Glasgow road routes

Hi all - thought i'd keep this going rather than start a new thread, anyone have any decent West-End quick routes I could rattle off in my lunchbreak, 10 miles or so? Trying to avoid the worst of the traffic so probably away from Partick / Dumbarton rd - don't spend much time cycling around here so not sure if there's any short, quiet-ish loops I hadn't thought of.

When the weather's half decent I cycle in from Lochwinnoch, then at this time of year I usually get the train in & cycle home but now thinking about leaving a bike in work to get out for an hour when it's light instead of being a martyr & doing all my cycling in the cold / dark / rain.

Also - if anyone needs any ideas of routes out this way, I spent a fair bit of time wandering around the back roads of Renfrewshire over the summer & there's a few good (but hilly) routes out here.

Cheers!

man, I rode in the north/west a couple of weeks ago for the first time in about 12/18 months... holy mother of god the traffic is abysmal over that side, even on the quieter B-roads. think a big issue is that the roads between e.g. balloch/drymen or strathblane/aberfoyle are the arterial routes out of the city towards the north. can ride for hours in the south criss-crossing lanes without seeing nary a car... on the north/west, my heart rate was spiking from car stress alone

Yeah, I've not been out that way for a while - remember it being a bit hairy at times & it's even worse getting there from the Byres rd in the first place - I'll probably just follow my nose & see where I end up... most likely doing laps of the park - ding ding motherfuckers!

I’m in Killearn in between Balfron and Strathblane. Roads can be “ok” at choice times of the day/week but can be hairy most of the time. Many locals have a real hatred for two wheeled road users but if you pick your times there are some lovely roads out here.

it is to my eternal frustration that duke's pass is very rarely an option to me because of the roads i need to take to get there...

duke’s, crow, tak, totw... no doubt the north has the better climbs but I’d much rather ride the (quieter) rollers in the south

Tak Ma Doon I’ve still not done even though it’s so close by. Kids get in the way so maybe I’ll give it a bash 15 years

It’s mad, it’s like they just don’t know what to do when they see a cyclist.

I remember driving back into the city from the three north and watched a driver in a big fuck off Range Rover sit right up the arse of a cyclist because there was double white lines in the middle of the road, up climbs where the cyclist’s speed meant an overtake would have taken seconds and everything.

We eventually both got past and then at another bit of double whites the Range Rover crossed over to the other side of the road and almost took out an oncoming vehicle because there was a puddle at the verge they didn’t want to drive through.

The mind boggles.

What's everyone's feels about leaving their council area during a ride?

I think the FM said you can cross into other areas for exercise but to try and keep it to areas that are on the same level as yours? Which really means I can go further afield than I was up until now as I'd been trying to stay within the gg&c healthboard area whereas now I could cross into Ayreshire and Lanarkshire if I wanted, though I hear they are aw big durties so might keep out of there!

I think with the whole central belt being the same level it's fine - during the summer lockdown I was heading out for rides that crossed Renfrewshire / Inverclyde / Ayrshire without straying all that far from the door - although I would always go early enough I rarely seen another soul, would avoid cyclepaths like the plague as they were always crowded & take enough with me that I wouldn't have to stop anywhere during the ride

Yeah that makes sense.

During lockdown #1 I want really caring about where I was riding, just was doing all rides from the flat instead of driving anywhere. I realised I’d popped out of the health board area on a ride about a month ago and tried to reign it in after that.

Trying to get a decent mileage in within gcc boundaries would be tiresome.

I think if you stay within a cycle distance it's ok, you're not really taking the piss. Suppose it's like sturgeon said first time round, if it feels wrong don't do it.

Actually not a bad day for it today, but being a hearts fan I sat up drinking whisky to toast the memory of zaliukas and there is no way I'm going out today now.

Aye that was a shocker, he was supposedly a lovely guy!

I went out yesterday & again today for a random lunchtime spin - roads round the West End are as bad as you might expect at 1pm... ended up just taking random turns when things ahead started to back up, not really the most enjoyable but at least I got out for a bit!

