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This Scotland Outdoors podcast with Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart from BBC Radio

Scotland.

Hello and thanks very much for choosing to listen to this.

I'm Mark Stephen.

She's Rachel Stewart.

As you probably know, we build the Scotland Outdoors podcast from a live program we do for BBC Radio Scotland, which is called Out of Doors.

Yeah, this week we're inviting you to join us on a special journey as we make our way from Edinburgh to Glasgow along the fourth incline and Union Canal, which of course

pretty much takes us right the way through Central Scotland. And there is a reason why. It's not

always a reason why in this programme, but this week there is a reason why. We wanted to mark the

200th anniversary of the Union Canal. It's an incredible waterway. It was once the really sort of,

you know, the transport artery that stoke the first of the Industrial Revolution in central

Scotland. Today, however, not much industry to be seen at all because the Fourth and Clyde

and Union Canal are home to cyclists, runners, dog walkers, social It's just about anything rather than cold barges and Clydesdale horses.

Now, I did consider walking the 60-odd miles from east to west, but quite frankly it's winter,

so I thought that the option of an e-bike would be the sensible choice, and much quicker besides.

Johann Spitzky from the Tartan Bicycle Company very kindly arranged to meet me in the centre of Edinburgh

to hand over one of his bikes and to give me a fairly quick briefing before I headed off for the towpath at the Lochran Basin.

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