Maps 58 & 59 – Dunblane to St Andrews and the Tay Bridge

I did my first ever podcast today! It was easier than I thought, since it involved little more than answering questions about this cycling challenge in a relaxed interview style. It all came about thanks to a chance meeting with 2 other cyclists on a delayed ferry as I was trying to get off North Uist, many maps ago. I met Mike Dales and his partner Fiona and we got talking. He has written a book, that resulted from their lifestyle, called ”Find Time for Exercise”. He now runs a website of the same name: https://www.findtimeforexercise.com/ in which my podcast can now be found, alongside a selection of others. It is all well worth a visit, and it might just change your life!

Mike and Fiona live in rural Perthshire, and it so happened that my planned route between the cathedral towns of Dunblane and St Andrews took me pretty close to their front door. After a very quiet and pleasant couple of hours of cycling through gently hilly countryside, including a ride alongside the famous Gleneagles championship golf course, with its five star hotel, and the attractive nearby town of Auchterarder, I found myself sending them a text from the pretty village of Dunning, warning of my approach. Among the items of historical interest here are a memorial to a witch burning in 1657, the unfortunate victim being one Maggie Wall. The beautiful church dominates the village and it contains the only surviving cruciform Pictish carved stone. This was once a place of some importance, centuries ago. Now it is delightfully peaceful.

Mike and Fiona cycled out to meet me and led me up a track to their home, where they grow courgettes and tomatoes and keep bees, all in great numbers. After lunch and the podcast recording, they escorted me back to my route in the quaint nearby village of Abernethy. Here I was able to complete the full set of two ancient Scottish round towers (the other, you will recall, being in Brechin). This one is different in a number of ways: first, it has a clock on it; second, it lacks the conical top of Brechin; and third (and best) it can be climbed! To do this, we had to get the key from the nearby museum, which turned out to be a seriously large and ancient looking key, a good eight inches long. The view from the top was well worth the climb up the spiral stairs and the ladder at the top up through a trap door. Back at ground level, we parted ways and I enjoyed a great ride along the southern edge of the broad River Tay valley, with Dundee and the Tay rail bridge just in sight far ahead. There were excellent views all around, the wind blew me eastwards and the sun shone brightly. It was good being on a bike.

My chosen end for this coast to coast was the ancient and venerable university town of St Andrews, which, although not very large, has the feel of a place steeped in tradition and many generations of learning. It looked glorious in the afternoon sun, the sea a bright blue and the towers and spires of the town rising above the dunes on which its old and famous golf course is laid out. There is much here to occupy the visitor, and I spent a very pleasant couple of hours mooching around, taking pictures, eating ice cream in the small harbour by the large, sandy beach, and admiring the broad, tree lined streets of old stone buildings. There was once a very impressive mediaeval cathedral here; but it now lies in ruins, with a single high tower, the surrounding boundary walls of the cathedral close, and not a lot else remaining intact. But you still get a sense of how large it must have been, and how important and prosperous a place St Andrews was, and – for other reasons – still is.

I had one remaining leg of today’s ride to complete. An hour away stands the Tay Bridge, 1.4 miles of dual carriageway that transports vehicles across the broad and lovely River Tay from the genteel town of Newport, on the south side, to the city of Dundee on the north. Cyclists and pedestrians get to use a raised thoroughfare in between the opposing lanes of traffic, giving you not just a sense of superiority; but also a great view of Dundee as you cycle slightly downhill for a straight mile and a half from the raised piers on the south side to the waterfront embankment in Dundee. It is a memorable experience and one I recommend. Especially if, like me, you have a train to catch to Edinburgh from Dundee train station, just a short distance from the end of bridge. It was all very smooth and easy, and a great way to finish OS map 59 and my latest crossing of the country. I made my way through the busy streets of Edinburgh, where crowds were queuing up to see previews of shows at the start of the Festival Fringe, and spent the night at my little brother’s house, where I was furnished with some very nice whisky before bedtime. Thanks Dan!

I had to be ready for a prompt start the next day, because I had to be at Alpkit (home of Sonder bikes) in Edinburgh as they opened at 9.30am. A mechanic was on stand-by. My bike had developed a problem with its front gear changer and I was reduced to riding with only 50% of my gears for the past two days. Since I was once again heading out to remote islands, it was time for a service. I also needed some new plastic cleats for my pedals. The ones I had fitted as new at the start of June had been reduced to almost nothing and it was becoming a problem. I had every reason to believe in the lovely people at Alpkit, who seem to know how to do customer service. It was a chance I could not afford to miss. But I also had an appointment to make in central Glasgow with my wife at lunchtime, and we then had a ferry to catch to Arran mid-afternoon, followed by a 15 mile ride over a mountain pass to Lochranza and a second ferry to the Kintyre peninsula. Now that’s a full working day!