Jane's Log

Tour of Britain Cycle Race

September 10, 2016September 10, 2016janeslog1 Comment

The Tour of Britain cycle race got underway on Sunday 4th September from Glasgow and finishes on Sunday the 11th in London. Many big names are taking part in the race including Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel, Steve Cummings, Elia Viviani, Sir Bradley Wiggins and others.

The first stage of the race left from George Square before travelling to Kilmarnock, Dalmellington before finishing in Castle Douglas.The weather was warm and sunny and there were a large number of spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of the riders.

Top Cycling Stars

As expected, the Data Dimension team bus was surrounded by a large crowd hoping to see top British rider Mark Cavendish. He did manage to get through the crowds to make his way to the large mobile stage in George Square for the team presentation prior to the commencement of the race. I managed to get a photograph of him making his way to the team presentation.

Mark Cavendish

I also caught a glimpse of Steve Cummings, a teammate of Cavendish who had a stunning solo victory on stage 7 (L’Isle-Jourdain to Lac de Payolle) in this year’s Tour de France.

Steve Cummings

Mark Renshaw

Australian rider Mark Renshaw, is the lead-out man for sprinter Mark Cavendish’s and he was seen chatting to members of the Sky team. His nickname is ‘Prince Harry’, as he bears a resemblance to the British royal prince.

Top German sprinter Andre Greipel was also taking part in the race and got a good reception from the crowd. He was the eventual winner of the stage in Castle Douglas. In this year’s Tour de France Greipel won the final stage in Paris.

Andre Greipal

The race started with 2 laps around the city centre before heading south to Kilmarnock, Dalmellington, St John’s Town of Dalry, Parton and Castle Douglas.

Lap 1 of the race

Andre Greipel in white jersey

Nicholas Roche (second right) and Italian Road Champion Manuel Quinziato

Nicholas Roche (second right in white jersey in image above) of Team Sky is the son of former pro rider, Stephen Roche, who had a glittering career and won the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and World Road Race in 1987. Nicholas Roche is currently the Irish National Road Race and TT Champion.

Sir Bradley Wiggins

Sprinting for the line

During the second lap 5 riders out in front. The sprint in Clyde Street was won by Jasper Bovenhuis of the An Post – Chain Reaction Cycles team.

Peloton on lap 2

Sir Bradley Wiggins

Rear view

After leaving Glasgow the route was going through some beautiful countryside.on its way to Castle Douglas.

St John’s Town of Dalry

When I was watching the race on TV later, I could remember many of the roads in Dumfriesshire, as I used to stay with my auntie and uncle and five cousins in St John’s Town of Dalry during some of the school holidays. The area is great for cycling and I remembered many of the locations the race was travelling through as I watched it on TV.

The town was used by pilgrims travelling from Edinburgh to the church established by St Ninian at Whithorn. Support was offered to pilgrims by the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, who owned much of the land on which the village was built until the Reformation.

I would have loved to watch more of the race from the roadside, but I do not have a car and my car-owing friends decided it would be more enjoyable going shopping in the designer shops Glasgow, than watch a great cycle race.

Castle Douglas

The race finished in Castle Douglas with sprinter Andre Greipel winning the 100.5 mile stage. There was a bad crash on the bend leading to the finish which involved Mark Cavendish. Fortunately none of the riders were seriously hurt. Another casualty of the crash was the carbon fibre bike of Team Sky’s Elia Viviani, which was broken in half.

Summary

The start in Glasgow was well organised and the crowds appreciated the event commencing in the city by turning up in large numbers to cheer on the riders. Hopefully more events like this will be held in the city in the future.

Further Information
Tour of Britain

Loch Lomond and the Village of Luss

June 12, 2016June 12, 2016janeslog2 Comments

Map of the Area

The weather has been lovely and sunny so with a few days off work, we took the train to Balloch on the south side of Loch Lomond and cycled to the village of Luss. It was an easy-going day.

The area around Loch Lomond is spectacular and it attracts plenty of visitors from all over the world. I heard French, German and an oriental language, which may have been Japanese, as well as English, being spoken.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is the largest inland stretch of water in Great Britain by surface area.The loch also contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles.The Loch is part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park which was established in 2002.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond looking East

Crannogs

Loch Lomond has many small islands called ‘crannogs’. These were built by Iron Age people over 2500 years ago when wooden piles were placed in the loch to enable dwelling places to be built free from predators. They were accessed by a causeway.

In later periods rocks were added to the wooden structures to make an island and to allow dwelling places to be constructed with rocks. In the photograph below a crannog can be seen in behind the small boats.

Crannog

Cameron House Hotel

Cameron House Hotel and resort

The five-star Cameron House Hotel and Resort is situated on the banks of loch Lomond. It has an 18-hole Championship golf course, a luxury resort spa and a range of outdoor pursuits.
When we were there, a seaplane was taking visitors on a flight around the area. We watched the seaplane departing on another journey with a full complement of passengers.

Seaplane at Loch Lomond

We then continued on the cycle path to Luss. Although it is not compulsory to cycle on the cycle path, it is recommended, as it is adjacent to the busy A82 road. The cycle path is an old footpath and has quite a few blind bends in it so care has to be taken when riding along.

