Back to normal

I had a great week in the West of Scotland, cycled 325 miles, saw some glorious scenery and a little bit of wildlife, met some lovely people, ate good food (while drinking - fairly - sensibly), and had fun trying out the Caledonian Sleeper, and the five ferries. Now I'm home, adjusting to normal family life. Having demanded more of my legs than they are used to I'm also nursing a few aches and pains.

Still, I took the bike for a quick spin around the block tonight. It felt very light now that it doesn't have the panniers on the back. I now know a bit more than I did about what a real hill and a real headwind are like, so it did feel like a QUICK spin.

I've also loaded up the GPS traces that I collected last week onto OSM. As a result I've been able to make a few additions to the map. But only a few.

I knew before I went that the whole area is pretty well covered on OSM. It's just as well, because I used Open Cycle Map quite a lot for planning the route. The trip itself confirmed that the level of coverage of the main routes is pretty comprehensive. So there wasn't a lot I could improve. However, I've been able to plug a few gaps. It looks as though Sustrans have made some slight changes to the route of NCR7 around Kilwinning, so I've updated that. And I've tidied up a few minor details. That includes joining up some of the ferry routes with the road network in the hope that will help routing services.

So I want to thank those who had already done the heavy lifting. Their efforts helped me to plan my week,and to find my way around. I hope I've contributed a little bit to helping those who follow.

Now I can start to plan the next trip.