THE organisers of this Sunday’s Tour O the Borders cycle sportive has announced an important collaboration with The Glen Café and Kayak and Sup Hire at St Mary’s Loch.

Road cycling and watersports might seem an unlikely partnership, but as Neil Dalgleish explains, Tour O The Borders have always been supportive of other local businesses and activity providers.

He said: “Cycling is obviously our bread and butter, but there’s such a wealth of other activities on offer in this corner of Scotland. Hiking, paddleboarding, kayaking and trail running are also huge around here – Touro is a great platform to showcase all of this to visitors from across the UK.”

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The tenth closed-road edition of Touro will take in Loch of the Lowes and St Mary’s Loch for the first time.

And Neil is delighted that The Glen Café will act as one of the event’s main feed stations. “Roadies love nothing more than a first-class coffee shop and we’ve always enjoyed stopping at The Glen Café when we’re out that way on our bikes. You’re surrounded by stunning hills and tranquil waters – it’s a spectacular spot to take a breather.”

Business owner, Audrey Power, is also positive about the collaboration: “We’re really excited to get involved and be a feed station for the event. We always have a big clientele of motorbike riders but it’s nice to be a great cyclists’ destination too – it’s fantastic country for being on two wheels, and it’s great to collaborate with a big event like this.”

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Audrey and her team will be offering bacon and egg rolls – along with Forsyth’s legendary macaroni pies and other locally baked cakes – to the 2000 cyclists taking part in this year’s sportive. She hopes that some riders return to enjoy a day on the water once they’ve recovered from their big day out on the road.

Tour O The Borders is the south of Scotland’s biggest mass participation sports event, with visitors from all over the UK and beyond coming to experience the area’s world-class road cycling. The team behind the event understand that it can cause disruption to businesses and the community, but believe the impact on local tourism benefits the whole area in the long run.

“Touro has brought thousands of visitors to the Scottish Borders over the past 11 years,” says Neil. “We have always tried to spread the benefits to other local businesses – this latest collaboration at St Mary’s Loch is just another example of how our event can help to promote the wider offer to visitors.”

For more details on Tour O The Borders 2023 visit: tourotheborders.com Visit Kayak and SUP Hire and Sales Scottish Borders on Facebook to to find out more.