A fantastic family day out

My first exasperated comment to my wife at 5am last weekend was: “It shouldn’t be this complicated.” We were about to set off to take part in the Pedal for Scotland sportive, from Glasgow to Edinburgh, which is now in its 19th year.

Both our children were with us and, at 46 miles, it was going to be the furthest they had ever cycled.

For various logistical reasons we declined the offer of return bike and participant transfer to Glasgow at the end of the event, and instead entered into our own logistical nightmare of organising our own transport. This involved two cars, eight bike racks and the hope we’d have the right kit in the right car at the right time.

The planning started the previous day and involved fitting roof and tow bar racks to cars – theoretically simple, but trickier when the roof bars for each car had the wrong kind of fitting. Cue lots of swearing and gritted teeth as I took the racks back off the roof and refitted them with the correct front-fork mounts.

The logistical complexities continued the next day as we planned to leave one car in Edinburgh at the event finish, then drive to Glasgow for a 7am registration and event start.

Our carefully planned strategy relied on us ensuring that, at the very least, we had taken the car keys for the car at the finish with us on our ride to Edinburgh. I had visions of cycling grumpily back to Glasgow in the rain because we had neglected to do just that.

The day came, and we bundled sleepy children into the car and engaged with our carefully engineered plan. Amazingly, it all worked out perfectly, although it was somewhat tortuous with all the driving back and forth.

The ride itself was great fun. We avoided the worst of the rain and the closed roads throughout the route made it a fantastic event for our children to take part in. Even the disgruntled individuals who threw drawing pins on the road at various points of the route failed to spoil a great day out. But I was astounded that anyone would put so much effort into trying to disrupt the event, even if they were making a point (literally) about certain roads being closed.

It is also saddening that an event that clearly attracts thousands of people of all ages, raising money for charity and getting themselves fit and healthy, would be the target for a malicious attack like this.

Between the four of us we picked up eight punctures. Luckily, I had the necessary kit to repair all the flat tyres, but many others didn’t and young children stood at the side of the road, shivering as parents waited for help from the fantastic marshals along the route.

We crossed the finish line as a family, side by side, four hours after we had started. We had stopped at every cake stop along the way and enjoyed not only a great day out on the bikes, but also a fantastic family outing.

I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for an all-inclusive cycling event to take part in next year.

The Tares family at the start line.