LANARKSHIRE CALLING

We asked readers for the most fun, demanding and beautiful routes that helped them take on the CW5000 challenge. Here we pick some of the best. First off, away from the urban centre of Glasgow lies miles of unspoiled and challenging lanes, as Trevor Ward finds out from CW5000 rider Dan Grime

- Trevor Ward

Fighter pilot and poet John Gillespie Magee famously described how he “slipped the surly bonds of earth” every time he flew his plane.

Many cyclists experience a similar feeling as they ride their bikes out of the town or city they live in, wondering if they’ll ever “slip the surly bonds” of busy roads, aggressive drivers, gaping potholes and endless traffic lights.

Reader Dan Grime and fellow members of VC Glasgow South faced this dilemma when they planned this ride as part of the CW5000 challenge. For a change of scenery and to increase their mileage, they decided to head east instead of south from their regular meeting place in the car park of Toryglen Asda near Hampden Park football stadium. They set out towards North Lanarkshire and West Lothian.

Obstacles and architecture

“The first segment of the ride through Rutherglen, Coatbridge and Airdrie is definitely not that scenic,” says Grime, “though once out in the countryside it improves dramatically.” If you were a fan of urban architecture, modernist high-rises or contemporary roadside sculptures – or simply had a penchant for iron girder railway bridges, of which there is no shortage in the centre of Coatbridge – you might actually enjoy this part of the ride, though you’d have to keep your wits about you at a succession of busy junctions, roundabouts and filter lanes.

But this route really starts becoming interesting as the road rises out of Airdrie onto a plateau dotted with lochs, forests and farmland.