July 23- Strathaven to Arrochar- 98.8kms

July 23- Strathaven to Arrochar- 98.8kms

Today was an interesting day where we had very little climbing...in fact we only had a day where we climbed 431metres over the 98.8kms travelled.

The say stated out with our briefing from Rob and we were delighted that despite 7 pagesof notes for the ride, it was going to be flat and relatively easy....

It was a day where we negotiated through Glasgow and saw some very interesting country as we rode along cycle paths into and along canals, rivers ( the Clyde and the Leven) and finally we cycled beside Loch Lomond to our final destination at Arrochbar which is located on the banks of Loch Long.

We organized the day so a number of us rode together as in theory the day was an easier day.... Steve was elected leader and I was the "sweep" for the day.

The trip in to Glasgow was fairly uneventful other than there was a bit of rain and it was a bit cool....temp for most of the day was 16 degrees which was OK.

Going through Glasgow was interesting along the Clyde River where you could see the remnants of the big shipbuilding that was huge in the early part of the 20th century. 

My feeling was that Glasgow could make better use of the paths alongside the Clyde to have outdoor cafes etc....The interesting part was the number of bridges that cross the Clyde...there must have been at least 15 of them that we saw....many of these were built in the 1800's out of stone and iron. 

We also passed through some very depressed parts of Glasgow with Housing Commission style houses and apartments.

After passing along the Clyde it was on to the bike path along the Clyde canal....this was far prettier. The path we travelled on here was a former railway which is now disused but serves as a terrific bike path.

We stopped along this at a place called Bowling Basin at 54kms in to the ride. The café was OK but limited food was available as the electrics were "shorting out" when we arrived....Luckily for a few in the group, the café was located next to a good bike shop ( Magic Cycles) and those with tyre and puncture problems were able to get sorted out.

After lunch it was on to the bike path again with Steve leading and me sweeping. The bike path moved through Dumbaton ,which is situated on the Leven River, and then on to Renton, Alexandria and Balloch where shortly thereafter we were able to see Loch Lomond....

I must say that the Loch was very picturesque and being a Sunday the " locals" were out in numbers on boats and generally sight seeing.

The bike paths were also very busy with riders of all ages doing their Sunday rides from Glasgow to Loch Lomond and return.....We passed an older gent and his wife who were "very gruff " as we made our way....I guess with us trying to be friendly they simply did not understand us!!!

Alongside Loch Lomond we travelled to the town of Luss which is very pretty but was full of tourists. We had an ice cream and took a few photos then it was on to Arronchar where the ride fir the day ended.
As I said earlier Arronchar is located on Loch Long which has access to the sea...as opposed to Loch Lomond which is a fresh water lake.
Today was a good ride in many ways but in some way spoilt by my disappointment with Glasgow.
The photos are going to have wait as the WIFI connections are poor.


Here is the route for today