From Sir Chris Hoy to Katie Archibald, Scotland is bursting with cycling talent.

It's not surprising - the country has approximately 2371 miles of National Cycle Network routes that take riders through tranquil glens, spectacular coastlines, historic settlements and all our major cities.

The network is a tool that links towns and cities across Scotland. However, a new report by the cycling charity Sustrans said it's been starved of funding, leaving routes in dire need of improvement.

Large sections are falling apart and it's failing to fulfil one of the key aims: that it can be used "by a sensible 12-year-old travelling alone".

Despite its name, the network is popular with walkers, joggers, wheelchair users and horse riders alike.

But out of the UK's 16,505 miles of National Cycle Network there 16,435 obstacles, including steps, bollards and gates that have rendered many of the routes inaccessible.

Other complaints include sections that turn into a "mud bath" each winter, slippery cattle grids and about 24% (2596 miles) of the on-road sections have traffic speed-limits deemed "too fast" for safe cycling.

Sustrans, the charity who have maintained the routes for the last 23 years, detailed their concerns and outlined a number of improvements they hope will turn the paths "into a safe and accessible traffic-free Network for everyone".

So what are they?

59% of the roads in Scotland have been deemed "poor" or "very poor" by the report. All of those scoring badly are on-road routes and the organisation says more than half of the issues stem from traffic safety.

One problematic area in particular was found to be the On the Round the Forth cycle route near Stirling, a cycle path leads onto a large busy roundabout.

To remedy this, Sustrans have made the recommendation to reduce the speed limit on roads that overlap with the cycle network to 40mph in the countryside and 20mph in cities.

The network is hoping to have 1000 miles in Scotland traffic-free by 2040, after a survey revealed 81% of the users wanted "more traffic-free routes where everyone feels safe to get around".

These figures are timely, as just last month Transport Scotland revealed that five cyclists died and a record number of 171 were seriously injured on our roads last year.

There are 15,680 incorrect, missing, obscured or confusing signs on the network, the report revealed.

Many of those who took part in the survey said that improved signage would "make them feel safer" riding along their local routes as currently, they wouldn't want to cycling along parts of the network "alone".

Alongside wheelchair users, many disabled cyclists use parts of the National Cycle Network, whether on bikes, tandems, hand-bikes or trikes.

"We are often limited in the cycling we can do by the inconsistent quality of paths, the presence of stiles, stepped bridges, etc, which literally block our path," said Isabelle Clement, of the charity Wheels for Wellbeing, one of the organisations on the advisory panel.

"Transforming the network into a reliably safe and accessible network over the next few years will make a huge difference to disabled people's ability to access the outdoors, travel actively and improve our wellbeing."

Sustrans claim that each year, their network saves the UK economy nearly £90m through reduced road congestion.

It also says that cycling health benefits save the NHS the equivalent of 2206 nurses' salaries, and leisure and tourist trips contribute £2.5bn to local economies.

Swapping four wheels for two will also significantly reduce your carbon footprint at a time of global environmental uncertainty.

But to totally overhaul the network, as Monday's report proposed, will cost a staggering £2.8bn.

Will the benefits outweigh the cost?

Chris Boardman MBE, a former British racing cyclist and bike manufacturer who sat on the Network's advisory panel, seems to think so.

"In times of high obesity and poor air quality, travelling actively has never been more important and the National Cycle Network is a key tool in helping address all of these problems" he said.

"That alone should tell us just how valuable an asset this network is."