Our first ride of 2025 this Saturday

We've got our first ride of 2025 coming up on Saturday (11th). Alison will be leading us on what promises to be a scenic route, out along the Water of Leith towards Currie, and then back by a high-level route via Woodhall Road and Bonaly. I don't foresee any difficulties, apart from a couple of short climbs on the return leg and some short stretches that might be a little muddy. The total distance will be about 14 miles.

Note that this will again be a half-day ride. We'll aim to finish at or near the Meadows at about 1 pm. We will not be organising a lunch stop, but there are plenty of cafes, sandwich shops and the like near the end point for those who would like a post-ride meal or snack.

As always, we'll set out at 10:30 from our usual meeting point at the north end of Middle Meadow Walk. And, as always, the ride is free and open to all on a "just turn up" basis.

Finally, please keep in mind that we always welcome suggestions for new routes or destinations for our rides, especially if you can volunteer to lead a ride yourself. If so, do get in touch.

A short ride for Christmas morning

Some of you have asked me if we will be running a 20-Milers ride on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, this has not proved possible. However, one of our members, Jim Cameron, has stepped in with an offer to lead an unofficial half-day ride on that morning. (Many of you will know Jim as the driving force behind EasyCycle.)

This won't be a 20-Milers event, but Jim tells me that anyone who cycles with us will be welcome to come along.

Details

Wednesday 25th December.  Meet at 10:30 in front of Sainsbury in Middle Meadow Walk. The ride will finish near Surgeons Hall at 13:00 at the latest, with the option of an earlier exit point at about 11:30 for those who need to get away earlier.

The route will include parts of the city centre, Calton Hill, Lochend Park and Leith. After the ride, the Mosque Kitchen in Nicholson Street will be open for those who would like to go for lunch or a snack.

As with our own rides, this one is open to all with no advance booking and is free of charge.

Further information

Jim Cameron  07760 455819,  Easycycle@JimCameron.Co.uk.

Whether or not you can make it for this event, our next 20-Milers ride will be on 11 January. As usual, I'll post details a few days in advance.

A mid-winter meander

For our last ride of 2024, we enjoyed a bright dry day– albeit a very cold one, with the thermometer struggling to get above zero. Despite that, 13 riders turned up for our half-day ride to Cramond and Silverknowes.

The highlight of the ride came early: our first use of the spanking new Canal-Roseburn cycle route. The name is a bit of a misnomer because this much-needed route doesn't actually start at the canal, but rather from the Telfer Subway, about 300 metres to the north west. So we still had to cross Dundee Street and negotiate the rounded steps (affectionately known as "the bumps") leading down to the subway.

But after that, the route was a delight to use. A new toucan crossing took us safely over the West Approach Road and into a revamped Dalry Community Park, with its impressive sports arena and play area. There is a new bridge over Dalry Road and another over the Mid Calder railway line. The whole route is wide, well surfaced and well lit, with easy gradients and gentle curves – not to mention some interesting views across the city. In short, it is a splendid addition to Edinburgh's cycling infrastructure.

After leaving the new route in Russell Road, we were soon in the more familiar territory of the Roseburn and Blackhall paths. At Davidson's Mains, we headed north for a short distance along Cramond Road South before entering the grounds of the 16th-century Lauriston Castle. We took a short breather here while chocolates were handed out.


We had another quick stop – a comfort break – at the mouth of the River Almond, then continued along the Silverknowes Esplanade. Then came the only work of the day: a steady climb up Silverknowes Road back to the Blackhall Path. We then retraced our outward route back towards  the start point.

By the time we reached Bruntsfield Links shortly before 1 pm, all but five  of the group had peeled off, so the ride was officially declared over. At 14 miles, it was just about the right length for a mid-winter run. We'll have another short ride in January and then return to our normal full-day programme after that.
 
Leader, report, photos: Mike

New cycle route links Roseburn to the Union Canal

 A brand new cycling route, linking the Roseburn area with the Union Canal towpath, opened today.

Here are some photos taken soon after the official opening.

Half-day ride this coming Saturday

We will be having our last ride of the year this coming Saturday (14th). As is now customary, both this ride and January's will be shorter than usual: just half a day each, finishing at around 13:00.

The route

This month's route promises to be particularly interesting as it will be an opportunity for us to try out the brand new Roseburn-to-Canal cycle path, due to open today (9 December.) This will allow us to reach the Roseburn Path without having to negotiate the steep zig-zag in the Telfer Subway, a busy stretch of Dalry Road and the the awkward right turn into Murieston Crescent.

The rest of our route will be on the more familiar NCN 1 as far as Davidson's Mains, and then down to Cramond and the Silverknowes Esplanade. If time permits, we'll  have a quick stop at Lauriston Castle and/or Cramond Kirk. From Silverknowes, we'll retrace our outward route back towards the Meadows.

