John Donnelly wrote: ↑Sun Jul 08, 2018 4:37 pm
Hi Michaelm,
Are you sure it was the Tour of Britain? I've a notion it was the 'Tour of Scotland' also officially the Milk Race.
JD, back then I think the cycling Tour of Britain was simply known as the 'Milk Race' and the Tour of Scotland was known as the 'Scottish Milk Race', kinda confusing stuff.
Both may have been amateur event's up until around the mid 80's - after that though pro cyclist's were allowed to enter.
Think we might have the answer to which cycling event it was I saw flying past the shop window all those year's ago and you're probably right about it being the Scottish Tour ..
John Donnelly wrote: ↑Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:45 pm
I came to Holland in 1974. The Scottish race I was in was certainly earlier than that.
Just Googled it, and the Tour of Britain was 1977.
My Tour of Scotland was 1973.
JD.
Yes JD, if you click on the link posted above you'll see that apart from '78' there was indeed a stage of the race held in Arran in '73'.
John Donnelly wrote: ↑Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:45 am
Hi Michaelm.
That was my fault, sorry.
JD.
Not at all JD, I think it was me who initially mentioned the Arran Cycling Tour's and in retrospect I don't think either yourself or I went off topic anyway.
John Donnelly wrote: ↑Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:45 am
Hi Michaelm.
That was my fault, sorry.
JD.
Not at all JD, I think it was me who initially mentioned the Arran Cycling Tour's and in retrospect I don't think either yourself or I went off topic anyway.
Today headed through Irvine town,Riverside way out towards the papermill shewalton woods and into Barassie. Along the beach to Troon along that beach, out by the airport, Prestwick beach then back into the town.
Retraced my steps back to Barassie then gailes rd, beach Park and back to castlepark. 30 miles.
Another wee jaunt to Portencross this afternoon. Nothing much to report today except that byrehill rd/dubbs rd has been kind of resurfaced. It's covered in gravely stuff really slippy and when a car passes you get peppered with the stuff.
Wouldn't fancy going along it with road bike tyres. 30 miles.
Friday: out via kilwinning towards Barrmill, then back roads to Lugton and Uplawmoor. Followed the road to Neilston. “Cycle Friendly Town” sign on the 30MPH sign. And then a big hill upwards. Not very cycle friendly, I thought!
Stopped at “The Bank” cafe for some lunch - it’s a bike-friendly place, with a toolkit and pump out the front, plenty of bike parking, and a workshop round th back. There’s a local bike club based there, but it was pretty much deserted when I arrived.
Nice home made soup and a roll, and a coffee.
On towards Stewarton, then back via Kilwinning. 51 miles (82k)
Sunday was strange. Wet stuff falling out the sky. Haven’t seen that for ages!
Along the coast to Largs, then up the Brisbane Glen towards Loch Thom. Just over the top, I saw some other cyclists at the side of the road. Puncture. Slowed down to ask (as cyclists generally do) if everything was OK, and recognised a few faces that I had met on the Ayrshire Explorer run a few weeks ago. The Cycle Ayrshire group were out for a trip, following roughly the same route as me, but starting at Portencross.
Once the mechanicals were fixed, we headed on to the cafe at Loch Thom. Half an hour later, we went our separate ways - I headed back the way I had come to Largs, they headed down to Wemyss Bay to come back along the coast.
By this time the rain was pretty heavy, and the wind was in my face. I was at the top of the moor, had been out for longer than I had planned, the weather was miserable, and to be honest I was a bit fed up! There was a train due to leave Largs in 25 mins - wonder if I could catch it?
Put a bit of speed on, down to Largs, and arrived at the station with a minute to spare. Cheated, getting the train back to South Beach, and then home. 51km.
Last mile, I could hear (and feel) that something wasn’t right with the bike. So today’s been a “fixing day”, and the back wheel is currently in the bike shop getting new bearings.
I enjoy reading these cycle reports. Now that the world cup is over I can move the spare TV from the back room back to the garage and enjoy my regular cycle on the static bike while watching the shows I like.
It’s great to know that people appreciate these wee reports. Might even encourage me to use a camera more often!
Today I have been fettling the bike. I took it to the bike shop in Irvine (which I can highly recommend) and they put new bearings in the back wheel, since it had got really noisy after my last trip.
I then gave the rest of the bike a full service. Chain off, cranks off, removed the chainring, and discovered that my bottom bracket (the bearing that holds the chainring in place) felt a bit rough. So bought another, and today fitted it. Various other bits of fettling and greasing, and it’s now running like a swiss watch.
Went out for a quick spin tonight. Up to the top of Ardrossan, then along the old high road to West Kilbride. Through Wk, past the station, heading out of the town as if I was going to Dalry, then followed Kilruskin Rd towards Hunterston. When I hit the main A78, turned left and back via Seamill and the coast road to Saltcoats.
Today from Saltcoats I headed along the high road through Stevenston, then Dubbs Rd to kilwinning. As Bonzo mentioned, it’s just been resurfaced, and is still very gravelly, but not as bad as it was a few days ago.
Into irvine - the footbridge at the Low Green is still closed, so over the road bridge and down to the harbour. Out past Gailes towards the paper mill.
The cycle route (National Cycle Network route 7) used to leave the road at this point and head through shewalton woods, behind the paper mill.It’s a bit that was often overgrown or waterlogged, but a nice diversion. If in a hurry, you could stay on the main road towards Troon. The path behind the paper mill is still there, but I see the blue NCN7 signs now point along the wide pavement on the main road, not behind the paper mill.
Through Troon and past the airport to Prestwick.
Stopped for a coffee and something to eat. Really nice coffee, but the most disgusting roll I’ve had in a long time.
On into Ayr, round the harbour area then over the bridge and out towards the prom. Followed the prom and path out past Greenan Castle to Haven holiday park (Butlins!)
Turned there, and back into ayr past Bellisle. Finished at Ayr station, where I jumped on a train to Kilwinning.