She's checkin it wance, she's checkin it twice, She still cannae think o onythin nice. Mrs Nae Offence at Christmas...

Why you're cheating if you ride an e-bike: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/i...

Squirrel at the bird feeder...

Knitted post box toppers seen on today's ride. Nutcracker - Cleghorn, other - West End.

Huge celebrations as I reach my annual mileage target.

Finally got the chance to ride the last stretch of the route from NCN 74 to Douglas. This runs to the village from the biomass plant at Poneil. Except that I didn't quite do that: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/.../poneil-t...

Today my bike computer showed me travelling at 40 mph. I've never previously attained that speed even on a steep downhill. The wee spoke magnet that creates a pulse in a coil was squint. Was it sending a double pulse? When I straightened it up, the computer behaved. Thoughts?

"In the high places of the field" as it says on the Darmead monument. Brilliant, cold, crunchy ride around Black Law wind farm this morning.

Lovely, bright, frosty day. I went to Trackside Cycles in Shotts for a couple of inner tubes and had a good blether with the guy there. Unfortunately, the back road from Allanton wasn't gritted. I dropped my guard at one point and ended up on the deck. (It was actually quite funny)

Cyclists - here's a tale of a well-known Scottish climb. walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/11/16/t... Do you think a climb has defeated you if you take a rest on the way up or push for a while, or is geting to the top with your bike all that matters?

Here's a description of a literary tour along the Clyde Valley, mentioning books by Walter Scott, Robert Maclellan and Ethyl Smith: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/a...

When I was wee, I thought the rhyme went: Remember, remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, trees and a plop.

Visiting Couthally Castle near Carnwath - not my finest hour on a bike: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2022/03/20/c...

Muirkirk Heritage Layby. Hae a read at the poem by Thomas Floyd. #Scotstober #glabber

The Rubbish Patter bins stert a rammie wherever they're pit. Read mair Eejit Street comics here: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/comi... #Scotstober

Not very warm, a little breezy but dry and sunny. A loop around Forth, Climpy and back through the wind farm, with a detour to Winnyknowe Woods and Aitken's Pond. The woods always look lovely at this time of year.

Aye passin through Brocketsbrae on the ither side o the Clyde Valley. And if Ah tak the back road tae New Lanark, Ah see a muckle picter o a brock. #Scotstober

Puir gran wis puggled climbin doon the stairs. This is whit she did... Poem frae Itchycoo's Blethertoun Braes. Braw drawin by Bob Dewar. #Scotstober

A wee me up on ma grandfaither's shooders. Fowk say a look like him noo. #Scotstober

Rode to the Edinburgh Bike Cooperative to spend a voucher that I won in a @spokes.org.uk 'favourite bike ride' competition. Used part of the route I described for the comp. Got some gear for the winter months. Home by train.

Ah ken the day's #Scotstober word (warp) has naethin tae dae wi faster-than-licht space travel. In ony case, We hae wheech drive instead. See www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/comi... fur mair o the Major Tam story.

A wee nyaff cried Sandy gets a skelf... read mair in the Eejit Street comic: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/comi... #Scotstober

Unambiguously autumnal at the pond near Craigenhill, Kilncadzow. Old maps show a building called Cleekimin near the pond. There's a similarly-named place in the Motherwell area. It's at the top of a steep hill. A 'cleek', in Scots, is a hook. 1/2

The bad news- Loanhead Farm Tearoom is closing, though it's hopefully a temporary shutdown. The good news- there's a community cafe in Coalburn. I tried it today and it's great. Ideal if you're trying out the new paths.

Frae The Pizzenous Pet Shop: The Slevverin Slug is sleekit, It plans oot its attack, It slides up yir shirt tae the collar, And dribbles doon yir back. Read the hale poem here, or hear it frae actor Katya Searle: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/poem... #Scotstober

A misty day, so I headed off road. Waste of time putting the washing out...

A wee plooter aboot at the seaside in Leven wi ma granny (1963 or thereaboots). #Scotstober

Half birthday for this beastie - I bought it six months ago. We've enjoyed a fair number of miles together in that time.

Hoo dis Mrs Nae Offence ken whit a monkey's oxter smells like? Read mair braw ScotshooseYaldi comics here: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/comi... #Scotstober

One from the archive - a visit to the site of Couthally Castle near Carnwath goes a bit wrong: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2022/03/20/c...

The Drookit Doo’s a daft yin, And no that guid at singin. It stauns up on the auld belltooer In rain, its feathers wringin. Read aboot mair Fykie Fleein Things here: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/primary/poem... and listen tae actor Michael McHardie read the poem oot. #Scotstober

Exploring the area around Kirk o Shotts and Kate's Well: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/k...

There's a richt scunner oot tae dwang the peacefu craiturs o the planet Tunnix. But Major Tam the Space Polisman is on the case. #Scotstober Fu Eejit Street comic here: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/wp-content/u...

A bike ride to Peebles, passing through the railway tunnel where CTR Wilson performed a cosmic ray experiment: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/p...

Wha remembers the ticker tape machine frae schuil physics? Yaisin ane wis a richt footer and maist o the time yir teacher tellt ye whit ye should o fund oot. #Scotstober

Afore he met ma mither, ma faither crashed this braw motor jist ootside Carluke. He wis in sic a bad way that they gied him the last richts at the hospital, jist in case he wis Catholic. #Scotstober

"Weel Ah mind the day oor Gregor wis capped. Jist as the man pit the thing on his heid, a shaft o light lit him up." So my granny used to say, and it was an entirely accurate description, but for one detail. She wasn't there and had constructed the memory from my mum's account, and from this photo.

Eejit Street 4 - the latest edition of the Scots language comic for bairns - is out now. I've scripted some stories for it, along with Thomas and Sara Clark and Matthew Fitt. You can download it here: www.scotshooseyaldi.com/.../Eejit-St... and schools will be able to order free hard copies.

Revisiting the Coalburn paths. Not surprisingly, they're even better when it's not chucking it down as it was here: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/c... And look! A picnic bench where you can sit and talk about the interesting geology you see about you.

The Tinto Hill Tea Room has been around for as long as I can remember, but in the last few years has had quite restricted opening hours. It's now under new management and is open every day except Wednesday. The menu looked quite imaginative, but I only stopped for coffee and a scone.

Beautiful morning. It was frosty when I woke up but by the time I was out riding there were only a few patches in the shade. Cold enough, though, to merit long cycling tights for the first time in a few months.

A non-historian tries to find out about a forgotten Lanarkshire battle: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/m...

Stop Press !! 🙋 Closing date for our 'My Favourite Bike Ride' #SpokesComp has been extended to ... Sunday 21 September with judging in early October DETAILS --> www.spokes.org.uk/2025/09/spok... @edi.bike @rru.bsky.social @tracygriffen.bsky.social @edfoc.bsky.social @christhompsonex.bsky.social

Tried out the next section of the NCN74 to Douglas path- Coalburn to Poneil. A highlight was Wallace's Cave, as much for the striking geology as the alleged connection with the Scottish hero. See here: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/30/c... Loved it, despite the dreich weather.

A 'time to kill in Glasgow' ride on a hire bike, along the canal to Kirkintilloch.

More Glasgow hire bike fun- St. Peter's Seminary: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/26/a...

Some Glasgow hire bike stories: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/23/n...

A ride to Crawfordjohn leads to me finding out about TV's most notorious ferret: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/21/c...

A ride to the Barony A-Frame and Ayr: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/20/a...

Fort William to Oban along NCN 78 - the last leg of my short Highland tour: walkridecarluke.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/2...