20-Milers Extra on Saturday (2nd June)

We've got the second of our Extra rides planned for this coming Saturday. Verity will be leading us on a sortie over the Forth Road Bridge and into Fife with a lunch stop in Dunfermline. The whole route will be on roads and well-surfaced paths, but that includes a couple of stretches on main roads that might be busy with traffic. Verity points out that Dunfermline was built on high ground, which means that there will be a long-ish climb just before lunch (but a nice freewheel just after). The total distance will be about 35 miles.

Please keep in mind that these Extras go at a somewhat faster pace than our normal rides, with fewer stops. They are suitable for those of our riders who find our usual runs well within their capabilities, less so for those who are less fit or who haven't cycled for a while.

By the way, if you haven't ridden over the Forth Road Bridge recently, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the change. Since the opening of the new Queensferry Crossing last autumn, most of the traffic has disappeared from the old bridge, so crossing it is a much more agreeable experience.

Lunch arrangements

Our lunch stop on Saturday will be the delightful Pittencrieff Park in the centre of Dunfermline. This is an ideal spot for a picnic, so either bring some lunch with you or aim to pick up a sandwich at the nearby Tesco. There's also a cafe in the park that serves a good range of snacks and hot drinks.

Meeting time and place

For this ride, we'll meet at the Sustrans marker at the Craigleith path junction (see here if you need directions). Please aim to get there in time for a 10:15 departure.

Lots more rides

With summer now more-or-less under way, there are a lot more rides coming up. We've got our normal "second Saturday" runs on 9th June and 14th July, and another Extra on 21st July.

Jim is continuing his weekly Thursday evening rides; these start at 18:30 from the Victor Hugo café (corner of Melville Terrace and Livingstone Place). Other local cycling groups, such as Spokes, Mellow Velo and EasyCycle, also have rides that you are welcome to join. These vary from short easy rides to longer full-day runs and weekends away. And with the annual Edinburgh Festival of Cycling due to start soon, there will be the usual programme of cycling-related talks, workshops and entertainment.

You'll find details of all these events on the Cycling Edinburgh website: www.cycling-edinburgh.org.uk.