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Cycle > cycling in Glasgow Contents » Glasgow » Maps » Crossing the Clyde » Cycle parking in Glasgow » Ferries » Scotrail » Canals Glasgow »  Glasgow is a great place to cycle. It's a compact city, so most places are within cycle range. There are hills, but you can avoid the worst of them. The Clyde cuts the city in half, but there are several river crossings for cycles. Local rail services are cycle friendly and cheap. The Forth & Clyde canal provides a good off road cycle route, and NCR 7 runs from the SECC to Loch Lochmond. Added to which, Glasgow City Council has started to invest in cycle facilities - some of which make life far easier for cyclists: » The Council's substantial investment in Sheffield stands throughout the city is to be applauded. These cycle parking facilities make it easy to secure cycles quickly and safely. Ok, you might gripe about minor design faults (e.g. cross plates at exactly the right height to interfere with the effective use of a u-lock on the rear wheel) and some odd locations. But credit where credit is due - and in my opinion it's due here. » A fair number of traffic lights now have ASLs (advanced stop lines). On the whole these make life easier if treated with care. A small number of ASLs have suffered from poor installation by contractors - another indicator that the Council's quality control may be lacking at times. » On the other hand, I'm less impressed by the cycle lanes that keep appearing. Many of them are plain dangerous and should be avoided, others are just a pain. Stewart Russell says it all. » You can contact the Council's cycling team on erl.wilkie@land.glasgow.gov.uk and RALF on 0800 37 36 35. Maps » Cycling allows me to indulge in a nerdish interest in maps: » Glasgow Cycling Map sold by the local cycle campaign Go Bike! shows both on and off road cycle routes, including council and "advisory" routes. The map is a based on a large scale black and white OS template with different colour used to indicate routes. It is surprisingly clear and easy to use - my only gripe is that a light blue tint for the Clyde would aid orientation around the map. [Glasgow Cycling Map, CycleCity Guides, Dome Publishing Co, 1997, ISBN 1 90 0623 04 8]. » Using OS Landranger maps was one of the few skills I picked up at school. At 1.25 inches to the mile these maps are great for general navigation - though obviously less so if you need to find named streets. Landranger 64 covers Glasgow. Other useful Landranger maps are 63 (Firth of Clyde from Dumbarton through Port Glasgow, Gourock to just above Ardrossan), 65 (Falkirk & Linlithgow) and 70 (Firth of Clyde from Ardrossan through Troon & Ayr down to Turnberry). » The OS Street Atlas of Glasgow and West Central Scotland, [George Philip, 1999, ISBN 0 540 07651 1, GBP 5.99], has nice clear colour maps, covering Glasgow and a surprising area around the city too (including Greenock & Gourock to the west, Troon & Ayr to the south west and Stirling & Falkirk to the north east). The Pocket Edition comes in a neat five by seven and a half inch format with maps drawn to a 2.5 inches to the mile scale. The paper quality is fine (it does not tear with the ease that characterises A-Z atlases) with a reasonably heavy cover and a good binding. » The Glasow A-Z Street Atlas is not as attractively produced as the OS Atlas, however, it does have one substantitive advantage. Each sheet has a small overlap with adjoining maps so that it is possible to follow routes across pages with ease. The OS Atlas does not have these overlaps and for this reason I prefer to carry the A-Z Atlas. Geographers' A-Z Glasgow Street Atlas. » Erl Wilkie has written a nice book of "25 Cycle Routes in and around Glasgow", HMSO, ISBN 0 11 4957 18 5, 1996. It's well produced on good quality paper, with colour maps and photos. The decision to give all distances in kilometres is hard to understand and rather unhelpful. I found the same author's "Glasgow's Pathways" far less useful - poor maps and a hazy approach to indicating whether or not a path is ok for cycles. Crossing the Clyde » There are several river crossings for cycles. Working from east to west: » Bell's Bridge spans the Clyde at the SECC and was originally built as a temporary pedestrian link between the Garden Festival site on the south of the Clyde and the railway station on the north. Now part of the National Cycle Network and the junction of two routes (NCR 7 and NCR 75). Despite this the bridge is not exactly cycle friendly - an awkward step arrangement at the north end, while sections of upended concrete pipe block the southern end. It's easy to get lost too - the signs are poor / non-existent. » The Clyde Tunnel runs under the Clyde at Whiteinch. There are two cycle / pedestrian tunnels so there is no need to mix it with the cars. » The Renfrew Ferry chugs across the Clyde a little down river from Braehead. Bikes go free, though their riders pay the standard foot passenger fare. Take the correct change » Further down river is the Erskine Bridge with one of the few segregated bike lanes I approve of. There ought to be great views on a clear day - though I've only crossed the bridge in foul rain and fog. Bikes cross the Erskine Bridge toll free, but beware the confusing road layout by the toll booths. Cycle parking in Glasgow » The Council has installed a good number of Sheffield cycle