We asked our Breeze community to share their favourite past rides and what made them so special. If you have never been on a Breeze ride before, this will give you an insight into the fun, friendships, and adventures our volunteers and riders enjoy by leading and attending Breeze rides. We hope you will be inspired to join an upcoming Breeze ride near you.
East
Sheila Marshall –Tribute to Trainspotting ride, 1st October, 2023
📍 Perth and Kinross
🗺️ 33.3 miles
Kinross Breeze cycle to Rannoch Station and around Loch Rannoch. A superb ride led by Kirsteen Ross. The lunch at the station cafe, which was pre-booked by Kirsteen, was much needed. A big thank you to all the girls who supported me when my bike and muscle power nearly gave up on me in the last few miles. They took me into the second row of the peloton and encouraged me to the end.
Lynsay Johnston – Halloween Spooktacular, 31st October, 2022
📍 Perth and Kinross
🗺️ 8 miles
My most memorable ride was the first Halloween ride! Strapping E.T. to my bike and cycling around in our costumes in the dark. It was amazingly good fun.
Kirsteen Ross – Kinross-Shire Breeze #7 Midsummer Circular, 20th June 2022
📍 Perth and Kinross
🗺️ 14.5 miles
One hot summer evening, we cycled out along the old coffin road near Kinross, which was historically used to bring people in their coffins on their final journey, from the outlying areas to the graveyard in Kinross. A very interesting feature of this road is a very large flat stone hidden on the roadside by vegetation, often passed by many not even noticing it. This is the Leckerstane, where pallbearers would lay down the coffin to rest or switch bearers.
I had prepared a surprise picnic and left food and flasks under the old Leckerstane, waiting for us all to arrive. Everyone was surprised, first to learn what the Leckerstane was, and second to enjoy a wonderful picnic at the side of a quiet road, with the cakes laid out on the stone. A new use for the Leckerstane! It was a fabulous night of laughter and friendship.
West and Central
Sandra Barr – Tuesday Night Beginners ride, 31st July 2018
📍 Glasgow
🗺️ 7 miles
My favourite past ride is one that took place during the Breeze birthday celebrations in 2018. It was the 7th anniversary of Breeze (four years in Scotland) and there was a campaign incentivising Breeze Champions to encourage and support seven new participants on a ride during July. To enter into the prize draw you had to have seven women on your ride attend who had never previously been on a Breeze ride before.
I organised an easy-going ride from the East End of Glasgow, as part of a series of beginner rides aimed at women who were new to or returning to cycling. I had three assistant ride leaders, and in total 14 women came along, most of whom had not been on a bike for some years. It was a lovely July evening, and we used the ample empty car park to practice our riding skills and have fun building confidence and experience riding a bike. Most of the bikes were from the Breeze bike fleet we have access to in Glasgow; however, we didn’t have enough for everyone that night!
Throughout that summer, watching everyone build up their confidence and skills, you could see them improve every week, was hugely satisfying. The icing on the cake was winning a prize of a Garmin bike computer in the prize draw.
Lara Philip – Tuesday Night Beginners, 3rd July, 2018
📍 Glasgow
🗺️ 7 miles
My favorite past Breeze rides have to be those from the summer of 2018, not long after I had trained as a Breeze Champion. It was the summer of the European Championships in Glasgow. We had scorching weather every week, and there was a very large sandpit outside the Transport Museum with large deckchairs. Most weeks, we headed out there; it was an absolute hoot.
Sometimes we had a wee bit of competitive cycling along the cycle path before the museum, and then we would collapse in a heap in the middle of the pit. It was all about the enjoyment of cycling and having fun. We had rides on two nights per week that summer. The photo is from one of our Tuesday beginner rides; some of the women attending these rides had not been on a bike for over 30 years!
South East
Beth Hart – Breeze ride to Cotfield Flowers Walled Garden, 26th May, 2023
📍 Scottish Borders
🗺️ 18.1 miles
This was one of my favourite rides as it was such an unexpected pleasure to be hosted by the garden’s owner, Arabella. She’d made us a Victoria sponge and we sat out on her terrace. Everyone on the ride really enjoyed it as it was an unusual place to stop. We had a lovely visit round her garden after refreshments.
Lizzie Mitchell – Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebration Ride, 5th June 2022
📍 Scottish Borders
🗺️ 20.5 miles
This has to go down as one of my favourite Breeze rides ‘ever’ with the lovely Hawick Belles Breeze Group, with some 32 riders joining us. It was a special day celebrating the Platinum Jubilee with lots of fun and laughter. We had scrumptious food provided by Karens Tearoom Newtown St Boswells, Jammy Coo and the Cream Puff Coffee Shop, making it a picnic fit for royalty. The loan of flasks from Hawick Cycling Club meant we could all enjoy a cuppa. We were also delighted to have lovely momentos to give out to those who came along on our ride, made by the very talented Billiedoo. Definitely one of a kind 🥰🇬🇧👑🚴🥂🥰.
Sheena – Leith Loop – Sunshine not guaranteed!, 4th May, 2023
📍 Edinburgh
🗺️ 10.5 miles
There are too many favourite past rides to mention, but this cannot be missed off my list as it was instrumental in my Breeze journey; my very first Breeze ride as a volunteer, with Pauline leading and me as co-lead.
I applied to be a Breeze Champion in 2018 but had to withdraw after being diagnosed with cancer. I was gravely ill for some time and underwent a year of treatment, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. For a while, I had to use a wheelchair. My main recovery and rehab goal was to get back to cycling. I eventually achieved this with a lot of support from my cycling chums.
I now manage various ongoing health conditions due to ‘chemotherapy legacy,’ so cycling hasn’t been as easy as I had hoped. However, I still enjoy shorter rides, meeting new people, being outdoors, and, of course, coffee and cake. Secretly, my main incentive is to eat cake not fret about my weight!
I will continue doing Breeze rides for as long as I can. I think being, shall we say, ‘a wee bit older’, helps make it easier to connect with and relax people.
North
Diane Maciver – Elgin and Nairn Breeze Firework meet-up, 6th November, 2021
📍 Moray
🗺️ 17 miles
My favorite past Breeze ride is my first Big Breeze ride on November 6, 2021. We had over 30 ladies on bikes at one time, which was the highest number achieved on a Breeze ride in Scotland at the time.
Four Breeze Champions from Elgin and two from Nairn led the ride from Elgin Library to Duffus Castle. The group, which included riders from both Elgin and Nairn, stopped for coffee, tea, and cake. It was great to welcome six new riders to Breeze. Someone who saw us on this ride messaged me afterward, saying she had spotted us on the cycle path from Lossiemouth to Elgin. She told me: “It was pouring rain, but all I could see were groups of women cycling and chatting. They all just looked to be really enjoying themselves.”
South West
Claire Martin – Cycle around Stranraer with Keira the Breeze Bear, 24th July, 2023
📍 Dumfries and Galloway
🗺️ 10 miles
A favorite past ride was from Stranraer with fellow Breeze Champion Bev Kaye and Keira, the Breeze Bear. We had a lovely sunny evening and enjoyed a route around the start of the Kilpatrick MacMillan new long-distance cycle route from Stranraer to Eyemouth. It was a great route that Bev planned, taking us through Stranraer and out to the shore of Loch Ryan. We were stopped by a local photographer who took our photographs for a newspaper, which was a nice surprise.
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