Queen’s Tree

Across from the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel in Luss is the Queen’s Tree. This was planted to commemorate HM Queen Elizabeth II, on 9 September 2015, overtaking her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to become the longest reigning monarch in British history. The tree is a Red Oak (quercus robur), and its base is surrounded by an inscribed stone circle.

Queen’s Tree, Luss

Luss

One of the things visitors notice about Luss is the colourful displays of flowers in the village. Many of the villagers have good displays of flowers in front of their houses. Below shows some of the displays.

Luss Parish Church

The church in Luss, which was built in 1875, used to performs more marriages in Scotland than any other church. This was scaled down in 2013 at the request of the then minister who wanted to spend more time with the 750,000 visitors to the area.

Luss Parish Church

Luss Parish Church Entrance

At the entrance to the church is a quote from the Psalm 122 v1 “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” When we were there, a coach load of French visitors were being shown round the church.

Luss Pier

Luss has a small pier from where many small ferries take visitors on trips around the loch. Visitors can visit many areas and islands on the loch including Rowardennan, Balloch and Balmaha and visit the islands including Inchmurrin and Inchcailloch.

Some of the ferries also have bike racks so it is possible to take a bicycle and continue with a tour in another area of the loch.

A Mute Swan and Cygnets at Luss Pier

Luss Heilan’ Coos

There were some Highland Cows in a field in Luss – a mother and two calves. These were very popular with the visitors and the cows were enjoying all the attention they were getting. As it was very warm, the cows were having a wee lie down.

Luss Heilan’ Coos

After a great day in Luss, we cycled back to Balloch to have some fish and chips in Palumbo’s cafe before making our way to the train station for the journey home.

Further Information

Luss

Luss (Visit Scotland)

Palumbo’s of Balloch

Cycle Ride Around East Lothian

May 29, 2016May 29, 2016janeslog1 Comment

Map of the Route

I was looking for a nice quiet area to cycle around when friends suggested East Lothian. This is the area to the east of Edinburgh and a popular area.

I arranged to meet friends in Dunbar and travelled from Motherwell on the Cross Country train. The journey was only 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Arriving at Dunbar, I met up with some friends and we started cycling towards the Museum of Flight at East Fortune.

We cycled along the cycle route 76 to East Linton and then continued along the A199 road until we turned right onto the B1347. This road was quite hilly, but we soon had arrived at the National Museum of Flight.

National Museum of Flight

The adult admission was 12 GBP, but as we had arrived by bicycle, it only cost 10.00 GBP. East Fortune is a disused airbase which was established as a fighter and airship airfield in 1915. During the Second World it was used as a flying training establishment. In 1942 it became a station for a group of de Havilland Mosquito aircraft.

Concorde

One of the Concorde supersonic passenger jets is on display in the museum and visitors can enter the plane to view the interior. Concorde was withdrawn from service in 2003 and a few of the planes are on display in various countries around the world.

Concorde

The interior of the plane is quite small and the windows were tiny. This was to avoid disaster if a window broke during a flight.

Passenger jet

There were a number of hangars with different displays including civilian and military aircraft.

Vulcan bomber B.2A as during Falklands War

The above fighter jet was similar to the ones used during the Falklands War in 1982.

Many of the exhibits are displayed in the buildings on the airbase.It takes a few hours to go round them all, but is very interesting.

After viewing all the displays, we had a light snack in the small cafe before heading for North Berwick. The 4 hours we spent at the museum was very enjoyable and worth visiting again.

Road to North Berwick

The road to North Berwick is very pleasant, as it passes through some beautiful countryside. There were some sharp climbs, but nothing too difficult. In the distance could be seen North Berwick Law, a volcanic plug of hard rock.

Fenton Tower

At Kingston, just outside North Berwick, was Fenton Tower. This is a fortified 16th-century tower and has had many distinguished visitors, among them being King James VI of Scotland (son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley) who was surrounded by a rebel army in Fife and took refuge at Fenton Tower. It is currently used as an hotel.

Fenton Tower

Arriving in North Berwick, we saw the remains of the second St Andrew’s Church. This was built in 1664 and was the only church in the town until 1843.

St Andrew’s Church

North Berwick has a lovely beach but as there was a chilly breeze, there was nobody sunbathing on it!

North Berwick Beach

The Seabird Centre organises boat trips to the Bass Rock and Isle of May. We stayed in North Berwick for an hour and a half before heading back to Dunbar.

Returning to Dunbar

We took the coastal A198 road and got some magnificent views of the Firth of Forth. The view of the Bass Rock was excellent at this point.

Bass Rock

Tantallon Castle

Further along the road we saw the ruins of Tantallon Castle. This was a 14th century castle and was the last curtain-wall castle to be built in Scotland. It is managed by Historic Environment Scotland and on our next visit to the area we intend to visit it.

Tantallon Castle

The rest of the ride to Dunbar was relatively uneventful. My train to Edinburgh was departing at 19.45 and we made it to Dunbar in plenty of time to catch it.

Edinburgh

Although the journey to Dunbar was direct, the return one involved an hour and 10 minute wait at Waverley Station in Edinburgh. As the sun was still shining, I took the opportunity of photographing the castle. Evening is the best time for this, as the sun shines directly on the castle and gives it a warm ‘glow’.