With the rain hammering on the windows of their Clydeside loft apartment, Lionel and Simon decide to sit tight round the large dining table drinking coffee and eating porridge until the weather improves.

There's the Killie Pie taste test, talk of Simon's phobia of big spoons, and then discussion of his previous exploits on two wheels. Simon has ridden from Lands' End to John o' Groats, from Tring to Tromsø and tackled the Transatlantic Way in Ireland so he's much more experienced than Lionel at long-distance, self-supported cycling.

Finally, they can delay their departure no longer and the get on the road to Dumbarton via the Forth and Clyde canal. Dumbarton Football Club have a resident poet, Stephen Watt, who tells Lionel about the town and performs a poem he's written specially for The Cycling Podcast.

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Lionel and Simon were fuelled by Science In Sport. Everything you need before, during and after your ride. For 25% off all your SiS products, go to scienceinsport.com and enter the code SISCP25 at the checkout.

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The Tour d'Écosse routes were created using the Hammerhead dashboard and Lionel and Simon followed the yellow line and the Karoo 2's turn-by-turn directions from Gretna to Dingwall. For a limited time, listeners to The Cycling Podcast can get a free heart-rate monitor with the purchase of a Hammerhead Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io and use promo code CYCLE at checkout when you've added both items to your cart.

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The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.

S10 Ep146: Explore | Tour d'Écosse stage 5, part one: Port Glasgow – Dumbarton