The busy A83 is the easiest way to reach Inveraray, but it isn't so pleasant for cycling. There's a quieter road that will take you there- the A819. Along the way you'll get to visit one of Scotland's prettiest train stations and the most photographed castle in the country.

• a ride on the West Highland Line
• 15 mile cycle to Inveraray on a quieter road
• visiting Dalmally station, one of Scotland's prettiest
• Kilchurn Castle, the most photographed in Scotland
• a short hill climb for spectacular views

Book a free bike space and take one of Scotland's most scenic trains to Dalmally. It's around 45 minutes from Oban and about 2 hours and 20 minutes from Glasgow. Some of these trains have a special bicycle carriage, so there's plenty of space.

I loved this station ever since my first visit. Back then it was in a sorry state, boarded up and forgotten about. This time I found that something wonderful had happened. Graham took on the challenge of restoring the building and he has done an amazing job. You can now book a room and stay the night at the station. One of the rooms is called The Posting Room- it had once been used to store mail arriving by train.

Graham offered me a cup of tea and showed me around. ​Inside, there are many features to discover, such as original fireplaces and cornicing. "I managed to save all the ceiling roses," Graham proudly told me.

He recalled how dilapidated it had been when he took ownership, "you should have seen the size of the mushrooms growing inside. There was a fireplace fulll of them."

There's a sculpture of a granite heron on the platform. It's made from Ben Cruchan granite, the mountain that can be seen from the station. 

From Dalmally station a 1 mile cycle along the A85 takes you to the start of the A819. The nicest part of the A819 is this stretch alongside the shore of Loch Awe. There's a great view of Kilchurn Castle, one of the most photographed castles in Scotland.

The road then heads away from the loch. It's a steep climb, but you are rewarded with fine views.

Soon the road is hemmed in by forest and there's not much to see. It's a functional road, not a destination in itself. The benefit is to use it as a safer and more pleasant way to get to Inverary. 

After 1.5 miles there's a hiking path to a monument dedicated to one of Scotland's most famous writers. Neil Munro was born in Inveraray, in 1863. He wrote the Para Handy stories about a steamboat captain making deliveries from Glasgow to Loch Fyne. 

It's a small hill, but it gives an outstanding view. For sure this was the best part about this road

The glorious descent on this road is one of those experiences that goes to make cycling one of the best things in life.

I had experienced thunder, lightning and torrential rain for most of the ride. When it passed there was a torrent of water flowing down the side of the road, gushing waterfalls on the hillsides and rocks glistening in the sunshine. The sun came out and quickly dried my sodden clothes. I was jubilant as I cruised down that hill, feeling that I had survived the extreme weather and came out the other side a better person.

This road is a much quieter and safer alternative to reaching Inveraray by bike. You will not be bothered by traffic. It might not be the most exciting road in Scotland, but the fast descent at the end is a joy and there are some great views towards Loch Awe. 

The problem is that once you get to Inveraray you have no option but to use the A83 if you want to go further, or you must go back the way you came. However, if you stayed the night in Inveraray you could start cycling the A83 early in the morning when the road is quieter. 

Life as a bicycle courier in London is challenging. Julian Sayarer doesn't hold back in his honest and sometimes brutal portrayal of the world of bicycle messengers. We learn what it's really like to work in one of London's most poorly paid jobs. We meet a cast of fascinating characters who work as couriers and we experience a lesser-known side to the city. The book is often cynical, sometimes depressing but also rich in detail, observation and social commentary. 

Julian Sayarer had just completed a record breaking cycle around the world. He wrote about this in Life Cycles, which I thought was one of the best cycling travel books I've read. Messengers sees the author return to London, somewhat reluctant  to write a book about couriering, but his agent believes it is a great subject for a book. 

I found this book less thrilling than Life Cycles, but still highly captivating for how honest and realistic it is. It draws you into the subculture of the bicycle courier. A world where couriers call each other by their radio call signs, instead of their real names. It's a world of hard work for low pay and very little respect. There are some moments of joy, like a romantic relationship with another courier which is much needed relief in the tough life of a messenger. There's a euphoria he feels when getting a package delivered on time, when nobody expected him to be able to. He recalls an incident of name calling over the courier radios that's hard not to laugh out loud at. 

