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You're welcome, there's a bit that say's show 'bike paths', doesn't seem to come up automatically when you select the Bike! Be weary mind as not all bike path's are on tarred roads, every possibility it could be farmers track so a quick streetview could be in order to check it's kosher!
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Yes, cycle route out west of Glasgow isn't that nice and the bit around bottom of loch lomond is particularly grim. Busy with day trippers on hire bikes and lots of litter. If you can change your start, B818 out of Falkirk through Carron Bridge and on to Drymen is very nice. Or go north from Glasgow and onto the Crow Rd (B822) at Lennoxtown then B818 from Gonachan towards Drymen.
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Appreciate it's not the direction you're setting off in, but if you find yourself with spare time or want additional miles, the ride between Edinburgh and Peebles (particularly the final 20 miles) is one of the loveliest bits of cycling I've done. The downhill to Innerleithen is spectacular, then 8 miles on a beautiful new bike path alongside the Tweed.
http://www.mapmyride.com/gb/peebles-sct/peebles-to-edinburgh-route-328422383
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• #8
Open to any advice offered - however, I've actually been to Peebles and cycled around there before (mountain biking, though). The roads were pristine.
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Yeah that route between Glasgow and Dumbarton is pretty shit. Littered (inc a lot of broken glass), can be undesirables hanging around on the bike paths etc.
If you must go in that direction, you'd be better just sticking to main roads and getting it over and done with asap, or get the train to Balloch as that cuts out the worst bit.
Gets nicer from Balloch but the roads out that way can still be pretty busy with drivers too eager to get where they are going and not very sympathetic to cyclists.
The section from Drymen, through Dalmary to Cobleland is pretty bleak, I've ridden it in the other direction once and would never do so again. Direction you're going wouldn't be so bad, big climb out of Drymen then descending pretty much to Cobleland but the scenery is pretty boring and the road pretty bad.
The alternative up the A81 is actually, in my opinion, a much nicer ride and although it is a much busier road, it's still pretty quiet during the day during the week and it's a nice wide road so any traffic you do encounter shouldn't be an issue.
That leads me on to say that in agreement with others I'd suggest heading north more quickly.
Milngavie, depending on the bikes you'll be on either around or through Mugdock park, Strahblane would be a good start.
From Strathblane you can decide between heading east through the Campsie Glen, up the Crow, along the Carron Valley etc or north up the A81 towards Aberfoyle etc.
I'd choose the latter but once you get to the junction at the Aberfoyle Golf Course I'd really recommend you make the extra effort to turn left to Aberfoyle and take in the Duke's Pass and Lochs Achray and Venacher. The Duke's Pass is a cunt of a climb, there's no escaping that but you will be rewarded with quieter roads and much nicer scenery.
Again it depends on the bikes your taking but there's a nice path between Ardtalnaig on the side of Loch Tay and Newton (on the A822) that would be a great way to avoid the A9.
The initial climb is probably largely unrideable due to gradient but wouldn't take long to push up (again I've done it the other way and found keeping my speed down pretty difficult) and while the path is mainly a pretty well surfaced farm access track there are a couple bit where the surface is made up of larger rocks or it becomes quite difficult to follow through grassy areas. By and large though it follows the river Almond so navigation isn't an issue. Very quiet, secluded, nice areas for camping.
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• #10
Whoa - thanks, dude. Meeting up with @hamsandwich later today to work out the details, but will keep this stuff in mind.
Does the overall plan sound good though? Another option could be to get the train to Fort William and cycle down to Edinburgh...
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Ah yeah, Glentress and the Gypsy Glen are seriously special mountain biking areas. If you find yourself heading that way again, definitely worth trying the route I linked to. Enjoy this trip, it looks incredible! Planning LEJOG for August and looking for recommendations for roads/routes myself, might have to put a shout out.
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• #12
Okay - so what would people say on this three days. Camping the first two nights, in Edinburgh the third. Pretty short distances, but is it okay riding? We'll be on touring bikes.
The first day out of Glasgow isn't exactly following the advice given, so needs to be ironed out, but there is a distillery on the way... So... Obvs going there.
