Two of us intrepid Walkers’ cyclists elected to make use of the Saturday sunshine to push the boundaries of leisure cycling.

Colin Doyle and my good self (Sandy had wussed out on the pretext of a wedding and Alan and Matthew were unavailable) made a 55 mile round trip from Milton in West Dunbartonshire, taking in three lochs in the process.

Our route included making our way up to Balloch, Loch Lomond on the N7 cycle path which is rapidly becoming familiar territory to me. From there we went onwards to Tarbet via the West Loch Lomond cycleway. It’s the first time I’ve used this route and I was impressed as I had heard horror tales of the A82. The cycleway offers a much safer alternative and is a combination of the old shore road and a roadside path up the side of Loch Lomond from Balloch.

We then took advantage of the relative quiet to cycle the short distance on the A82 over to Arrochar for a pit-stop – appropriately enough at the Pit Stop Diner -before heading down Loch Fyne to Ardmay. Our good progress throughout the day suffered a slight set back at the steep hill at Portincaple, but the uphill struggle (well, Okay – the uphill walk) of these particular adventurers was rewarded with a fast descent to the last of the day’s three lochs – the Gareloch. The last leg back through Shandon and Helensburgh was conducted at a steady 16mph, and these “leisure cyclists” arrived back at Milton with over a century of miles clocked up between us. Colin claimed 55 miles while my extra miles to and from Erskine gained me 65miles for the day. Lovely sunshine and lovely scenery. Splendid!

the bonnie banks near Luss

Pleased to report my bum no longer looks big in lycra