Off to Scotland again

Another adventure of riding round the coast begins tomorrow, in Glasgow.   The long cold winter nights of planning routes and looking forward to spring are behind us (only just), the sun has been sighted once or twice, and I'm setting out on my sixth year of cycling round the coast.

There is always a mix of good and bad anticipation at this stage, for the good and bad things that might happen.   I can imagine a lot of the bad things, often related to weather, but it's harder to foresee the good things, the nice surprises that always seem to appear when least expected.

Every year is different in character.  Starting from Glasgow this year, I'm leaving the lovely Highlands behind me and visiting Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, about which I know very little.    It's more populous than the Highlands, so I haven't booked overnight accommodation - I'll just turn up and see what I can find.  It all adds to the adrenaline rush.   You will notice Carlisle at the bottom of the map.  I have high hopes of completing the coast of Scotland this year, having started in 2013.

Old

New

One major change this year is my bike.   My much-loved Super Galaxy was diagnosed with serious rust holes in the crossbar last winter, and the frame could not be saved.   So I have a new bike, built from a Spa Cycles frame plus all the bits from my old bike.   How will it get on in Scotland?   I'll tell you later.

I'll aim to post something on the blog every day, and you are invited to visit the blog and share in the highs and lows, without having to bother with all that pedalling.   Or you can subscribe by email (on the right hand side of the screen on a PC) and receive an email each day with the latest updates.   See you on the road!