West Lothian Circular Cycle
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Dust off your bikes and work off the festive excesses with this short winter cycle that will take us on a tour of some of West Lothian's delights!
Largely a rural county with its numerous shale bings as evidence of its former mining industry, West Lothian has three country parks, miles of minor roads, canal towpath and former railway lines. We'll combine some of the best of these to make this relatively easy cycle ride. Our circular route of approx 27 miles (43km) will start off on traffic-free routes (NCN route 75) that take us over the M8 through Livingston village and new town before continuing along the River Almond through Almondell and Calderwood Country Park to East Calder. From there, we'll head north along a railway path back under the M8 to Uphall before meandering north-west on minor roads to West Lothian's former county town of Linlithgow, where there are a number of cafes or bars where we can stop for lunch. We'll complete the route back to Bathgate with a ride along a short section of the Union canal before taking minor roads southwards through Beecraigs Country Park.
The ride will include a few short hill climbs and is generally suitable for road, hybrid or mountain bikes. If there is lying snow, the latter might be more suitable on the off-road sections! We should be finished the ride well before dark, but bring lights just in case.
What to bring
Extra food and dry clothing
Make sure you bring plenty of snack foods. We will try to stop where possible for food though. With the unpredictable Scottish weather, it is recommended you bring a jacket to keep you dry.
Apart from your bike, food and drink, remember the following:
Spare inner tube and tyre levers
Also any special tools that your bike needs.
Eye protection
Impact from a bee, grit or even a fly at speed is extremely unpleasant, sunglasses may do if not made of glass and not too shaded.
Clothing
Choose suitable clothes and footwear for the weather forecast and time of year. You will be exercising so lightweight layered clothing is best. Shorts are best even in rain, as they allow free movement of your legs. Jeans are useless if it rains but tracksuit bottoms need to be not too baggy or they may snag in the chain and cause an accident. You'll need trainers or similar with grippy soles for standard pedals.
Cyclist's helmet
Outdoorlads policy asks you to wear a helmet on events.
Cycling water bottle
If you don't have one, you will only be able to drink when we stop and may get dehydrated.
Food & drink
We plan to have a lunch stop in Linlithgow. However it would be a good idea to carry some spare food and water to keep you going during the ride.