National Route 75: Maryhill to the Falkirk Wheel

Green and pleasant land behind Possil

After 2 months of rain we get an outbreak of sun and so decide to ride to the Falkirk Wheel, a route along the Forth and Clyde Canal to it's meeting point with the Union Canal.

We start at Maryhill (with a few of the usual confusions over direction) and are soon upon the first attractions of the route. The back-ends of Possil and Milton amaze us with their country-like greenery. For those who don't know Glasgow: these places have never had anything good said about them; they are synonymous with gangs, crime, drugs and deprivation. The canal-side is busy with groups of men, all 'taps aff', some fishing, some exercising the family staffie, some peeing in the bushes. It's your typical Glasgow summer scene, but weirdly lacking in threatening behaviour or violence. Maybe it's too early in the day, or maybe it's the shock of the sun, but everyone is cheery and pleasant.

We continue along, enjoying the flatness of the towpath. In the long straights we try out our top speeds. I am sure the un-named bike is faster than Thor, but he gets away from me every time. We stop for lunch on a pleasant bend and enjoy our repast (big thanks to Big Jamie at Cafezique).

Lunch: Thor, the canal, the never-absent-from-a-Scottish-lunch tablet, me enjoying a sandwich

After lunch we come across some fine planting. Gardens have stretched up beyond their bounds and have given the towpath a bit of their exuberance. Thank you gardeners of the canal-side for this surprise.

Finally, some hours after setting off, we reach our destination, the Falkrik Wheel. It's an amazing piece of modern engineering joining the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal. There are some small versions of proposed larger kelpies here looking majestic. The Wheel itself has leapt directly from a Picasso sketchbook.

The view from above the Wheel, where the Union Canal reaches an end in mid-air, is spectacular. On this day you could see all the way to the Cobbler. Amazing. And to top off the amazingingness of the amazing day, we caught the train home and all the staff of ScotRail that we encountered were friendly and helpful. Maybe they were from Possil.

National route 7 through a thin veil of misty hazey haar type stuff

We had planned a ride along the Glasgow Harbour to Bowling section of  National Route 7. We expected fabulous weather. We should have known better: we wake to find that the glorious sunshine in Glasgow has been obscured by a mist. Or was it merely a haze? If we were over in Edinburgh we would probably apply the lovely term 'haar' to the phenomenon. What ever we call it, it persists all day.

Glasgow sky: indistinguishable from river

We followed the plan anyway. All along the route it seems that people are behaving as if it was the promised glorious day. Lots of people about. Smiles everywhere, polite sharing of paths, dogs and children kept under control. This in stark contrast to parts of the route which are thick with broken glass. I wonder  where the angry anti-social lot that created these hazards have got to. No sign of them today in this would-be-sunny-if-it-wasn't-so-misty fineness.

There were many fellow cyclists about. Nearly all breeds spotted. But sadly not anyone from the frog family. Help! My Chain Came Off gives a great demonstration of this cycling family style. Where were those frogs today? Maybe off somewhere with the bottle smashers.