This climb, local to me, is a short steep narrow road that takes you from the church at the bottom to the Ochil Hills. The church sits in the Forth Valley, in the lea of the Abbey Craig hill, site of the Wallace Monument. Otherwise, the base of this climb is surrounded by the flat [...]
I picked up Ian Banks’ The Crow Road again recently – I couldn’t remember whether the road named in the title was the Scottish cyclists’ favourite, or the urban Crow Road in the Anniesland area of Glasgow. It turned out to be the latter, but the book is worth a read anyway. Heading north, out of [...]
I have not ridden Cadger’s Brae, which is situated in between Kennoway and Freuchie in Fife, and part of the Dave Campbell Memorial Road Race, but with that name I imagine it as a long drag that you can ‘cadge’ a tow up. This couldn’t be further from the truth- it is a steep nasty [...]
Cuilt Brae is the B821, a 2 mile stretch of road from pictureque, well-heeled Strathblane to Carbeth, to the North of Glasgow. It seems to have several names- coming out of Strathblane/Blanefield, it is signed for Stockiemuir. I have heard people refer to it both as ‘Cuilt Brae’ and ‘Stockiemuir’. The top is at Carbeth, [...]
An admission: I’ve been struggling for time a bit lately and have been lax with posting on the blog. I’ve really enjoyed writing during the past 2 years, and I don’t intend to stop. Output might just become a little less frequent than it has been, with work, kids, family life, club volunteering and riding [...]
It is now hill climb season, and The Serpentine Road in Rothesay is used for the hill climb of the Bute Cycling festival, held annually by the Bute Wheelers since the 1950s. This weekend is coming up- 17th and 18th September 2011. The festival incorporates a series of four races, with a fun atmosphere that [...]
Quick post, while I’m working on some other significant pieces. Edinburgh may be the City of the Seven Hills, but Glasgow also has a few stings in the tail for cyclists riding around the city. The town centre, between Blythswood Square to Buchanan Street has several steep little side streets that must be a killer [...]
This Sunday is the Sam Robinson Memorial Road Race, promoted by the Glasgow Nightingale CC, is one of the classics of the Scottish calendar. The route skirts around Callander, actually, but the showpiece is the Dukes Pass. Easily accessible from Stirling, and accessible as part of a longish ride from Glasgow, the Dukes is a [...]
October kicks off with the Tour de Trossachs mountain time trial, run by the Glasgow Ivy CC and stalwart race organiser Jeannette Hazlett. It is a true classic in the Scottish, and in fact the British racing calendar. Amazingly it has run since 1943. The former winners read like a who’s who of Scottish Cycling [...]
This is not a climb I have done, but one that comes courtesy of several contributions from twitter friends. According to Jim aka @cowspassage, Port Askaig Hill is Islay’s Alpe d’Huez. He explains: it is not a long climb, but is more notable for its Alpine-style road engineering, with a couple of well-graded hairpins. Sounds [...]