The development of Coupar Angus as a hub for cycling got underway in 2013 with the publishing of a guidebook including 26 cycle routes in and around the town. The book’s author had been studying the local Ordnance Survey maps and noticed, as any resident of the town could have told him, that Coupar Angus sits at the cross roads of two A Roads (A923 (Dundee to Blairgowrie) and the A94 (Perth to Forfar). In the four quadrants, delineated by these two roads, there are a host of minor roads which are ideal for cycling. And there are lots of different types of cycling.

If you want gentle ups and downs then the roads in the bottom of the Vale of Strathmore are for you. If you want steep, but short climbs, then the Sidlaw Hills to the south of the Vale are perfect. If you want long, arduous mountain climbs then the foothills of the Grampians, to the north, will be your playground.

From the book came a Sunday Cycling Club – First Sunday of every month (including January), the development of a cycle workshop (just off The Cross in the centre of Couper Angus), the employment of a Cycling Development Officer (Grant Murdoch, funded by the Climate Challenge Fund), the training of a couple of Velotech Gold cycle technicians (Grant and, local resident, Keith Langelaan), an annual cycle festival, night cycling, cycling for kids and lots more.

All of these activities now come under the banner of the Coupar Angus Cycling Hub.