This is a job that brings you into contact with all of London society. The people who work alongside the author all have a story to tell about how they ended up in this job. Sayarer has interesting encounters with bankers, secretaries, the super rich, the homeless and the police. He tells of the dangers of the road, the daily conflicts between motor vehicles and bicycles for space on congested streets. You learn about a different side to London, often only known to those doing jobs like couriering.

This is another great book by Julian Sayarer. It's a realistic and devastatingly honest look at London through the eyes of a bicycle courier.

What goes around by Emily Chappell is another great book about London bicycle couriers.

In today's world, we increasingly face issues like pollution, high carbon emissions, congested cities and a sedentary lifestyle leading to health issues. Rethinking our ways of moving around has never been more important. Commuting by bike or cycling for leisure is a wonderful way to get around, stay healthy and enjoy your days more. The so-called "active travel" is becoming increasingly popular and a subject of policy changes aiming to encourage people to take up more walking and cycling and reduce our widespread car dependency.

However, the numbers of people cycling are still low. According to the Annual Cycling Monitoring Report by Cycling Scotland, only 4% of people say they cycle regularly to work, and 1.5% say cycling is their main mode of transport. There are many reasons why people are averse to cycling, but often they feel like their destination is simply too far to bike to. This is often an issue that can be solved by a little bit of research, route planning and combining modes of transport.

This blog will look at how multi-modal journeys can help people travel more actively. It will explore the benefits of combining transport and what steps need to be taken to make this type of travelling even more reliable, feasible and easy to use for everyday journeys.

Multi-modal transport is the combining of several types of transport over the course of a single journey. It is a great way to break longer travel into stages by using different vehicles for some of them.

Say you live in Livingston and work in Edinburgh. That would be a 16-mile bicycle ride over an hour and a half – probably an unreasonably long and exhausting commute for most people. However, splitting it into several phases could make this quicker, easier, and cheaper. You could ride your bike to Livingston North, park it at the train station's bike parking facilities and hop on your train bike-free.

You could also consider taking your bike with you on the train, which is free. This may sound scary at first glance, but it really isn't that complicated. You can use this guide to help you get your head around the logistics of taking a bicycle on the train.

Using the train system is a daily necessity for many commuters; it can also be a wonderful way to explore the country. Surprisingly to many, this can really be done with a bike which, as mentioned above, can be taken with you on the train. There really are many benefits to combing bikes and trains, whether you leave your ride at the station's bike parking or you take it on board.

Using your bike to get around congested cities during rush hour is often quicker. It is sometimes easier for bicycles to travel through as riders can take less busy roads and pass through sections which are not accessible to cars. Cycling also consistently offers the most reliable journey time for the rider.

Riding a bike to and from the station, on one or both ends of your journey, is almost always cheaper than getting the bus or driving. It saves you the cost of a bus ticket and money on fuel costs.

Cycling to your destination all the way or partly is also just the healthier way to move around. By doing at least part of your journey with a bike, you can seamlessly fit some exercise into your daily routine without having to dedicate extra time to it. This is good for your bones, muscles, heart, and overall fitness.

Cycling to and from stations and taking a bike on the train is absolutely doable. However, there are some limitations which are stopping more people from comfortably combining cycling and train travel. This is especially true for rush hour trains and commuting. To encourage more people to embrace a more active living and travelling, authorities and train operators need to work together to improve cycling facilities. Let's explore the existing issues and what their solutions are.

To make multi-modal journeys viable for more people, more bike storage must be available for cyclists wanting to park their bicycles at train stations. This is easily solved by installing innovative and space-saving solutions like two-tier bike racks or, at a minimum simple bike stands, preferably in a sheltered and safe area. This is important, as one of the main concerns of cyclists is the safety of their bikes. ScotRail has a convenient tool where you can look up your specific station and see what facilities it has – click on the Interchange section to see if there is bicycle parking, how many spaces it has, the type of storage it is and whether or not there is CCTV to make the bike storage extra safe.

Another step that needs to be taken is to increase onboard bike storage in trains. This may be a harder and slower process as train carriages have limited space by default, and there is very little room for expansion. However, it is not impossible, and there are some fantastic examples from Denmark, like Copenhagen's S-Train. In 2010, DSB – the train operator, made significant changes. It announced that all bikes could now travel for free, and it redesigned the interior of all its trains to accommodate up to 60 bicycles. This led to an increase in the number of passengers, and the number of passengers who took a bike on board jumped from 2.1 to 9
million. A step in this direction is especially important to make commuting by train and bike easy, as often rush hour is a tough time to find a space for both bikes and people.
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Train station infrastructure is another piece of the puzzle that makes a journey with a bike more complicated than it needs to be. An example of such limitations is some short platforms where you may end up at a door which won't open due to the length of the train exceeding that of the platform. Stations, especially rural ones, can often have outdated infrastructure, or at least infrastructure that wasn't built with wheels in mind – like footbridges with many stairs. However, an increasing number of them are being updated with lifts and ramps which cyclists can use.

