S10 Ep157: Explore | Tour d'Écosse stages 13-15: Montrose – Peterhead – Elgin – Birnie – Dingwall
The Cycling Podcast
The Cycling Podcast
4.7 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2022
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Stage 13 of the trip takes Lionel and Simon from Montrose to Peterhead, via Aberdeen and a visit to Slains Castle, which inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. At 128 kilometres it’s the longest stage of the entire tour too but, fortunately, it's somewhat tailwind-assisted.
The following day, however, they battle a fierce headwind on the way to Elgin City’s Borough Briggs, before the last leg takes them from Birnie to Dingwall, the home of the 42nd and final football club on their itinerary, Ross County.
This episode also features a chat with Scotland’s Commonwealth Games road race bronze medallist Finn Crockett, who supports Ross County.
In total, over 15 days of cycling, they covered more than 1,300 kilometres and spent almost 58 hours in the saddle.
The Tour d’Écosse was recorded by Lionel Birnie and Simon Gill.
Production and sound design by Tom Whalley.
Broomwagon support from Sam Slatter and Jon Heard.
Thank you to everyone we met along the way and a special thank you to everyone who has listened to the journey.
Supersapiens
Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. Stay in your performance zone with Supersapiens. Find out more at supersapiens.com
Science in Sport
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.
MAAP
The Cycling Podcast x MAAP collection is available now. Go to maap.cc to see the full MAAP range.
Hammerhead
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.
Friends of the Podcast
Sign up as a Friend of the Podcast at thecyclingpodcast.com to listen to more than 60 exclusive episodes.
The Cycling Podcast is on Strava
The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Lots of towns and cities have war memorials and some even have statues to commemorate military |
| 0:08.3 | heroes, but Montrose must be the only place that has the statue of a dog taking pride of |
| 0:13.6 | place. |
| 0:15.4 | Before we left Montrose, Simon and I posed for a photo next to Bamsa, the St Bernad, who |
| 0:20.6 | was a member of the Norwegian Navy during the Second World War. |
| 0:24.9 | Whether Simon was going for dignified strength or bemusement as he posed for his picture, I'm |
| 0:29.6 | not quite sure, but somehow he managed both. |
| 0:33.0 | Bamsa was given a full military funeral when he died in Montrose in 1944 and the Norwegian |
| 0:38.7 | military hold a commemorative ceremony for him every ten years. |
| 0:43.2 | Bamsa belonged to one of the ship's commanders and served on a Norwegian minesweeper that was |
| 0:47.7 | stationed in Montrose and Dundee during the war. |
| 0:51.1 | One of his tasks, apart from keeping up morale on ship, was to round up the sailors and crew |
| 0:56.2 | and escort them back to the ship when it was time to go back on duty. |
| 0:59.9 | Apparently Bamsa would even get on the bus, unaccompanied and head as far as Dundee |
| 1:04.1 | to fetch the crew from their favourite pubs. |
| 1:07.1 | What a glorious friend. |
| 1:09.2 | Now I think of it, I can definitely see the likeness Simon was going for. |
| 1:13.2 | We're doing a tour of all the Scottish football grounds. |
| 1:19.5 | So today we're just starting with Montrose today and then up to... |
| 1:27.5 | Coverrangers next. |
| 1:28.5 | Coverrangers, Aberdeen, Peterhead today. |
| 1:31.5 | Did Bricken yesterday? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Cycling Podcast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Cycling Podcast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.