Cycling in south Glasgow - routes to aim for/avoid?

[Simon Brooke]

As people may have gathered I'm working in East Kilbride and am likely to
continue to do so for some time. Consequently I need a pied-a-terre
somewhere within cycling range. Currently I'm staying in a B&B in
Strathaven which is very pleasant, but the landlady is going on her
holidays... I need somewhere more reliable (and, ideally, where I can
leave stuff reasonably safely over the weekends).

So I'm looking for a bedsit or a flat; and as there are more of these in
Glasgow than in nice little places like Strathaven or Eaglesham, I'm
likely to end up in Glasgow.

Commuting, I average about 17mph. That simply isn't feasible on most
cyclepaths (certainly not on the ones in EK). So I expect to commute on
the road. At the same time, extremely busy roads are less than wonderfully
pleasant.

Are there particular routes between Glasgow and EK which are more pleasant
to cycle, and if so, what would you recommend? Are there routes I should
specifically avoid?

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; part time troll.

 

[bob]

In message <[email protected]>, Simon
Brooke <[email protected]> writes
>As people may have gathered I'm working in East Kilbride and am likely to
>continue to do so for some time. Consequently I need a pied-a-terre
>somewhere within cycling range. Currently I'm staying in a B&B in
>Strathaven which is very pleasant, but the landlady is going on her
>holidays... I need somewhere more reliable (and, ideally, where I can
>leave stuff reasonably safely over the weekends).
>
>So I'm looking for a bedsit or a flat; and as there are more of these in
>Glasgow than in nice little places like Strathaven or Eaglesham, I'm
>likely to end up in Glasgow.
>
>Commuting, I average about 17mph. That simply isn't feasible on most
>cyclepaths (certainly not on the ones in EK). So I expect to commute on
>the road. At the same time, extremely busy roads are less than wonderfully
>pleasant.
>
>Are there particular routes between Glasgow and EK which are more pleasant
>to cycle, and if so, what would you recommend? Are there routes I should
>specifically avoid?
>
My favoured route from southside to East Kilbride roughly goes from
Cathcart, through Linn Park, up the main road to Carmunnock, over to
Rogerton and then down to East Kilbride past the James Hamilton Heritage
Park. It takes you up and over the top of a hill but nothing too steep.
The road from Carmunnock to East Kilbride is nice, largely single track
and reasonably quiet.

The route is roughly like this http://preview.tinyurl.com/2j7q4s

The shortest route, the main road from Clarkston to East Kilbride, is
not fun.

Cheers

Bob (Shawlands)
--
Geomannie (Shawlands)

 

[BigRab]

Hi Simon:

The roads aren't too bad, even the dual crr's in EK.

Here's my route going the opposite way. If you see a big guy with red
shoes gimmie a wave!
http://tinyurl.com/249nyf

Robert

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <fB4$GrHA5CzGFw44@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk>, bob
('downiegeon0spam.co.uk@downie#n0sapm#.co.uk') wrote:

> In message <[email protected]>, Simon
> Brooke <[email protected]> writes
>>As people may have gathered I'm working in East Kilbride and am likely to
>>continue to do so for some time. Consequently I need a pied-a-terre
>>somewhere within cycling range. Currently I'm staying in a B&B in
>>Strathaven which is very pleasant, but the landlady is going on her
>>holidays... I need somewhere more reliable (and, ideally, where I can
>>leave stuff reasonably safely over the weekends).
>>
>>So I'm looking for a bedsit or a flat; and as there are more of these in
>>Glasgow than in nice little places like Strathaven or Eaglesham, I'm
>>likely to end up in Glasgow.
>>
>>Commuting, I average about 17mph. That simply isn't feasible on most
>>cyclepaths (certainly not on the ones in EK). So I expect to commute on
>>the road. At the same time, extremely busy roads are less than
>>wonderfully pleasant.
>>
>>Are there particular routes between Glasgow and EK which are more
>>pleasant to cycle, and if so, what would you recommend? Are there routes
>>I should specifically avoid?
>>
> My favoured route from southside to East Kilbride roughly goes from
> Cathcart, through Linn Park, up the main road to Carmunnock, over to
> Rogerton and then down to East Kilbride past the James Hamilton Heritage
> Park. It takes you up and over the top of a hill but nothing too steep.
> The road from Carmunnock to East Kilbride is nice, largely single track
> and reasonably quiet.
>
> The route is roughly like this http://preview.tinyurl.com/2j7q4s
>
> The shortest route, the main road from Clarkston to East Kilbride, is
> not fun.

Thanks, Bob (and Rab too). Interestingly different solutions to the
problem.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

'graveyards are full of indispensable people'