Lastly, the bigger picture of cycling infrastructure is another deterrent. Statistics show people feel unsafe cycling on roads across cities. This means they are unlikely to want to take up commuting by bike for all or part of their journey or riding a bike for leisure. Even though cycling infrastructure across the country is getting better, there are still a lot of things that need improving. To begin with, there is a real need for more cycle paths to make even beginners, or parents cycling with children, feel safer. Ideally, there should be bike-only lanes on busy roads, and more neighbourhoods should be trying out traffic calming and traffic-reducing measures like low-speed-limit zones and no-car zones to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
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Here you can read about a journey on Edinburgh's Spylaw Bank Road through a cyclist's eyes.

Creating synergy between bikes and trains can be a great way to empower people to travel more actively for all or part of their journeys. Creating the right conditions for feasible multi-modal transport can transform our communities. Encouraging commuters to combine bikes and trains will not only improve accessibility and convenience but also reduce congestion, lowers carbon emissions, and enhances public health. Embracing the power of bikes and trains in multi-modal journeys is a key step towards creating vibrant, eco-friendly cities that prioritise active travel and lower our car dependency.

If you love cycling and have a favourite trail, or simply a competitive spirit, then hosting a cycling competition could be a great way for you to meet new people, raise funds for a good cause or even promote your business.

Whatever your reason, cycling contests require in-depth planning if you want them to succeed and become a core part of the biking competition calendar. As well as legal issues and permits you’ll need for your cycling event, you also need to be aware of the ways that you can market and promote the competition to draw a crowd of spectators and participants. Keep reading to find out more.

Choose The Perfect Route
The route of your event will have a significant impact on who can participate, what type of bikes they can use and the general rules. As such, when you’re thinking about setting up an event, before you consider rules or any other information, you need to plot the route and create a clear map of where it will go. You can then use this to inform future marketing materials and help entice participants.

Create Enticing Prices
Any competition requires prizes, even one that is just for fun and isn’t part of a wider tournament. Cyclists who are entering will want to know what they could win if they do well, so it pays to get some mock-ups made for promotional purposes and to see what kinds of medals or trophies you can get ahead of time. Consider working with providers that offer custom medals so that you can inscribe them with the details of the event and use them as a promotional tool for the future.

Build An Online Presence
Sharing your event online is the fastest and most cost-effective way to get it noticed by a wide range of potential participants and attendees. So, you need to build an event website with details of the route, rules, prizes and cause, then choose off-page platforms like social media sites and cycling forums to promote the website further and get noticed by passionate cycling fans like yourself. If you have the digital marketing, SEO and web design skills, then building your own site and managing your online presence will be easy. If not, consider using a web hosting service and template to quickly create your site, and then collaborating with others to expand its online reach within the cycling community.

Promote Your Event
Once you have an online presence for your event, you can start promoting it and drumming up interest. To begin, focus on the cycling groups and pages you’re already a part of, then broaden your horizons and share your event with the wider road biking community. There are many ways you can promote your event online for free, so that you don’t have to spend a lot and can get it noticed by the avid cycling fans you want to participate. Social media is a great tool for this, as you can put up posts and create online reminders at no additional expense. If you wanted to go one step further, you could also try filming an event promo video and uploading that online, as visuals are arguably the best way of advertising an outdoor event.

​If you want to go beyond organic posts, consider supplementing your outreach with targeted paid channels that put your event in front of a wider, relevant audience. Certain platforms deliver event messaging via formats like push notifications or native ads that reach users while they browse other sites and apps, which can be especially effective for driving ticket sales or sign-ups. Testing small buys and using traffic/cost estimators lets you refine audiences without overspending. Many organisers find exploring reputable ad networks for advertisers a practical next step between free promotion and a larger paid campaign.

Hosting your own cycling contest for fun, whether for fundraising or just for a bit of friendly competition, can be a unique and unforgettable experience for passionate road bikers. To get it off the ground and make the event memorable for the right reasons, use these tips. Good luck!