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Day 3, on your way to Edinburgh, once over the bridge there is a small village called Crammond which has a lovely little pub if you fancy a wee detour and some lunch, it also has a small island just off the coast which you can visit only at low tide, not sure if that takes your fancy, also, instead of getting straight back onto the road your can take a detour along the coast for 3 miles or so. You're then pretty close to traffic free cycle lanes at the end of that :)
It should look something like this (I've also put your finishing point to my old local 'Brauhaus', they have 100's of different beers, most of which are tasty.
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• #14
Wicked - thanks! Going to work out the details tonight or tomorrow night I think, but stuff like that is ideal. Just don't want to find ourselves on horrible roads (be it the surface, the climbs, or the traffic). The first two days are mostly in the park, and a lot of it is on bike trails, so hopefully that's not big deal. The last day is the one we're less sure of.
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If you follow that route, you should get most of the way into Edinburgh without seeing too much traffic, from what I remember the roads were a bit pot holey so watch out for that. Traffic can be hit or miss in Edinburgh but not as bad as London from what I remember, watch out for the Tram tracks on princes street and Leith Walk as that could be a bit of a rim bender! Lots of nice pubs and bars, have fun :)
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But it does (or did, it's been a while) cheap beer and has a lovely bit of coast to cycle along Crammond beach, plus this is all nostalgic shit for me, why is there piss on my chips :(
Defo hit all the pubs and bars in Edinburgh, it is super cool, shame you won't see any of the festival! Aberdeen is rubbish, don't come to Aberdeen, the Shire however is quite pleasant!
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Looks like a great route!
When I was living in Glasgow for 6 months I used to ride Glasgow to Fort William pretty much weekly. Riding through the Trossachs is amazing no matter what route you take. It's normally pretty quiet too, even on the "busier" roads like the A82.
On the third day, once you cross the bridge over to Queensferry there is actually a pretty decent bike path/route all the way into Edinburgh. It's segregated from the main roads for the most part but some bit's of it turny turny through the suburbs.
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• #19
Awesome! So bike routes on all three days for part of the ride!
Looking forward to the Trossachs. Thought about getting the train to Fort William and riding from there at one point, but we'll get a bit of the highlands with this, and a bit more time in the Trossachs, so it'll be okay.
Thanks everyone!
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• #21
The internet tells me there is a bike bath from Balloch to Tarbet. There's also one on the other side from Killin heading down (Route 7, I think). Between Tarbet and the East side I don't believe there is anything. Some roads that run parallel with the A85 at times, but nothing the whole way.
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• #23
If anyone cares this is GPXable route. Or should I say routes. Still not sure whether to go East once we're at the North end of the Trossachs, and drop in on a couple of distilleries, or carry around and head further South, spending a bit more time in the park, stop at the Wallace memorial (why not?), and save ourselves 30 odd km.
http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Routes/13902
http://www.justgoride.co.uk/routes/13907
http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Routes/13903 -
I'm doing this route from Fort William - Oban - Crianlarich - Glasgow in the middle of August: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9526005
The only part I really don't like the look of is the A85 from Dalmally to Tyndrum, just because I can imagine crawling up a huge hill with traffic following. We're on road bikes. Does anyone know if it's super busy? -
• #25
Did it from crianlarich east. Was busy but doable. The highlight was the route 7 on the other side of the trossachs. If you can find the time to go down the east, rather than west, side, do it. Srsly.
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Touring Scotland
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Hey hive mind - a couple of us are riding Glasgow to Edinburgh via Loch Lomond/Trossachs next week. Any thoughts on a route? We're looking for easy mileage and not too much climbing.
Was thinking something like this: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Glasgow,+Glasgow+City,+UK/Killin,+Stirling,+UK/Perth,+Perth+and+Kinross,+UK/Edinburgh,+City+of+Edinburgh,+UK/@56.2373653,-4.2691413,9z/data=!4m26!4m25!1m5!1m1!1s0x488815562056ceeb:0x71e683b805ef511e!2m2!1d-4.251806!2d55.864237!1m5!1m1!1s0x4888956054c770c9:0x66a3103acb2b4786!2m2!1d-4.319211!2d56.469346!1m5!1m1!1s0x488615c6fb484d03:0xb65f146e7df49618!2m2!1d-3.430838!2d56.394994!1m5!1m1!1s0x4887b800a5982623:0x64f2147b7ce71727!2m2!1d-3.188267!2d55.953252!3e1
Thoughts?