But what about Scotland's cycling epics?

Hmmmmmmmm. Just read Susan Greenwood's article in the Guardian about the best cycling challenges for 2010. While it's obvious she had to do a bit of a worldwide round-up and so couldn't cover all epic events the biggest oversight appears to be the 24-hour Stathpuffer, held at Strathpeffer, Inverness-shire. Voted by a top bike mag as one of the toughest MBT events in the world this surely should have got a mention? And then there's the road cycle sportive, the Bealach Mor, that heads up, up, up and over the UK's biggest road climb. Hmm, I feel a lot better now I've blogged about that!

Bike and wine diet Part II

Following on from my blogs about my new bike and wine diet I hear from one of my Twitter followers walkscotland that he's been following the whisky and walk diet for some years now! Of course, we're all simply trying to justify our love of the hard stuff and we're aware that less booze and a bit more keep-fit would make us healthier for longer. But where's the fun in that?

Now I doubt that Glasgow Bikeathon would want to promote their 2010 event as the ideal way to see off a few booze-charged calories but I imagine they won't mind a bit of publicity. And cycling either the 13 or 26 mile courses during the May 23rd event does have the bonus of blasting away around an average of 400 calories and 800 calories respectively. (That could be calories consumed as glasses of wine, Mars bars, pizzas or nice healthy salads. Whatever.)

Taking part in this family-friendly event will also help raise funds for the newly named Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, formerly known as Leukaemia Research.

Last year, more than 400 people got on their bikes to take part in the inaugural Glasgow Bikeathon and this year event organisers are hoping to increase participant numbers to help raise even more money for the charity.

The Bikeathon offers two predominantly rural routes to riders. Both courses start and finish at the historic country park in Drumpellier, on the Glasgow/North Lanarkshire border.

So whether you’re looking for a physical challenge, a fundraising challenge, a fun day out, and/or a chance to burn some cheeky calories why not sign up to the event now.

No such thing as pot luck on a bike

Something doesn't quite tally here. A week or so ago it took me around 1hr 20 mins to cycle from Bearsden to Falkirk. A leisurely trip of around 24 miles. Today it took me 1hr 10 mins to cycle only 12 miles. So, perhaps I've got a lot slower. Maybe that's true. And, of course, it does depend on the terrain and the number of traffic lights.

In fact the terrain was similar but there were a lot of traffic lights and some did seem to be against me.

No, the real reason why it took me almost as long to cycle half the miles was the number of pot holes. Regardless of council area – I cycled through East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow City and East Renfrewshire on my trip from Bearsden to Newton Mearns (for my third tattoo removal treatment at Ab Fab beauty salon, if you're interested. You know how I like to combine keep fit with going somewhere..) the pot holes were just as bad.

Every pot hole (and there are more than I can count) required a different form of navigation, including such techniques as "veering around", "forced through", "down and under and nearly over" and "brake, stop, wheel through on foot". Some holes were almost the length of my bike and spread right across the lane. It was tedious and frustrating and added at least 15 minutes on to my journey time, as well as up to about half a mile in extra "veering" distance.

We know that councils are skint but surely there's enough money to re-surface the outer edges of the road for cyclists. This way it might encourage many more people to cycle, therefore reducing the number of cars on the road, therefore reducing the wear and tear of the roads and so making a happier all-round city.

I also note rather enviously that East Ren has more miles of cycle lanes than East Dun. The lane stretches almost continuously from the city centre to Newton Mearns. Why not the same in other council areas, I ask?

Going somewhere...

If you ever lose the motivation to exercise then try this tactic: run/cycle back from wherever you are. Of course, you need to be realistic about this (running back from you parent's house 100 miles away ain't very sensible) but I find that it can work a treat. 

So on Saturday, after dropping my  daughter in Glasgow at the train station (to meet her dad who lives in England), I ran back home. It was an amazingly pleasant 6 or 7 mile run in cold, wintry sunshine along the River Kelvin (dodging more than  the usual number of dog walkers) and even bumping in to a couple of tri club pals coming the other way. 

Then on Sunday I cycled back from Bridge of Weir after visiting friends for a lovely meal and sleepover. I'd planned ahead for this one, popping my bike into the back of our car the night before and relying on my husband to drive back the next day. I found a  cycle path from BoW to Paisley that I'd never cycled before (thank you Sustrans) and then joined the roads to head into Glasgow and back to Bearsden on the Kelvin Cycle Way (again!). 

The weather was fab also. Sunny but cold and no wind. If you live in B0W and work in Glasgow then there can hardly be an excuse for not cycling into town, or at least cycling to Johnstone to get the train in. It almost made me think about moving house (but not quite!).

One thing, though. I overheard a Glasgow dog walker offering his opinionated view to another dog walker in Kelvingrove Park. "I mean, if parents have kids who are afraid of dogs then they shouldn't be in the park, should they?" he was opining. "This is our park ain't it? Where there are dogs all the time. I mean, what were the parents thinking of, bringing kids here who are scared of dogs. My dogs were only jumping up a bit and I can't see why I should have to have them on leads, should I?" Hmmm. Isn't it lucky that not every dog walker thinks the same?