The total distance will be about 14 miles. I don't foresee any difficulties except for the fairly steep - but short - climb up from the Esplanade.

We'll set out from our usual spot at the north end of Middle Meadow Walk at 10:30. We'll aim to finish the ride at or near the Meadows. There is a good choice of  cafes, pubs and sandwich shops near the finish point for those in need of post-ride refreshments, but that won't be part of the official programme.

And finally ...

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has led our rides in 2024 as well as those who have helped the group in other ways. We've had another successful year with a full programme of rides - not forgetting the celebrations to mark our twentieth anniversary.

Looking ahead, our first ride in 2025 will be on 11 January, and that will be another half-day run. We'll get back to our normal full-day format in February. In the meantime, happy pedalling.

Westward to Riccarton

We've enjoyed several days of unseasonably warm and sunny weather recently. Unfortunately, today wasn't one of them. It started out heavily overcast with temperatures in the low single figures, and it stayed that way the whole day.

Given the conditions, a turnout of twenty for today's ride was most respectable. It was especially good to welcome several newcomers and also to see a couple of old friends, including one person who last cycled with us back in 2008. (I hope she won't wait another 16 years before coming out with us again.)

Under Alan's leadership, we headed out on a familiar route across Bruntsfield Links and down to the Leamington Lift Bridge. On reaching Russell Road, it dawned on me that this would probably be the last time that the group  would be obliged to cycle along the busy Dalry Road and make the awkward right turn into Murieston Crescent. All being well, the new Roseburn-to-Canal cycle path should be open by the end of this month, which means that we will be able to avoid those difficulties. I hope we will be able to include this new link in our December ride.

For today, we followed our more usual route though Roseburn Park, passing Murrayfield stadium and on to the Pinkhill Path. On crossing Meadow Place Road, we continued through Gyle Park, then over the very busy Glasgow Road – taking three phases of the lights to do. After a short climb through North Gyle, we crossed Maybury Road to reach West Craigs. This is essentially a huge housing development, still very much under construction – not the most scenic location on  today's route but at least relatively free of traffic.

We then re-crossed the Glasgow Road, this time via the pedestrian subway next to Edinburgh Gateway station. Then came another not-very-scenic stretch through the car park of the Gyle shopping centre. But this was soon behind us as we headed through Edinburgh Park and along Gogar Station Road to our lunch break  at the Heriot-Watt campus in  Riccarton.

Steep-ish climbs

The afternoon leg started with a couple of steep-ish climbs through the back streets of Currie, but we soon reached the much pleasanter Water of Leith path. We took this as far as the narrow metal bridge and the short track up to Woodhall Road, and then via Bonaly to Dreghorn Loan. Then came a section that was new to many in the group: a narrow path through Dreghorn Woods, running between dense woodland on one side and a razor-wire fence on the other (presumably intended to stop errant cyclists from straying into Dreghorn Barracks).

After emerging from the woods, we were soon back in familiar territory: the Braid Burn path, Braidburn Valley Park, Hermitage Drive and Whitehouse Loan. On reaching the foot of Middle Meadow Walk, the leader declared the ride officially over. Thanks to Alan for organising another enjoyable ride with an interesting route. It would have been even better if the sun had put in an appearance, but you can't have everything.

Leader: Alan

Report and photos: Mike

November ride this coming Saturday

Our next ride will take place this coming Saturday (9th). We'll meet at our usual spot at the  north end of Middle Meadow Walk in time for a 10:30 departure. The ride will finish at or near the Meadows around the middle of the afternoon.

For this ride, Alan will be leading us on a tour of cycle routes in the west of the city, with a lunch stop at the Heriot-Watt campus at Riccarton. I don't foresee any particular difficulties along the way, apart from a few moderately steep hills and a couple of busy main roads to cross. The total distance will be about 22 miles.

Lunch arrangements

Please note that the catering at the campus is very limited. There is no cafe of any kind - only a small shop that sells confectionery, biscuits and similar snacks, with vending machines for hot and cold drinks. With that in mind, I strongly  advise you to bring a packed lunch.

Lighting up

With the end of British Summer Time, this would be a good time to check that your bike lights are in good order and have plenty of battery power. Saturday's ride should end well before dark (sunset will be at 16:15), but you might need lights to see you home afterwards, especially if you stop for a post-ride coffee.

Winter arrangements

Saturday's ride will be our last full-day outing of the year. As in previous years, our December run will be a half-day ride finishing around midday. This is partly because of the mid-winter weather and short daylight hours, and partly because of the difficulty in finding suitable lunch venues in the run-up to Christmas. Our January ride will also be for the morning only; we'll return to our usual full-day format in February.

I hope to see you on Saturday or on another of our rides. And remember, if you do decide to join us, you don't have to let anyone know in advance. Just turn up.