I had a rendez-vous for beer and curry in Stirling last night. As part of my post automobile commute fitness drive I thought it might be amusing to travel up by bicycle and take the train home. I ain't no roadie and my bike is in its off-road tourer configuration so I figured I'd take the canal to the Falkirk Wheel which I'd never seen up close and then osmose through the back roads into town.
The canal was fine and as expected - mixed surfaces with some sections a total plowter. The Avon aqueduct was impressive - never seen that before. As ever with the canal there was a lot of wildlife - yellowhammers and a greater spotted woodpecker were highlights . A swan had a think about attacking me but couldn't be bothered in the end. Lots of the time I'd no real idea where I was.
The people spotting was good. Maximum Spaceman was out without dogs but with stick, trolley and very attractive young companion. At the Falkirk end I met an oddly shaped man on a high-speed mobility scooter decked out in Union flags. He had a small child facing him in his lap and was singing The Sash at the top of his voice. I checked the undergrowth for hidden cameras. There was a guy smoking a Camberwell Carrot at the midpoint of the Rough Castle tunnel. He returned my cheery greeting with the immortal reply "s'happenin, pal?". I checked the stonework for hidden cameras.
At the end of the canal you just seem to be totally dumped into the road system. No attempt to help with onward journeys despite that being a clear cycle hub. I just had to neb it with the help of the OS map. Falkirk seems not to be cycle-ready. Two people in cars shouted obscenities at me for the apparent crime of claiming my actual right of way in quiet suburban streets. I guess the usual rule is that you just get out of the way if you're on a bicycle.
Turned out the old A9 was the only way to get to Stirling in time. There's a hard to spot but nice cycle path from Bannockburn to Stirling but it peters out and dumps you on one of the grimmest urban dual carriageways I've ever seen. I went to see the old bridge over the Forth for a bit of Bravehearting, then took the urban cycle path back in to town but it petered out and dumped me on a grim urban dual carriageway after a display of unnecessary tactiles that would gladden the heart of CCE.
Last train back to Edinburgh had four, yes four bikes on it. Two lovely tourists from Eastern Europe, me and a sulky local. I got the tourists to defy the conductor and just stack the bikes up. They'd just cycled over the Lecht on single speeds in a howling gale, so I duly bowed to them as minor deities in the touring firmament.