Hi there,
I, and a son, have just completed the 2008 Sustrans 'Clyde tae Forth' ride. It was really good fun riding in a large group of friendly cyclists of all ages and with lots of different bicycles. The weather was kind for Scotland, mainly dry with occasional showers each day and mostly a following wind! I even used sunblock on the last day.
The ride started in Glasgow on Monday 9th June and went via various existing and potential new Sustrans routes to Edinburgh on Friday 13th June. The route finished at Aberfoyle on Monday, Killin on Tuesday, Dunkeld on Wednesday, Kinross on Thursday and Edinburgh on Friday. Overall a ride of about 200 miles in a horseshoe shape alongside Loch Tay at the northernmost point.
Sustrans routes tend to avoid the obvious straight and easy routes, and this ride was no exception. Luckily there were support vans which took your camping gear on for you, provided a breakdown service during the ride to the unlucky and a buffet breakfast at the campsite from 6.30 in the morning.
It being the midge season there was some dining off the cyclists by midges, this was worst on the first couple of days, easing as we went east and the wind blew.
There were several Thorn bikes in evidence and Rohloffs ruled ok. The quiet supremacy of the Rohloffs was most noticeable on the steep hills as the derailleur users crunched into low gears or dropped chains in moments of stress. It all made gear 7 seem quite quiet. When you had to do a sudden stop for the rider in front of you, being able to drop down a few gears whilst stationary was most useful for setting off again.
There was a lot of interest shown in the Rohloff gears and some potential converts made.
