Andy Hunter, 1954 - 2015

I am sorry to report that one of our long-standing members, Andy Hunter, has died at the age of 60.

Andy was a well-known member of the Edinburgh cycling community. He often led our 20-Milers rides, the most recent one being just last month, when he took us on a tour of south Edinburgh, serving mulled wine at the rest stops.

He was an active member of Spokes, and had recently started leading rides for Ageing Well. He organised an annual bike ride for his church, and feeder rides for Pedal on Parliament. As the founder of Storybikes, he combined his love of cycling with his role as a professional story teller, organising cycling tours of Scotland for visitors from around the world. His story-telling reached audiences on BBC radio, at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

I don't have much information about the circumstances of Andy's death. According to a report in the Herald, Andy was in England at the time, cycling to a friend's funeral in Herefordshire. His body was found alongside his bike at the side of the road in the village of Michaelchurch Escley. I understand there were no other vehicles involved and no suspicious circumstances. A post-mortem was carried out, and this showed that he died of a heart attack.

There will be a funeral service for Andy on 23rd January at 11am in Polwarth Parish Church, then at Mortonhall Cemetery.

An educational in-town ride for March

For this month's ride (9th March), we took an unusual route through the south and east of the city. Ten people turned up, which I thought was pretty good, considering the awful weather (steady rain and a freezing easterly wind).

We headed out through the Grange and were soon climbing the eastern slopes of Blackford Hill. We paused for a few minutes while our leader, Andy Hunter, pointed out an exposed outcrop known as Agassiz Rock. It was here in 1840 that the Swiss geologist, Louis Agassiz, noticed the distinctive grooving in the rock, which he attributed to the action of ancient glaciers - an observation which laid the foundation for modern theories of geology.

Fortified with that knowledge, we continued down Blackford Glen Road, across Gilmerton Road, and into the Inch Park. After crossing Old Dalkeith Road, we climbed a steep path towards the back of Craigmillar Castle. The path was narrow and somewhat muddy, and we ended up pushing our bikes most of the way up.

While stopping for a breather near the castle (see photo), Andy told us how Mary Queen of Scots, who lived here at various times in the 1560s, would look out over the fields where we now stood, and where her French entourage was camped. She is said to have referred to the view as "my little France". The name stuck.

A short downhill run now took us to Duddingston Road West, and then to the familiar Innocent Railway path. We left the path at Magdelene Gardens, and headed north by Hope Lane, and so to the Portobello Promenade to look for a lunch stop.

By now, the wind was on the attack with renewed vigour, and the footway was being drenched by spray. With a chill factor well into the minus zone, even the hardened picnickers amongst us decided to forgo the idea of an al fresco lunch. Instead, we opted for the Espy pub, which was warm and welcoming.

As you can imagine, it took a good dose of willpower for us to drag ourselves back to the bikes after lunch. The rain had now stopped, but the wind was still bitterly cold, and we had to dodge the waves as we continued along the prom.

At Seafield, we left the shore, and used the excellent new access point to get to the path by the cemetery. This much-impoved path reaches Leith Links by means of a useful new bridge.

After crossing the links, we headed to the Water of Leith path, which we followed all the way through Warriston, Canonmills, Stockbridge, Dean Village and Roseburn. Most of the group peeled off at various points along this section of the route, so with only three riders remaining, the ride was officially declared finished at Ashley Terrace. At 21 miles, it was another excellent run - and an educational one at that.



View 20milers March-13 in a larger map

Leader: Andy
Photo and map: Andy
Report: Mike

20-Milers Evening Ride (27th June)

This Wednesday, we tried something new for our group: an evening ride. Devised and led by Andy Hunter, eight of us enjoyed a pleasant run to Portobello, returning by way of Holyrood Park. We set out at 7 pm, and as the summer solstice had only just passed, we were able to finish the ride comfortably before dark.

We started by heading down the Royal Mile to the Parliament, then along Abbeyhill and up Regent Terrace. From Regent Road, we climbed to the top of Calton Hill. On a good day, this has some of the finest views in the city, but this evening, it was grey and overcast, and even the Castle was hidden by cloud (as you can see in the photo).

We then enjoyed a dramatic descent to London Road, followed by a stretch through quiet back streets before emerging in the northern reaches of Easter Road. Here we joined the excellent bike path that goes through Quarryhole Park and on to Seafield. The section of this path east of Lochend has been greatly improved recently, and provides some superb traffic-free cycling. The only difficulty is the very narrow and often muddy descent from the end of the path down to Seafield Street.

On arriving at Portobello Promenade, Andy (who is a professional story teller) told us how the district got is name. (Short version: Robert Jenkins gets his ear cut off; Britain declares war on Spain; Britain captures Spanish town of Porto Bello on the Panama coast; much celebration back home; several places around the world are named or re-named in honour of the event; Edinburgh's seaside suburb is one of them.)

We left the prom by way of Bridge Street (passing Sir Harry Lauder's birth place), then via Fishwives Causeway, Mountcastle Drive and Abercorn Avenue, before entering the east end of Holyrood Park by Duke's Walk.

At this point, I was just reflecting on what a pleasant, gentle ride it had been, and how I would be home in a few minutes. But then we made a sharp left turn onto Queen's Drive. As we started the long, slow slog up to Dunsapie Loch and the back of Arthur's Seat, I could see the riders in front of me disappear into the clouds. After a lot of slow pedalling, we all made it to the top. Of course, we then had a lovely freewheel down the other side to the park gate.

We were back at the Meadows a little after 9 pm. The total distance was just over 12 miles. It was an excellent route, and, despite the cloud, the weather had stayed dry and reasonably warm. All in all, a very pleasant way of spending an evening.

Leader: Andy
Report by: Mike
Photo by: Andy