Scottish cyclists

EKE_38BPM

Off the top of my head, Sir Chris Hoy, Mark Beaumont, Greame Obree, Danny Macaskill.

What is it that makes Scotland produce such good and diverse cyclists, Irn Bru?

cornerblock

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Off the top of my head, Sir Chris Hoy, Mark Beaumont, Greame Obree, Danny Macaskill.

What is it that makes Scotland produce such good and diverse cyclists, Irn Bru?

Too tight to buy a car.

CiB

National dish = porridge. Sorted.

iclestu

and there is those hills.....

meanredspider

iclestu wrote:

and there is those hills.....

And (he says, looking out of the window) the wind :roll:

AyrshireBacon

It's the porridge that causes all the wind...

First.Aspect

In seriousness, I reckon its due to the availability of countryside and comparative lack of public transport to places such as East Tumbleweed.

t4tomo

Errrr Robert MIllar, add him to your list, arguably the most successful Brit of all on the road bar Wiggins, and his younger (non) brother David.

suzyb

First Aspect wrote:

In seriousness, I reckon its due to the availability of countryside and comparative lack of public transport to places such as East Tumbleweed.

I disagree with it being due to a the lack of public transport. People that live in those kind of places (like me) all drive. I see very few cycle commuters. But where I work in the Falkirk area there is always a lot more cycle commuters even though they seem to have more public transport options.

meanredspider

meanredspider wrote:

iclestu wrote:

and there is those hills.....

And (he says, looking out of the window) the wind :roll:

And, as if to prove my point, I did the second fastest time ever this morning, averaging 20.4mph by the bottom of the bridge (19.3mph to my office - footpath like a tarmac ploughed field) :oops:

rick_chasey

The same reason Belgium and Normandy produce unusually large amounts of good cyclists.

'cos ya gotta be tough, physically and mentally, to be able to do it at all.

walkingbootweather

Crystal waters, rivers of salmon, glens full of deer, herds of walking Angus steak - its's probably down to diet

crossborderreiver

That Mars Bar is undercooked!

Initialised

There's also the Scottish Access code that means you can basically ride anywhere. Foot path = single track, try doing that here an PC Plod will pull you over.

bails87

That's very recent though, I doubt it's had any impact on the cyclists named above.

I'd love to see it down here though.

Wallace1492

Twas a Scot that invented the bicycle, so it follows that we should be reasonable at it.

*Quick rant* Why does the Tour of Britain never venture further north than the borders? Some absolutely amazing roads in the North West Highlands including the brutal Bealach Na Ba (OK, not many folk live there, but so what)

rick_chasey

Wallace1492 wrote:

Twas a Scot that invented the bicycle, so it follows that we should be reasonable at it.

*Quick rant* Why does the Tour of Britain never venture further north than the borders? Some absolutely amazing roads in the North West Highlands including the brutal Bealach Na Ba (OK, not many folk live there, but so what)

££££

suzyb

I'm more annoyed that it ventures North when I'm busy and can't go spectate. Last year I was doing pedal for scotland when it was in Scotland, this year I'm in the office

Wallace1492

Rick Chasey wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Twas a Scot that invented the bicycle, so it follows that we should be reasonable at it.

*Quick rant* Why does the Tour of Britain never venture further north than the borders? Some absolutely amazing roads in the North West Highlands including the brutal Bealach Na Ba (OK, not many folk live there, but so what)

££££

Yes, *sigh* but spread it about and they will come. Does the TDF miss out on the remote area's because of cash? No, and people travel for miles to see the best mountain stages, so a stage or two in the Highlands should be given a go.

rick_chasey

Wallace1492 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Twas a Scot that invented the bicycle, so it follows that we should be reasonable at it.

*Quick rant* Why does the Tour of Britain never venture further north than the borders? Some absolutely amazing roads in the North West Highlands including the brutal Bealach Na Ba (OK, not many folk live there, but so what)

££££

Yes, *sigh* but spread it about and they will come. Does the TDF miss out on the remote area's because of cash? No, and people travel for miles to see the best mountain stages, so a stage or two in the Highlands should be given a go.

Tour's a little different. And all the sh!tty stages in between are decided by €€€€.

Wallace1492

Rick Chasey wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

Twas a Scot that invented the bicycle, so it follows that we should be reasonable at it.

*Quick rant* Why does the Tour of Britain never venture further north than the borders? Some absolutely amazing roads in the North West Highlands including the brutal Bealach Na Ba (OK, not many folk live there, but so what)

££££

Yes, *sigh* but spread it about and they will come. Does the TDF miss out on the remote area's because of cash? No, and people travel for miles to see the best mountain stages, so a stage or two in the Highlands should be given a go.

Tour's a little different. And all the sh!tty stages in between are decided by €€€€.

TDF is the same, just a much bigger operation. Both are cycle events touring their respective countries. The Host towns (start/finish) in the TDF pay for the privelidge, not the route. As far as I know tha does not happen in the TOB. Just saying its a shame that it does not visit the fantastic scenery and the brilliant cycling that the Central and western Highlands offers, even just once evey few years, just for a stage or two.

Torvid

Wallace1492 wrote:

Yes, *sigh* but spread it about and they will come. Does the TDF miss out on the remote area's because of cash? No, and people travel for miles to see the best mountain stages, so a stage or two in the Highlands should be given a go.

