March's ride to Mortonhall

Chris led 32 of us out on an interesting route today. We had plenty of new people, which is always good to see, and today's route was a little shorter than 20 miles but had a good amount of climb to balance that out. I certainly felt I'd earned my lunch when it came!

We worked our way through Marchmont/Sciennes and up to the Kings' Buildings, then up the Hermitage of Braid - lots of people walking dogs but because we were cycling uphill I don't think we freaked them out much (going slower). Then we carried on along the Braid Burn, until we came out at what used to be the Naafi but is now a hole in the ground. From there, we cycled parallel to the city bypass through housing estates - occasionally taking a wrong turn but it all worked out in the end and we did a short loop around Morton House (a very beautiful Georgian mansion with lovely views out East) and then up onto the hill behind Mortonhall before (gingerly) descending to the Stables Bar for lunch. Some people ate picnics outside but most ate in the bar, where there was a log fire burning, or in a side room where they had laid out a long table for us.

After lunch we climbed back up a short hill and had some fantastic views of Edinburgh before a swift descent down Liberton Brae and back to the centre by a similar route to the morning.


View 20Milers Mar12 Mortonhall in a larger map
Next month's ride is on Saturday 14th April and (I think) Jim will be leading the ride.

February's ride to Musselburgh

Despite all the snow in England over recent days, Edinburgh has been remarkably snow-free this winter, and February's ride dawned brighter and warmer than recent days. We had a good turn-out yesterday (21 or so) and Mike led the ride East to Musselburgh. We started by descending into Holyrood Park, then climbing the hill up to Willowbrae (holding up a couple of coaches slightly, but they didn't seem too stressed by this) and then down through Mountcastle to Figgate Park; often this is a park that people have never realised was there before, so it's nice to show people something new! From there we went towards Portobello via the golf course, across the bridge over the Harry Lauder Road and then we turned east through the back streets up the hill from the High Street - a nice quiet route with some good views.

We spotted a lot of roadies (going in the opposite direction, thankfully) - the Edinburgh Road Club groups out for their weekly ride; very much faster than us! They seemed friendly though. We arrived in Musselburgh via the Promenade. When we crossed the Esk we were interested to notice that the Electric Bridge (built in the 60s by the power company to allow transportation of turbines to Cockenzie without going through the centre of the town) was open (as it is on Race Days). Apparently the power company offered it to the town council for a nominal fee, which was turned down, so the gates are normally closed to traffic.

As the route so far had been quite short (and direct - look at the map!) Mike took us on a short loop around Musselburgh race course on a slightly muddy track. I hadn't realised before that the local golf course lies within the race course - an efficient use of space I think. We arrived in the town centre for lunch around 12.20 and split into groups to avoid overburdening the cafes. After lunch we headed back into town via Route 1 (with a short but interesting detour at the beginning after a lapse in concentration!) and had our only puncture of the day in the Bingham area) Frustratingly, the bike shop had sold the rider the wrong size of inner tube (26" tube for a 28" tyre - goes to show that even the "experts" need to pay attention a bit more some times!) - anyway the holey tube was patched and we got back on our way and made it to the city centre around 3.15pm.



View 20Milers Feb12 Musselburgh in a larger map

Facebook

I've set up a Facebook page for 20milers - not sure yet if it'll be useful, but please visit and "Like" the page if you're interested.
https://www.facebook.com/20milers

January's Ride - New Year's Resolutions!

30 people turned up for our first ride of 2012 including a good number of new people - I can only assume that a lot of Resolutions were made a couple of weeks ago!

Photos here

Alan led today's ride (that was originally going to be the route for December, were it not for the snow). We left the Meadows via Leamington Park, and discovered that the lift bridge was stuck in the Up position (or maybe the lift man was on a day off and didn't want boats stuck in the marina), so some of us carried our bikes up and over, and others went round the long way. A short stretch on road, and we used the normal Russell Road route - made more interesting this time because of the tram works, which have closed it to cars. Cycles and pedestrians share a narrow path through the works, and then we had to go around to Roseburn Terrace to get back onto the Roseburn Path. From there we were on the old railway line for about 5 miles, to Trinity. There were quite a few trees down, especially near the Queensferry Road Holiday Inn where a row of about 5 very large trees had all come down on a steep slope in the New Year storms.

From Trinity, we went down to the shoreline through the tunnel, and then West along the waterfront all the way to Cramond (see photo). The group split into "roadies" and "bike carriers" - the latter group went along the path along the Almond, which entails carrying bikes up about 80 steps (and down again), the other group went along the road (and beat us). We had lunch at the Cramond Brig, which coped extremely well with about 25 hungry cyclists all arriving at once (some people had picnics) and then headed back to the start along Route 1.



View 20milers to Cramond Jan12 in a larger map

Leader: Alan

Forthcoming rides

The next ride will be Saturday 14th January. Alan will lead us on the route planned for December (cancelled because of snow) around north Edinburgh, with lunch in Cramond. Please bring bike lights in case of delays, or for getting home after the ride.
February's ride will be on Saturday 11th Feb. More details nearer the time.
If you would like to be added to the mailing list for a monthly email about the 20milers rides, please send us an email to the address on the left.

Half-Day Ride for Christmas Morning (25th December 2011)

As an experiment, we thought we'd have a short run on Christmas Day this year. Seven people turned up - a very respectable turnout, all things considered. The weather was reasonable, apart from a fierce wind from the west.

The route took us down the Mound and along Princes Street, which was at its all-time best: no road works (the current tram works have been suspended for the month), and the street completely closed to motorised traffic. If only it could always be like that.

We then cut through the West End and into Haymarket Yards, where the tram lines are finally taking shape. We joined the Roseburn Path in Balbirnie Place (the usual Russel Road entrance being closed until the summer), then on to Groathill, Craigleath Hill Avenue and across Inverleith Park to Warriston, where we joined the Goldenacre Path.

At Victoria Park, we paused for cake, kindly provided by some of the group. Then we headed back to town by way of the Warriston Path, through the Rodney Street Tunnel, and the steep climb up Scotland Street and Dublin Street to St Andrews Square, where we went our separate ways.

In summary: a very pleasant two-hour ride - and a successful experiment. All being well, we'll try something similar next year.

Leader, and report by: Mike

January's ride

The next ride will be Saturday 14th January, where, weather permitting, Alan will be taking us on the route that he intended to lead this month, through North Edinburgh and with lunch in Cramond.