The
glorious summer weather certainly brought out the riders. On my first ride as
leader, I was shocked to see a record breaking 38. Good to see a lot of new
faces. I'm sure another record was broken when the group was stopped by the
first puncture less than 200 yards from the start. At least there was no
shortage of help to fix it.
The exceptionally long line of cyclists made
our way through Holyrood Park, through the back streets of Willowbrae (past the
site of the recent shooting), through Mountcastle, and onto Portobello Prom via
Fishwives Causeway. Out of consideration for pedestrians, we split into two
groups along the crowded prom. We then pushed on along the road towards
Musselburgh.
We regrouped at Fisherrow Harbour where I took centre stage
to tell everyone a little bit about the history of the Honest Toun. We then rode
along the prom, up beside the river and took an unfamiliar route through the
Stoneyhill estate before joining the more familiar cycle path to Whitecraig
before pushing on to the Dalkeith High School campus. It was on this section
that Nick came off after hitting a post. Bloodied, but unbowed he carried on and
stayed with us until the end. The cuts to his head and knee must have looked
worse than they were. He certainly got lots of sympathy. Well done
Nick.
We then ran into Dalkeith and turned off for the fast downhill run
into Dalkeith Country Park and lunch at the Stables tearoom. Julie made us as
welcome as ever and did a great job of ensuring we were all fed and watered.
After a group photo courtesey of Logan, we headed towards Musselburgh through
the park. All was going well until we encountered the gate out of the estate
which was well and truly locked. Fortunately, a very nice lady in a Landrover
turned up with a key at just the right moment.
The remainder of the run
was relatively uneventful as we returned to Middle Meadow Walk via Musselburgh
Station, Brunstane and the Innocent Railway. The Innocent Tunnel felt colder
than usual on such a warm day.
After a faltering start, a few adventures,
several regrouping stops and six punctures, quite a few of us retired to Peter's
Yard for welcome refreshment. Whenever anyone asks what it was like to lead such
a large group, my reply will be "have you ever tried herding
cats?"
Leader: Glenn
Report: Glenn
Map trace: Jim
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