On September 16th 2007 I and a few thousand other hardy souls took part in the annual Pedal for Scotland event. This is a cycle ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh - a distance of just over 50 miles - starting at Glasgow Green and finishing at Victoria Park in Edinburgh. As well as publicising cycling and being an adventurous day out, the event was also being used to raise money for Leukaemia Research.

I had thought about doing the event last year - but not quite been organised enough. This year when a couple of others said they were intending to take part I decided to join them.

For those of us from the East, buses and trucks were available (for a fee) to take us and our bikes through to the start point. This meant getting up while it was still dark and cycling down to the finish point. For me that was a warm up of about 7 miles - made a bit more fun by some of the lights being out on the Roseburn cycle path. My LED light doesn't do much to light up the way ahead! The forecast was bad, but fortunately at this point it was still dry.

There had been a bit of confusion around the setting off times from Victoria Park - a late email suggested that the booked times had changed and there was now just a single set off time. Although the instructions made a big deal about wearing your number and making sure you had both, not too much notice was being taken. In fact one could have had a free ride to Glasgow just by turning up with a bike.

On the way through to Glasgow the rain started - and boy did it rain. In fact it rained pretty hard all day until just after we got to the finish, whereupon the sun came out! You can probably see from the photos how wet it was. On arrival we stood around for a while while the trucks were unloaded. Again not too much notice seemed to be being taken of numbers while unloading either. In fact the main benefit seemed to be that it was easier to identify you in the photos that were taken and could buy later. I met up with Fiona and Graeme and we set off for the start line together. I switched on my GPS unit to record the route and profile.

GPS capture of the route
GPS capture of the profile - note barometer wasn't calibrated

Eric with Graeme just behind near the start

The pace was fairly sedate, with a large number of riders in front of and behind us. There were people in all sorts of garb - most of it not really proof against the weather I think - on all sorts of bikes. Throughout the day we seemed to pass a lot of people who had suffered punctures. Changing or fixing tubes in this kind of downpour is no fun at all. Fortunately none of the three of us suffered that fate.

The run out of Glasgow was well marshalled, with the police helping on the early part of the course. There was a fair bit of mileage on the main roads, but the sheer number of bikes offered some protection. We rode straight through the first rest point which was after about 8 miles. By this time we were already soaked through, despite wearing waterproofs. Only another forty something miles to go.


Eric somewhere in Glasgow

We stopped to eat our soggy sandwiches at the second rest point at Avonmouth. There wasn't going to be much danger of dying through dehydration. My Camelbak was still pretty full. There was a tent in the primary school, but the ground between it and the road had turned into a mud-patch, so we didn't bother struggling across it. Then it was on towards Linlithgow.

This was the hilly part of the course - nothing too strenuous, but many people were slowing down a bit. A few were walking. As we came down a long downhill towards Linlithgow Graeme broke a couple of spokes. Not much to do but take it easy and go slow. When we got to Linlithgow we stopped to see if there was anything that could be done. It turned out not, so we scoffed some pasta and continued on our way to South Queensferry. The route diverted us through the Hopetoun estate, where we stopped briefly while Fiona put in some eyedrops. The bit after this stop was a bit entertaining - a grassy field that had turned to mud - which my bike really didn't like. I saw one guy hit a pothole on the track immediately after and get a pinch flat.

Now it was on through South Queensferry - over the rather unpleasant cobbles - and up Hawes Brae - the first seriously steep hill. It wasn't too long, but lots of people got part way up and then walked the rest. All three of us being superfit (ha ha) we managed to pedal all the way up, then up through Dalmeny and onto a route I have sometimes taken home, so familiar territory. After that it was plain sailing on the No 1 cycle route and eventually back to Victoria Park, where we cycled to the finish and were given our goody bags, including a medal.


Eric with Fiona just behind at the finish


Eric at the finish

At this point the rain stopped. After a brief stand around we headed for our respective homes - for me the return 7 miles. Cycling against the main flow of cyclists was a bit entertaining. Not everyone was expecting people to be coming the other way! I took off all my soggy kit at the front door and put it straight in the washing machine - then jumped into a warm bath.