I remembered earlier the lovely algorithms at Garmin will make a route for you if you give it a start point, distance & tell it roughly which direction to head - so will give this a bash tomorrow, looks reasonable & seems to avoid the worst bits i've done the last couple of days, although that hill at Cleveden is a bastard on a bike with no gears!

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Is that just on the route builder thing on Connect?

Would be useful for running as I want to do one 5k run a week but I want it to actually be 5k rather than the 8 or 10 I end up doing if I just head out with no route in mind as I just end up buggered for days afterwards if I do that.

Yeah that's the one - I tend to stick to popularity routing if it's somewhere i'm not totally familiar with & it seems to work pretty well, I still always zoom in & check exactly where it's sending me just to be sure though!

I used to like throwing in a couple of short runs per week - great for fitness & half an hour is enough, my knees have staged a revolt however so that's scrapped... mate of mine has been doing a bit & seen some good improvements in his cycling... he lost 2 stone into the bargain so he's now much lighter and fitter, he was never a slouch before but now it's hard to keep up if he's pushing on

hey all, just following this - i've been tryna find a group to join for a while, but as a fairly casual rider not sure who to turn to. In the summer i try and get about 80-100k a week, but deep winter almost a write-off for me (except for short commutes) mainly cus i don't have an accessible way to clean my bike! Often now use the DIY pressure washer for cars at ASDAs lol
As i said my training is fairly casual, more for mind than muscle, and i don't unfortunately have the time to commit to getting out a lot. I'm at GU at the moment doing a post grad and thought i'd be able to join their cycle club, but most all rides have been cancelled so far with covid so i haven't even met the bunch once. I was also following the brew dog group on strava but didn't make it to a ride before covid halted that..

I'll look out for those clubs Skydog mentioned, thanks for that, but if anyone want to get together for an easyish small sunday ride whenever weather is ok i'd be up for joining. I'm southside shawlands.

Hey dude, I personally don't live within the Glasgow boundary anymore (moved just outside Glasgow now) so don't really ride the routes out south as much as I used to.
But I'm sure theres a few folk here who live south side who will oblige you on a local chill Sunday ride.
Weather has been rank recently but as we get closer to nicer spring weather and current restrictions ease, I'll be up for going a nice Sunday cruise on the southside routes. Happy to show you the roads over and around the Campsies too.

Yeah up for that. Have barely touched my bikes at all lately, other than the turbo so really need to sort it!

Hi, I'm in Shawlands so happy to provide a load of routes out into the lanes. Fair warning, they can get really icy and it's very hard to predict based on roads around here. I've been out when there's nothing in Shawlands and the lanes have been a deathtrap, so it's worth knowing the main roads in the area so you can either get back fine or get a decent ride in that way.

The GU rides will stay shut down, probably until after Easter based on what I'm hearing (I work at GU) and even then I'm not sure what attendance will be like as students may not be returning in full until next year.

For washing bikes I have a pump-operated pressure washer. It's a pain carrying things from a second floor flat to the back court, but it works and means I don't have to subject things to pressure washers too often.

I'd be up for an occasional easy Sunday ride every now and then, depending on pace. I can bring gears or my fixed gear.

That's the sun back. Sitting working and looking out the window longingly.

Could get this kicked off soon?

Current restrictions might be a problem. Only supposed to be out in pairs at the moment.

Fingers crossed big Nic has something to say about that tomorrow eh?

Great ride today, mostly road, bit of gravel, some ridiculous puddles. Erskine, Bishopton, Houston, Johnstone way.

The way we climbed out of Johnstone was brutal. Nice lanes out that way though and jumped on the cycle paths for a bit too.

Yeah there are some sharp hills from Johnstone / Howwood back over towards the Braes (and vise versa!) - some of the lanes out that way are a bit narrow & I always worry about meeting a tractor as i'm pelting down them at 40pmh, I usually keep them until summer.

I've still not been out this year - Jesus, it's March next week! Might break myself in gently with a hour or two at the weekend if it's dryish

normal service resumed today I see

The way SC have been following the rules for contact sport with their guidance I wouldn't put too much faith in group riding being back before April, but we can hope.

Got a route? Burntshields Road is the one I know out of Johnstone towards Lochwinnoch, sounds like you were going the other way though.