I joined in late 2012, because I was looking for group rides without the formality of joining a club. I was a member of the cyclingscotland forums when they existed and I think also the cyclingplus forums.
I rode a Focus Cayo 105 and a Specialized Langster Steel (the worst bike I've ever owned, it tried to kill me several times).
My first ride with CC Ecosse was a very wintry but memorable and enjoyable ride to Loch Lomond and back via the Queen's View.
At the time I was a web developer and living with my partner. Since then I've had a number of jobs, one with a great team and a terrible working environment (a basement office in a city with the lowest amount of sunshine hours in Europe), one with extremely toxic people in charge (but hey, they had actual windows). After the breakdown this caused and my subsequent ensinglement, I moved across the country to work for a big software company, bought a Triban, lost 5 stone, went on numerous CC Ecosse jaunts including a 3 day trip to Islay and a 4 day trip from Glasgow to Inverness, did dozens of sportives, knocked most items off my bucket list, completed 11 months of the ICAM challenge before getting randomly attacked on a night out, which shattered the illusion that I was coping and caused me to fail the ICAM challenge.
In the midst of another breakdown I handed in my notice (tbh it was a jump or be thrown situation), bought a colleague's Planet X Kaffenback, and spent a large chunk of my savings getting it converted to a proper tourer before sodding off to tour around Europe, only for the bike and everything on it to get stolen after a month on the road.
The next year I got injured trying to participate in the ICAM challenge without adequate training and regained all of those 5 stone, without regaining any of the power or endurance I had previously as a fat lad, and I haven't done anything worth mentioning since, whether on the bike or off it.
I'm in a far worse place now than I was 9 years ago but at least I'm no longer fooling myself with delusions of adequacy.
I still have all the bikes mentioned (apart from the Kaffenback
) but only the Triban gets any use because it is cheap to maintain and hasn't tried to kill me.
I desperately miss CC Ecosse, it got me through a very dark time. So many adventures and fantastic days out with great company.
I rode a Focus Cayo 105 and a Specialized Langster Steel (the worst bike I've ever owned, it tried to kill me several times).
My first ride with CC Ecosse was a very wintry but memorable and enjoyable ride to Loch Lomond and back via the Queen's View.
At the time I was a web developer and living with my partner. Since then I've had a number of jobs, one with a great team and a terrible working environment (a basement office in a city with the lowest amount of sunshine hours in Europe), one with extremely toxic people in charge (but hey, they had actual windows). After the breakdown this caused and my subsequent ensinglement, I moved across the country to work for a big software company, bought a Triban, lost 5 stone, went on numerous CC Ecosse jaunts including a 3 day trip to Islay and a 4 day trip from Glasgow to Inverness, did dozens of sportives, knocked most items off my bucket list, completed 11 months of the ICAM challenge before getting randomly attacked on a night out, which shattered the illusion that I was coping and caused me to fail the ICAM challenge.
In the midst of another breakdown I handed in my notice (tbh it was a jump or be thrown situation), bought a colleague's Planet X Kaffenback, and spent a large chunk of my savings getting it converted to a proper tourer before sodding off to tour around Europe, only for the bike and everything on it to get stolen after a month on the road.
The next year I got injured trying to participate in the ICAM challenge without adequate training and regained all of those 5 stone, without regaining any of the power or endurance I had previously as a fat lad, and I haven't done anything worth mentioning since, whether on the bike or off it.
I'm in a far worse place now than I was 9 years ago but at least I'm no longer fooling myself with delusions of adequacy.
I still have all the bikes mentioned (apart from the Kaffenback
) but only the Triban gets any use because it is cheap to maintain and hasn't tried to kill me.I desperately miss CC Ecosse, it got me through a very dark time. So many adventures and fantastic days out with great company.
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