Edinburgh - Glasgow; 95km

After a very last-minute descision last night, this morning me and Tom set out to cycle from Edinburgh to Glasgow along the canal. This has been on my 'to-do' list for a long while, so it felt fantastic to get on and be doing it!

We left at 8:45, and before long we were in virgin territory. I had previously cycled back from Ratho, so everything further that that was new - Tom hadn't been on the canal past where the club rows.

A green haven, we curled our way along the contours of the hill, occasionally making a mad dash from one side of the valley to the other across a long aqueduct, where we would lean out and peer down to the land below. The nice tarmac-ed piste soon gave way to the 'classic' canal - clay-y mud littered with puddles and the odd rock to give your wrists a test. After a few miles of this, we were both pretty bored of it.

First stop was Linlithgow, where we had snacks, coffee and had a poke around the palace grounds. Then, 10 miles on to Falkirk, where we watched the Falkirk wheel do its thing and hung out with the elderly tourists while we had lunch.

At Falkirk we turned onto and joined the Forth and Clyde canal, which also signalled a turn in the weather. Rain, and a persistent strong headwind meant that, combined with the long stretches of featureless towpath, this was the most gruelling bit of riding we had. The puddles got worse, and soon we were both caked in mud.

We counted the miles down into Glasgow, and save for a brief detour into a Tesco for sugar, we made it into the centre without any incidence. We made our muddy way to a recommended burger establishment and fell on the meat.

Train home. Good day.