I could be wrong but my understanding of le tour is the start finish towns pay to have the start finish there, same with sprint points in towns as it's a good advert for tourist cash, doubt the ToB works the same way but that's why remote places get the TdF.

seems i was typing that in as you did d'oh

iclestu

speculative hypothesis:

The Alps/Pyrenees have better access for their mountain passes/scenery. Look at a googlemap of alp d'huez or col de tourmalet and there are roads going right through the highest mountain pass and (particulary in the alps) lots of other routes to choose from/get pspectators there etc.

In the Highlands you typically have a single A-road that takes the path of least resistance and not really giving such a high (comparatively!) pass of the mountains as you can get in the lake district, peak district, etc. The mountains are higher than the peaks for sure but the roads dont go as far up them! (The highland roads are following the same route where horses and generals used to go).

The beauty of the highlands is magnificent but i don't really think it would make such good challenging road RACING and if you close that single route through the glen there is no other way around for locals or through traffic...

Im prepared to bow to superior knowledge tho? Just speculating....

daviesee

iclestu wrote:

...In the Highlands you typically have a single A-road that takes the path of least resistance and not really giving such a high (comparatively!) pass of the mountains as you can get in the lake district, peak district, etc. The mountains are higher than the peaks for sure but the roads dont go as far up them! (The highland roads are following the same route where horses and generals used to go).

The beauty of the highlands is magnificent but i don't really think it would make such good challenging road RACING and if you close that single route through the glen there is no other way around for locals or through traffic...

Im prepared to bow to superior knowledge tho? Just speculating....

The best roads for cycling are rarely the A-roads. There are lots of other options, they are probably just not so suited for A-B driving and therefore less familiar. Just saying....

Wallace1492

iclestu wrote:

speculative hypothesis:

The Alps/Pyrenees have better access for their mountain passes/scenery. Look at a googlemap of alp d'huez or col de tourmalet and there are roads going right through the highest mountain pass and (particulary in the alps) lots of other routes to choose from/get pspectators there etc.

In the Highlands you typically have a single A-road that takes the path of least resistance and not really giving such a high (comparatively!) pass of the mountains as you can get in the lake district, peak district, etc. The mountains are higher than the peaks for sure but the roads dont go as far up them! (The highland roads are following the same route where horses and generals used to go).

The beauty of the highlands is magnificent but i don't really think it would make such good challenging road RACING and if you close that single route through the glen there is no other way around for locals or through traffic...

Im prepared to bow to superior knowledge tho? Just speculating....

I don't dissagree with your speculation, but I am sure you could do a rolling road closure, much like is done for the Etape Caledonia, and the closure would be for less time as it is a much smaller field. There are however, many high passes, especially in the central highlands, past the ski centres. Though some of the roads are not in a great state of repair. I just think it would be quite an awesome site to see a proper race somewhere like GlenCoe, and I would definately pop up to see it there.

bompington

The trouble is that there really aren't alternative roads in a lot of cases - think of where the diversion would go if you closed the Bealach, Glenshee, Rannoch Moor.
But I'm inclined to agree with Rick that money - as in sponsorship, crowds, everything - would be the main reason why it's sadly unlikely that it'll ever go somewhere so remote and unpopulated. A pity.

meanredspider

Yeah - sling yer hook and take yer poncy bike race somewhere else!

The point is well made, though. Close any of the roads between the central belt and Inverness and it causes chaos! Several times I've looked for alternatives to queueing at A9 roadworks and there's nothing sensible. It's a lovely idea and it works for Etape Caledonia (which is relatively well-served for roads) but the Cairngorms might struggle

suzyb

Even closing roads in the central belt causes chaos elsewhere.

M8 closed this morning due to an accident, I'm late for work due to the traffic that had spilled onto the roads around it :roll:

Closing roads when it's a 50 mile or something alternate route would just annoy people.

Wallace1492

meanredspider wrote:

Yeah - sling yer hook and take yer poncy bike race somewhere else!

The point is well made, though. Close any of the roads between the central belt and Inverness and it causes chaos! Several times I've looked for alternatives to queueing at A9 roadworks and there's nothing sensible. It's a lovely idea and it works for Etape Caledonia (which is relatively well-served for roads) but the Cairngorms might struggle

Cairngorms always struggle...... 8)

Incidentally just read a superb book called Cairngorm John, about a Mountain Rescue chap, superb read.
Anyway be good to see the Tour on these roads:

daviesee

Hmmm. People seem to be trying to figure out how you can hold a road race without inconveniencing car drivers.

It isn't going to happen. Sure, you can reduce the pain but as the Etape showed, there will always be some NIMBYs.

In fact, it could be argued that closing down the NW of Scotland would be less inconvenience than the London Marathon in man-miles. ie less diversion but more people impacted v more diversion but far less people.
On this basis we are going back to the 50s with renegade time trials and no group road racing.

Embrace it or forget it. That's the difference. As a whole, the French embrace it, Britain doesn't.

wgwarburton

daviesee wrote:

...Embrace it or forget it. That's the difference. As a whole, the French embrace it, Britain doesn't.

...or hopefully "didn't"... Maybe TdF and Olympic success alongside the alleged Rise of The Mamil (!) will see a change...

...or maybe not.

Cheers,
W.