# A hill with a view - CC Ecosse 12 October 2013



## Pat "5mph" (14 Oct 2013)

Wish I could fly, far away over mountains, high up over rivers.
Actually, no, not really: just wish I could ride up all the hills @Rasmus throws at me 
In this instance I lost the struggle, still the reward for attempting it was spectacular.
It all started at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, home of the infamous (as in famously relegated to the third division from the first) Glasgow Rangers FC, on a chilly Sunday morning.
A fitting place to wait for @jazloc who is in(famous) in his own right: the phantom CC Ecosse ride organizer!
True to his fame he never appeared, instead Rasmus, @mr messy and @Telemark bringer of cake (the latter all the way from Edinburgh), glided along on their bikes smiling happily, ready to start our wee adventure.
The official meeting point was about 5 miles further.
I had a back road route all loaded up in my Garmin which was immediately discarded with raised brows by our intrepid spontaneously elected new leader: "let's go this way, it's faster" ... pointing at the motorway-like main road. 
20 roundabouts later, 4.7 miles in total and a failed attempt on Mr. Messy's life by a dozing Sunday morning driver, here we are, at the Xcape Braehead car park, a hub of activities for all the family and so on, sadly also the place where Mr. Messy left his cheer behind, transformed, superhero like, in Magnatom for the rest of the outing.
A few pictures:
The intrepid leader


The bringer of cake

The road warrior



.... To be continued


----------



## Mo1959 (14 Oct 2013)

You appear to have Norah Batty in the 3rd picture


----------



## mr messy (14 Oct 2013)

Mo1959 said:


> You appear to have Norah Batty in the 3rd picture


A colour coordinated Norah Batty fashionista mind....


----------



## mr messy (14 Oct 2013)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Wish I could fly, far away over mountains, high up over rivers.
> Actually, no, not really: just wish I could ride up all the hills @Rasmus throws at me
> In this instance I lost the struggle, still the reward for attempting it was spectacular.
> It all started at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, home of the infamous (as in famously relegated to the third division from the first) Glasgow Rangers FC, on a chilly Sunday morning.
> ...



My apologies Pat , had spent the week putting the world to right and this was to be my seventh day for rest....sometimes even deities become mr grumpy .....hmmm maybe need to change my avatar....


----------



## Telemark (14 Oct 2013)

Hurry up, @Pat "5mph" ! 
We are waiting for the next installment ...


T


----------



## mr messy (14 Oct 2013)

Telemark said:


> Hurry up, @Pat "5mph" !
> We are waiting for the next installment ...
> 
> 
> T


Thanks @Telemark as i'm already on a warning didn't want to press her.....


----------



## Telemark (14 Oct 2013)

A pleasure! The silly thing is, we were there so know what happened next  (I bet the suspense is killing those who weren't )... but @Pat "5mph" has a way with words ... 

T


----------



## mr messy (14 Oct 2013)




----------



## Hill Wimp (14 Oct 2013)

I'm certainly waiting to hear about a hill worth climbing,do come on Pat


----------



## Pat "5mph" (14 Oct 2013)

Second installment of this fabulous adventure!
It is well known that miles fly by when you are in good company. Our ride was quite mellow, slowly leaving behind the chaos of shopping malls, concentrated living quarters, late Sunday morning brunch seekers.
Homes started to appear scattered, quaint flower gardens, twitchy net curtains blown by the light north pole wind hitting us in the face.
On turning into a side street towards the beckoning hills (mountains if one wants to tell it how it is!) Mr. Messy had his second incident of the day: escaped being doored by a split second, this by a woman trying to open her car's door from the outside!
Must have been the combination of white lycra leggings, black top and silent drive train, ensamble well known to render a cyclist invisible on a cloudy morning 
I was starting to feel quite relaxed: it all looked pretty flat to me till about 10 miles into the ride, when the alarming smell of country manure hit my nostrils.
After following Rasmus's route from Glasgow to Edinburgh (twice ) I have started to associate country smells with hill gradients: in my experience, the stronger the smell, the steeper the hill that is awaiting the unguarded cyclist round the corner.
Suddenly, looking me straight in the eye, our fearless leader launches into a full Strava description of the climbs ahead. The easy bit is over till the return leg, there are 3 mountains ahead - small, large, medium in that order.
Why you telling me this, says I, better not to know ... Fearless leader says "so you don't moan after" ... in his wisdom he reflects upon it, utters the sage words "truth be said, you are better not told of this in future, as now you will moan before *and* after"
He is a wise, all knowing leader 
Middle mountain was actually 3 hills rolled into one aztec pyramid style.
Here is a part of it, I simply had to stop midway to take a picture ... and a walk 


Does not look much from near the top ... there was another equal serving before the actual summit 
As usual on a CC Ecosse ride, the huffing and puffing was all forgotten and forgiven once the fantastic scenery revealed itself, a most beautiful view of the river Clyde from above. Many times I have cycled along that river, never thought one day I would (almost) cycle up to the mountains above.






If you look carefully, you can just spot the home of @Mad Doug Biker below!

Behind us, this house:





Soon we had company:


Mr Messy gave Horsey a bunch of greener grass from the other side of the fence, it was devoured in one gulp!
Bye Horsey, bye top of the world, it is time to mount our steeds again and go.



To be continued


----------



## Hill Wimp (15 Oct 2013)

you are right, that is some view


----------



## Telemark (15 Oct 2013)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Suddenly, looking me straight in the eye, our fearless leader launches into a full Strava description of the climbs ahead. The easy bit is over till the return leg, there are 3 mountains ahead - small, large, medium in that order.
> Why you telling me this, says I, better not to know ... Fearless leader says "so you don't moan after" ... in his wisdom he reflects upon it, utters the sage words "truth be said, you are better not told of this in future, as now you will moan before *and* after"
> He is a wise, all knowing leader


Priceless, Pat!

