This year’s Cycle Arts Festival Outdoor Arts Producer, Lorna Stubbs Davies, shares her thoughts on the joys of cycling along Renfrewshire’s cycle path network ahead of a series of FREE guided cycle rides helping everyone explore the different routes available.
City living has its benefits but every now and then there’s nothing like escaping to the countryside on your bike. Watching the concrete streets melt away as you speed deeper into lush greenery, you wonder how it only took minutes of peddling to end up in totally new surroundings.
The traffic free path winding its way from Paisley out to Lochwinnoch represents so much to me. It’s the little gateway between cities and big outdoor adventures. It’s a path I’ve taken many times on my way from Glasgow out to cycle tours. It’s the cycle path stream that flows into road rives on the way to Largs, or Ardrosson on to Arran and beyond.
Being on a bike, your senses are immersed in so much more that they would be shut in a metal box. When travelling by bike, the adventure begins at your doorstep, with excitement woven into the journey itself, not just the destination. It’s a much more mindful way of getting from A to B.
The beauty of the car free path can be appreciated by cyclists of all levels. Even as an experienced cyclist, it’s a relief to not have to navigate cars or aggressive drives, and to take up a different pace. There’s a wonderful atmosphere of understanding amongst pedestrians and cyclists alike on the path between Paisley and Lochwinnoch.
Until recently, it hadn’t occurred to me that cycling could be a communal activity. There’s beauty in the solitude of course, but cycling can also be a shared experience. When riding with friends, the journey oscillates between riding shoulder to shoulder, sharing company, to stretching out to single file when paths narrow. There’s something magic in that shared experience which, mixed with natural adrenaline and the thought of stopping off at the cafe at the Loch Lomond Visitors Centre, or ‘Cucina Minucci at the Junction’ if you can make it before 3pm, make it difficult to say no to.
Find out more and book your spot on a free guided cycle ride HERE
