Cycling Meditations: The Crow Road

Any cyclist worth his or her salt will know the Crow Road (coming from the Gaelic 'crawdh' referring to its use as a drove road in the past), that elevated artery that traverses the Campsie Fells between Lennoxtown and Fintry just north of Glasgow. It is quite something, not only for its gradients and views but for that quiet quality of solitude when cycling across the high (invariably misty) plateau surrounded by hills. There is a definite resuscitative quality to it all, not just in the endorphins released through a little physical effort but in the 'being in the midst of mountains' aspect (whether we are aware of it or not, the 'glen' has engraved itself deeply into the weathered Scottish psyche). As such, the Crow Road is a great connecting road, connecting not just towns...