Next Saturday's ride: A Harlaw picnic

Our next ride is this coming Saturday (12th July). We'll be taking a particularly scenic route: heading out to Colinton, and then climbing to the edge of the Pentland Hills. Our lunch stop will be a picnic at the Harlaw Reservoir.

Inevitably there'll be some hills, including a particularly steep one just before lunch. But we'll take them at our usual steady pace, and give stragglers plenty of time to catch up. And, as a reward, we'll have some nice long freewheels in the afternoon. The total distance will be 21 miles. Most of the route will be on quiet roads and firm paths, but there will be about two miles on rough tracks.

As always we'll meet at the top of Middle Meadow Walk in time for a 10.30 departure. The ride will finish mid afternoon.

Lunch arrangements

Remember, the lunch stop on this ride will be a picnic. There will be no pub or café at the lunch stop, so if you don't want to go hungry, be sure to bring food. Depending on numbers and progress, we might stop for a coffee near the end of the run.

There is a toilet at the picnic place, but this sometimes attracts long queues, so we'll have an additional comfort stop about 45 minutes before lunch.

What if the weather's bad?

A light drizzle or a short shower won't put us off. But if the weather is really foul, we'll switch to Plan B: a shorter ride, with a café or pub lunch in Colinton. If the weather is borderline, we'll make a decision at the start point. There are several sandwich outlets at the Meadows, so if you're not sure whether to bring food, plan to arrive early so that you can pick up something if necessary.