Now where is that 3rd installment ... I need my good night story NOW! ... *or else* ... I'll have to go to bed without one 

T


----------



## Mo1959 (15 Oct 2013)

Brilliant as ever Pat. Also can't wait for the next instalment.


----------



## Col5632 (16 Oct 2013)

As always a great write up so far


----------



## Hill Wimp (16 Oct 2013)

Have i missed part 3 or does @Pat "5mph" just like keeping us on the edge of the sofa ?


----------



## welsh dragon (16 Oct 2013)

@Hill Wimp. We have had the second part today. Personally, cant wait for part three.


----------



## Rickshaw Phil (16 Oct 2013)

Hill Wimp said:


> Have i missed part 3 or *does *@Pat "5mph" *just like keeping us on the edge of the sofa ?*


Possibly a bit of that.

She does often work unsociable hours so probably hasn't had time to write part 3 yet.


----------



## Hill Wimp (16 Oct 2013)

welsh dragon said:


> @Hill Wimp. We have had the second part today. Personally, cant wait for part three.




I read part two earlier, i'm just impatient


----------



## Pat "5mph" (16 Oct 2013)

Telemark said:


> Priceless, Pat!
> Now where is that 3rd installment ... I need my good night story NOW! ... *or else* ... I'll have to go to bed without one
> T



Lost my writing muse last night, sorry @Telemark 
Here it goes, the last installment of what was probably the last CC Ecosse 2013 where the sun shone on us.
Was reliving it today on my commute home while getting soaked, result: fell off the bike on the wet shared use pavement.
It was my just punishment, you see, because I should really take the roads, practice my manoeuvres, only 5 days to go to the bikability 3 assessment 

It was time to ride down from the hill summit that gifted us such a beautiful view.
Uttering a mournful sight as there would be no more climbs, our considerate leader briefed us on the perils to come - tight bends, scattered gravel had almost claimed @jazloc last time round.
We reached the coffee stop in Kilmacolm in record time, me last as usual: steep descends terrify me as much as steep hills defy me, I'm a "gentle rolling terrain" kinda cyclist 
Once at the stop, idling taking stock of the quaint village while blowing my nose (had a slight cold) I engage in conversation a local gas man making markings on the pavement.
Can you smell gas? He asks me.
Well, no, can't really smell stuff while my nose is streaming ...
Oh, poor you, should not be out on your bike. Are those you friends bikes? Just because, like, we're gonna dig up the pavement, the gas leak is right under them bikes ... 

We headed for the plains among general merryment, nothing much happened on the cycle path route first to Lochwinnoch, followed by the stretch to Glasgow.
Even a seasoned story teller like me cannot make up stories where none happened, so I will report the last mishap of the day to befall unlucky Mr. Messy.
A mechanical caused him to have a clipless moment on a busy dual carriage way.
Two stupid sentences were spoken due to the shock of the unexpected.
Me warning a driver behind, pointing to the obstruction on the road "Sorry!" Mr. Messy answers me back "not at all, was not your fault" 
Me to Mr. Messy: "was that a clipless moment then?" What a stupid thing to say, shut up Pat! 

No major damage to bike or rider, we set off again, following the panoramic route along the river once in Glasgow for the benefit of Telemark, who was not shown the sights earlier that morning for time constrains.
We said our goodbyes at Queen Street station, and so ended our ride.


----------



## Pat "5mph" (16 Oct 2013)

Any spelling or grammar mistakes on part 3 I blame on those who rushed me


----------



## welsh dragon (16 Oct 2013)

Bravo. Wonderful. I enjoyed that very much. Thank you


----------



## Pat "5mph" (16 Oct 2013)

welsh dragon said:


> Bravo. Wonderful. I enjoyed that very much. Thank you


Well, not much happened on the return leg, so it's a bit short.


----------



## Rasmus (16 Oct 2013)

Great job on the writeup, Pat - almost as much fun as actually being on the ride


----------



## welsh dragon (16 Oct 2013)

That doesn't matter. It was a great all round story and well told.


----------



## Pat "5mph" (16 Oct 2013)

welsh dragon said:


> That doesn't matter. It was a great all round story and well told.


Cheers


----------



## Telemark (16 Oct 2013)

Bravo @Pat "5mph" ! Now I can sleep in peace tonight! 
You forgot the wee bit of emergency first aid that @mr messy's bike needed after his off ... 
Three times unlucky or something? I meant to say I hope there was no lasting damage, apart from the mudguard that had sadly reached the end of its life 

T


----------



## Pat "5mph" (16 Oct 2013)

Sleep well @Telemark dream of cake


----------



## Hill Wimp (16 Oct 2013)

yay well done to the 3 Musketeers. Sounded like a great ride and very well written

What are we going to do now


----------



## Telemark (16 Oct 2013)

Dreaming of the next ride I am afraid ...  (Maybe we need a Cyclists Anonymous club that helps cure the addiction  ...)
T


----------



## Hill Wimp (16 Oct 2013)

Just make sure there are pictures, plenty of pictures please


----------



## Col5632 (17 Oct 2013)

Awesome pictures and write up, quite sad there is no more to read now


----------



## Pat "5mph" (17 Oct 2013)

Col5632 said:


> Awesome pictures and write up, quite sad there is no more to read now


Want me to make one up?


----------



## Col5632 (17 Oct 2013)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Want me to make one up?



Yeah why not, the CC author


----------



## ScotiaLass (18 Oct 2013)

Yay! I'm no longer a Pat 5mph virgin! 
Erm....I mean, Pat has broken me in....no, no wait!!
I mean......b***ocks.....

Thanks Pat!


----------