stands in Glasgow over the past few years. Unfortunately, everyone is not as cycle-friendly as the Council. » Examples of poor provision include: » Central Station where the cycle stands are not signed nor included on the station maps. When you do eventually find the stands they are fixed to the ground using nutted bolts. A good number of the nuts are often missing or loosened. Unsurprisingly, people vote with their bikes and use the nearby railings. » Queen Street Station is even worse. The cycle parking facilities were removed during some bomb scare or another. Mind you, parking cars in the nearby car park is still permitted. It does not really matter that you can get much more semtex in a car than in a bike frame. » Healthland in Finnieston where provision consists of one rack of old fashioned wheel benders. Healthland state that there is no need to provide Sheffield stands as the majority of their customers find the current facilities adequate. But most of their customers drive. Whenever I cycled there, one or two other bikes were locked behind the wheel clamps. A clear sign of inadequate provision. Update: December 2000 - Healthland went into receivership in the Autumn. I can't say I'm either surprised or saddened by this. Adam Smith's market forces do work sometimes and if the coverage in the local press was anything to go by, Healthland was quite a fly by night operation. » Greens Health and Fitness, also in Finnieston, has good provision - two stands of Sheffield stands - but is let down by poor access. Barriers block both exit and entry and their sensors do not react to cycles. The only way of getting past the closed barriers is to mount the pavement, but there are no dropped kerbs. Added to which turning right onto Finnieston Street from the exit is at best a hairy experience on a bike. » Strathclyde University is a major city centre employer, as well as a large educational institution. Official provision is limited to three (or is it four?) old fashioned "wheel bender" racks. There is no serious attempt to provide good quality short term parking for students nor long term parking for staff. This contrasts with the generous provision of cheap staff car parking spaces. The Glasgow City Plan contains cycle parking standards that suggest providing a minimum of one cycle parking space for each 20 students and members of staff, plus one cycle parking space for each 6 residents at halls of residence. Strathclyde have a long way to go. Ferries » The Renfrew Ferry takes a few minutes to cross the Clyde just beyond Scotstoun (Kelso St on the north bank, Paisley Rd on the south). As the ferry is operated by Strathclyde Passenger Transport, the two wee boats are painted orange. Cycles go free, but people cost 80p a trip (which on a per mile basis is probably even more expensive than Cal Mac). Tickets dispensed from a standard car park ticket machine on the ferry, but be warned it does not give change. It's a great way to get to Braehead or the airport and you get a nice view inside one of the massive shipyard sheds at Scotstoun. » Times Mon-Sat 06.30-21.30, Sun 10.00-18.30. Don't take the Tourist Office's advice on this, they know not what they talk about. » Ferry enquiries 0141 885 2123 and SPT website. » CalMac Ferries (or Caledonian MacBrayne) run ferries throughout Scotland. So far I've only taken my bike on the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay (Isle of Bute) route. » [CalMac] [CalMac timetable] Scotrail » On the face of it Scotrail operate a reasonably liberal cycle policy. Within Strathclyde you can take your bike free of charge on any service without a reservation or charge, subject to space being available. In practice this probably means not using crowded peak services. The problem is that the orange trains tend not to have bike specific storage - so you end up wedging your bike by the doors. Not that safe for the bike and it sometimes irritates other passengers. Outside Strathclyde there are other restrictions - for example, on Glasgow-Edinburgh space is limited to 2 bikes per carriage, but again there are no reservations or charges. The new trains on this line do have bike racks, just by the toilets. OKish for one bike, but when there are two bikes they spend the journey knocking against each other. Reservations required on some other services, and a ban on bikes on a small number of services. » Scotrail publish a leaflet "Scotrail & Cycles" which is clear and informative with similar content on their website. » When it comes to cycle facilities at stations, things get worse. Take Glasgow Central - cycle parking is in the form of Sheffield stands secured to the floor by plates with standard nut & bolt fixings that are easy to undo. Not easy to find though, as the cycle stands do not appear on any of the station maps or sign posts and (on the day I asked) most of the Scotrail / Railtrack people seemed fairly clueless. Canals » During the summer I often use the towpath of the Forth and Clyde Canal to cycle home from work (Spiers Wharf, up past Firhill Park and off at Anniesland). The cobbles up to Firhill work wonders in ferreting out nuts that need tightening, but this is one of mya favourite urban rides in Glasgow. So enamoured am I that I even have one of British Waterways' permits to cycle on the tow path. » [British Waterways] [James' Canal Pages]

maintained by john ireland | last updated 22.2.04