May ride to Dalkeith Country Park

Despite the copious amounts of rain over the last couple of days, today we were lucky with a day of sunshine although there was a bit of wind.
Twenty-one people turned out for this ride, led by Ken, to Dalkeith Country Park. We started by heading East, via Holyrood Park, Fishwives' Causeway, Portobello and a pause at the Bandstand in Joppa, then on through Musselburgh (I noticed for the first time that there is a useful underpass under the main road beside the river in the centre of Musselburgh - must use that next time rather than trying to cross the road!) and up the Esk to Whitecraigs, where we entered the Dalkeith Country Park by a back gate.

We had a very sunny lunch in the courtyard - many people had brought packed lunches (especial thanks to Iain for sharing his home made soup!) and the rest bought sandwiches etc. at the cafe. They even got free top-ups of tea and coffee, which is a rare and wonderful thing. We admired the sow and her pile of multicoloured piglets, and the chickens scratched and bathed in the dust.

After lunch we left the park by a different route - a rougher surface (with lots of puddles after the week's rain) but still easily rideable, and out by the back gate near the A1. From there we had a straightforward ride back along Route 1 (Innocent Railway etc.) and were at Middle Meadow Walk around 3pm.
Photos on Facebook which might work but I'm not sure about permissions! 


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