and onto the bike and back off again, I set off. I picked an easy run, very easy, and a short run, very short, I decided to follow the Forth and Clyde canal for a bit and then return by the same route. I was hoping that the legs wouldn't complain too much, to my delight they didn't. The pace was down as was the gears I was using, but what the hell, here I was pedaling in beautiful sunshine, ah, the exhilaration. Not far along my journey I had to stop and take a photo of a very welcoming sight, an unknown friend had been busy with their paint can.

      So the first run of the late start season over, and looking forward to building it up, weather permitting, after all, this is Scotland, land of the mist and the heather. 

A welcoming sign.

A wee seat at Kirkintilloch to sit and enjoy the canal.

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It Doesn't Always Go To Plan.

        Thursday was a pleasant day, a wee break from the usual wind and rain we have been getting. So good opportunity to get out on the bike, over the last month or so, I have been out once and on occasions twice a week as weather permits for a fair weather cyclist. Usually it was round the Campsie area, on a recent visit to Bishopbriggs I noticed a cycle path that went through a kids play area and on through some trees. With my twisted logic I assumed that it would continue meandering down towards the Forth and Clyde canal. So that was my plan, set off from Bishopbriggs along the cycle path on to the canal to Kirkintilloch, and then decide which road to take from there. Nice and easy through the kids park, into the tree area, then faced with a rather steep incline of a footpath/cycle-track. That's where I bumped into these three guys, they looked quite surprised to see me.

       At the top of the incline, disappointment, the cycle path didn't continue, it was onto a road, I was now in a housing estate. making my way through an area I didn't know, finally arrived at the main Bishopbriggs, Kirkintiloch road, a road I always try to avoid. The traffic was horrendous and every couple of hundred yards or so, a set of traffic lights. Before Kirkintilloch, I decided that I had had enough, and headed back to a café in Bishopbriggs and home. A rather short and not my most enjoyable outing, that will teach me not to assume anything, but check things out first.

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People Hidden From Society.

       Yesterday, Wednesday, another lovely day, though the wind could have been a wee bit kinder,13/14 mph. These nasty thoughts about the wind never used to enter my head, but now that I'm an old wrinkly, fair weather cyclist, they do creep in from time to time.

       As I said, another lovely day, so out on the usual route, the Campsie area. Not a good run for a Westerly wind, which it was, as the start of the run is mainly down hill, from the Lowmoss/Torrance round-about, all the way through Kirkintilloch, you have it easy and the Westerly wind behind you. Like I said, those nasty thoughts creep in as I flee downhill towards Auchenreoch, "I'll have to face this bloody wind all the up this drag on the way home", an easterly wind would be nice for this run.

       On the way home I thought I would go and have a look at that wee lochan I saw through the trees, last time out. So I wandered down a twisty path to its edge, there were a couple of locals out with their dogs, and I asked if this small lochan had a name. Their answer was a wee bit of a disappointment to me, they said "No". They explained that it was a man made settlement pool for domestic waste water from the nearby, well-to-do housing estate that was built on what was once the beautiful location of Lennox Castle. Hidden away from public view, surrounded by trees, Lennox Castle, has gone from a home for those with learning difficulties, to a swanky housing estate. It seems that it has followed the normal course in this society, from a publicly owned hospital, albeit, with a dubious past, to a home for the wealthy. Ah well, I suppose that is par for the course in this society. 

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A Wee Hidden Gem.

         Haven't been able to get out on the bike much recently. A combination of lousy weather, (I'm now a fair weather cyclist) and difficult circumstances. However, today was forecast to be dry, with light winds, so dusted it down, checked the tyres and set off for a spin round my old familiar patch, the Campsie Hills area. Wrong shirt, it was a bit cooler than I thought, but still a very enjoyable run, not as many cyclist out on the road as usual. Although I have covered that area on the bike countless times, it never fails to surprise me, a view I hadn't taken in before, something through the trees I hadn't noticed before, some trees that have been removed, a burn in spate, and so on. Today, as I took to the cycle path just before you enter Lennoxtown, second time ever, I was obliged to stop because of a group of people with about six dogs spread out all over the pathway. While stopped I noticed through the trees a small lochan I never knew existed. It is pleasantly tucked behind shrubs and trees. So I stood looking at it for a while, watching the mallard peacefully swimming about. I had to take a wee photo. 

 On the cycle path just before you enter Lennoxtown. 

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Two Punctures And A Few Showers.

 Stathis preparing to cook the gourmet meal.

        On Sunday we had arranged with my daughter's family to have a barbecue at Firkin Point, it lies on the west shore of Loch Lomond between Invebeg and Tarbet. The plan was they would make their way there by car and I would cycle up the loch to Tarbet, turn and head back to Firkin Point to join them. Their part of the arrangement went to plan, my part of the plan however, was a little different. The day proved to be one of wind and some heavy showers, not my ideal cycling weather, so my wee yellow cape was on and off a few times. A short distance from Luss I got a puncture, normally not much of a problem, as I carry two spare tubes. However with my back and hip problems, I can no longer just sit on the grass verge and sort it out. If I sit down that low I have great difficulty in getting back up unassisted. If I stand and try to do things, my back aches something awful, so I walked up a farm path and found some large rocks I could sit on and get the job done. Back on the bike and about a mile further on, I got another puncture, now faced with the same problem, I decided to walk to Luss where I found a bollard at the entrance to to the village, where I could lean my back against as I stood at the side of the road and sorted the problem. Now well behind in time, another heavy shower, the wee yellow cape back on, I decided to skip Tarbet and just head for Firkin point and food. On arriving, I also decided to put the bike in the back of my partners car and abandon the run back, that's a first for me. 

One of the sunny spells between the showers and overcast sky.

     Never the less, the barbecue was a great success, even although it was punctuated by showers. It was also a wee birthday celebration for my grand daughter's 11th birthday, though that is in July, but she will be in Greece by then, so we had it a bit early.

During one of the dark overcast moments, my partners total failure to fly the kite.

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