Hello there and welcome to WhereIRide!

For a while now, I've wanted to put my software development skills to use in a personal project. That project needed to focus on something that I find interesting to keep me engaged and cycling is that focus. I first took up road cycling in late 2019 whilst living in Brisbane, Australia. I'd been keen to get riding before that, but when I did, I caught the bug hard and haven't looked back.

One of my favourite aspects of cycling is exploration. I love exploring new routes in my area and further afield but trying to find these routes can sometimes be a challenge. Books are a great resource. The personal stories and route insights draw me in, but they can often be outdated, out of print, or cover too wide an area for me to feasibly ride them all. At the opposite end of the scale are platforms like Komoot or Strava Route Builder. These allow a user to plot a cycle route and make it public. Aspects of these tools are really clever. Strava uses algorithms to suggest routes of a given length based on popularity heatmaps of local roads. Komoot features tour highlights such as viewpoints, local attractions as suggested by users. However, they lack insight and stories to get you excited about them.

I'd like to fill this gap. Initially I'll start off blogging with the long term aim to start publishing proper routes in a rich format. I want to grow the site into a treasure trove of cycling routes in Scotland that I have personally riden and want to share with others. I envisage something with the data and mapping of komoot, but the personal stories and tips of a blog. The development time to put something like that together will come out of my free time when I'm not working or cycling, so I plan to chip away at it throughout 2021. In the meantime, I've decided to get started with this blog, sharing stories about my cycling routes, training and equipment.

Get strapped in, this is going to be fun!