Today's Extra ride to the Merryhatton Garden Centre (well, it was originally, but more on that shortly) has become an enduring late August date in the group's calendar. The original route was instigated by a stalwart of the 20 Milers, our much-missed friend - the late Logan Strang who passed away in 2017. It has been my pleasure to lead this ride every year it has run since 2017. In 2024 a sinkhole closed off part of the route, and we were unable to come up [at short notice] with a way round it, so were unable to run the ride. By the following year we had altered the route to bypass the sinkhole, which remains. Another snag cropped up when we were recce-ing today's ride a few weeks ago. We discovered the Merryhatton Garden Centre has changed hands and the reasonably-priced café with relatively speedy service is no more. As a result, we decided that going there for lunch was no longer a viable option. So we needed an alternative lunch venue or we would need to consider scrapping a long-standing and popular ride. As the ride takes us out into the depths of the East Lothian countryside, no alternative lunch venue sprang to mind. But we all agreed that we didn't want to scrap such a wonderful ride, especially with it being Logan's legacy. On the recce we discovered that there are picnic tables and a bench in Athelstaneford Village Park. We had a plan. So long as the weather played ball, it could work. As it happened, we were blessed with weather that was bright, sunny at times, dry, with a very light breeze and pleasant temperatures.
With a compliment of 13 riders and a promising sounding weather forecast, things were looking good. During my briefing, I mentioned that we would need to contend with stretches on two quite busy roads which would necessitate staying in smaller groups. I'm pleased to report this is what happened, and made those stretches less stressful and safer for us all. We left Fisherrow Harbour, crossed the River Esk by the Electric Bridge and made our way to the path beside Musselburgh Racecourse. We then made our first off-road excursion of the day through the trees to emerge beside the coast, and onwards to Prestonpans. We left the High Street at a sign for the "John Muir Way". This section of raised road beside the sea is much nicer than the main road through the town, and was new to many of the group. We re-joined the coast road for a while before taking the shared-use path running alongside, before taking quiet backstreets past Cockenzie and Port Seton harbours. Along the seafront, we paused to look at the new water fountain that one of the group had flagged up. They said they had used it on several occasions to top up their water bottle when returning from rides in East Lothian. A shared-use path took us to the entrance to Seton Sands Caravan Park where we re-joined the coast road. The road was busy in places, but I've seen it a lot worse. Riding in smaller groups was definitely the right approach. After the section where the road hugs the coastline at Gosford Sands and then heads inland, we stopped at the entrance to Green Craig where Iain passed round his delicious homemade cakes. I then gave riders the choice of taking the busy road or the delightful path that runs alongside through the woods separated from the road by a stone wall. All but one opted to avoid the road. In Aberlady we took a quiet back road to join the A6137, before taking the busy B1377 to Drem. Once again, we split into smaller groups before regrouping on the quiet road beside Drem railway station. Quiet country roads then took us to the Merryhatton Garden Centre, which we swept past without stopping and onwards to Athelstaneford Village Park for our picnic lunch stop. We spread out in the sunshine making use of the picnic tables and a bench whilst others opted to sit on the grass. With lunch over, a couple of riders had a go on the play park zip-wire, having first checked that there were no children about.
We left the park and rode a short distance up the main street to the National Flag Heritage Centre in the grounds of the parish church. Having found out a little about the history of the Scottish flag, we left the village on the quiet B1343. The road climbs very gradually which is only noticeable due to the headwind; but today was so calm it was like riding along a flat road. We crossed the Haddington road and regrouped. On this road past the Hopetoun monument, several riders commented on the beautiful views across farmland down to the sea. We then joined the A6317 for our only significant climb of the day. The climb was soon over, we crested the brow of the hill, turned right and were on another lovely quiet East Lothian road. There followed a fantastic steep descent that was enjoyed by all. Relatively flat roads then took us to the level crossing near Longniddry. For once, the barriers were up and we all got across, but only just as they came down behind us. We carefully crossed the busy A198 dual carriageway to join the shared-use path alongside. Another steep descent took us into Cockenzie, where we had a comfort stop. From there we rode past the harbour, through Prestonpans and onto the path beside the coast that took us back to Musselburgh. At the Electric Bridge, I declared the ride officially over.
Everyone enjoyed the ride; the weather had been kind to us and the new lunch venue met with approval. Some on the ride went to new places they had never been before. I find that to be one of the most satisfying aspects of leading a ride; whether it's a route that is new to everyone or just to a few - it makes it all worthwhile. Thanks to Saquib for back marking. And thanks to Logan for leaving us with such a fantastic ride as his lasting legacy.
Leader: Glenn
Report: Glenn
Photos: Glenn
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