EDINBURGH 20-MILERS

20th Anniversary Year

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Saturday 13 March 2010

Ride to Ratho via Currie

March ride to Ratho
We had a lovely sunny day for our ride this month. It was almost warm too, except when windy. There were about 24 cyclists today and we made excellent progress to Ratho, with a couple of soggy tyres and one flat one (made harder to fix by wheel nuts not quick-release levers, but expertly sorted anyway). The Bridge Inn were too busy again so we went on as far as the International Climbing Arena at Ratho which is very appropriate - apart from a long queue for sandwiches (which to be fair was probably of our own making) we had a good lunch there and a picnic in the sun or a good view of the climbing inside.

I have to confess that I led a break-away party back into town along the canal - very boring (so flat, no freewheeling to make things easier!) but I had somewhere to be - so I don't have today's full route. I hope to post this later on.

Note added later by Mike :

After Livia led her break-away group back along the canal, the remaining 16 of us headed south and west by Dalmahoy and on to Balerno via NCN 75. The hill up to Pilmuir Farm was a real killer, but we made it to the top with varying degrees of pedalling and pushing. After that it was a delightful run back to town by the Water of Leith path and onto the canal at the Lanark Road bridge.

With a total distance of 28 miles, it was another excellent ride. Many thanks to Alan for organising it.


View March2010 to Ratho in a larger map

2 comments:

The Bridge Inn at Ratho said...

I wanted to respond to your comments about the Bridge Inn being "unwelcoming again". My wife and I took over as new owners very recently - we live in Ratho and have realised for a long time that the Bridge Inn could and should improve. We are working to make the Bridge Inn a friendly, welcoming pub for both locals and visitors. As a cyclist myself, I will personally make sure that we are welcoming to cyclists, who make up a large number of our customers.

This weekend was exceptionally busy. Yesterday was Mother's Day, so for the first time since we took over we were having to turn people away at lunchtime because the kitchen was at full capacity. We were, though, able to offer soup and bowls of chips to any passing cyclists/walkers who had not booked a table - and the bar was doing a brisk trade in cokes, crisps and Irn Brus. On Saturday i was in the bar all afternoon, and was not aware of anyone being turned away. The restaurant was fully booked, but bar meals were available both in the bar and in the beer garden (it was a gorgeous sunny day) and the kitchen was open all afternoon for both our snack menu and our full lunch menu. We were indeed showing the rugby (and had about 50-60 people in watching, with free sausage rolls and soup to everyone throughout the afternoon) but all were welcome and would, I hope, have enjoyed their time with us. Of course, if you were a large group then we may not have been able to sit you all down inside - like any pub, it is a case of first come, first served.

We would love to welcome you back to show that the Bridge Inn is trying to becoming a welcoming pub. If you are a largeish group then I would definitely recommend you booking ahead, especially at weekends - we can set aside some space or tables for you as you wish - and I can promise you a warm welcome and some freshly made food.

If you require anything else, please just leave a post or contact me (Graham) directly at info@bridgeinn.com Hope to see you all again.

Admin said...

Sorry - blog entry amended.