A Mortonhall Meander

After twenty years of 20-Milers rides, it can be hard to find fresh routes that we haven't covered many time before. Last month, we followed a well-worn path to South Queensferry, but the leader still managed to introduce enough variation to keep up the interest. For this month's ride, my aim was to repeat that example. Our goal was Mortonhall, and although much of the route was familiar to most of us, I was able to find several bits that we had never visited before as a group.

Unfortunately, the weather was not great: a chilly breeze and a thin drizzle which later turned to heavy showers. Despite that, around a dozen riders turned up - not a bad turnout given the conditions.

After the usual briefing, we set out, first to Holyrood Park and the Innocent path, then through Niddrie and the bike paths in the Bioquarter (including the delightfully-named Wellbeing Walk).  

Next came a twisty route through the back streets of Moredun. I have to admit to being a little nervous about navigating these unfamiliar roads, but I managed to get the group through without any wrong turns.

Ellen's Glen

Cake stop

After crossing Gilmerton Road, we took a somewhat more familiar path towards Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park. This forms part of our standard route to Roslin. But this time, instead of turning left into the park,  we turned right for a steep climb up Ellen's Glen Loan. Pausing for breath at the top, our efforts were rewarded with a wonderful round of cakes kindly produced by Iain. I can't answer for the rest of the group, but this gave me the energy boost I needed to get through to lunchtime.

Cake stop over, we saddled up for another twisty section, this time through the Gracemount area, from which we emerged at Howden Hall Road. This was very busy with traffic but we eventually got safely across. Up to now, we had been cycling on quiet roads and well-surfaced paths. But the next section, which took us along the edge of the Mortonhall Crematorium grounds, was more of a footpath than a cycle path. It was just about cyclable at first, but it soon deteriorated into a rough, muddy track. We had no choice but to dismount and walk, but happily only for a short distance.

Picnic at Mortonhall

And so came our lunch stop, which was the garden centre at Mortonhall. The rain had eased at this point, so about half the group opted for an al fresco picnic while others made for the restaurant. Unfortunately, after about ten minutes, the rain returned with a vengeance, causing the picnic group to pick up their sandwiches and thermos flasks and make a dash for the meagre shelter of the bike shed.

Afternoon leg

The afternoon leg started off with the least pleasant part of the day: half a mile or so in heavy rain along a very busy Frogston Road. It was a relief to turn off onto the quiet road through the Winton Estate which we followed as far as Biggar Road. Next came another unfamiliar section, along a residential road through New Swanston. At a road aptly named Caiystane View, we paused to view the Caiy Stane. This great lump of Neolithic rock is thought to be 5,000 years old and sits somewhat incongruously amidst south Edinburgh suburban housing.

Next came another new bit: the very pleasant Fairmilehead Park. This was followed by a nice downhill run to the foot of Greenbank Crescent, where we joined a more familiar route through Braidburn Valley Park and the Braid Estate, and so back to the Meadows. 

Pausing to view
the Caiy Stane

At less than 18 miles, it was not a particularly long ride, but I hope everyone enjoyed seeing some unfamiliar places. One member of the group told me that, despite being a long-standing EH10 resident who lived a few metres from the route, we had taken him to places he never knew existed. It's always gratifying when that happens.

Leader, report and photos: Mike

Dalkeith, this way - are you sure?

A frosty start gave way to chilly, but bright and sunny weather for today's ride to Dalkeith via a circuitous and unfamiliar route. The last few rides seem to have followed the pattern of a familiar destination being reached by a new and interesting route. Today's ride continued in that vein. The good weather linked with some lovely paths leading us through trees resplendent in their glorious autumn colours made for a great day to be out cycling. A great advert for keeping cycling despite the arrival of winter.

No doubt the weather played its part; but a turnout of 24 riders in November is quite impressive. Not quite enough to need two groups, which makes the logistics easier. It's always good to see some new faces mixed in amongst the long-standing regulars, and those that are becoming the new regulars. Following one of the shortest briefings in the history of the group, we headed off in the direction of the Innocent Tunnel. But on reaching the tunnel entrance, we swept past, squeezed past the barrier and found ourselves in the grounds of Edinburgh University's Pollock Halls. The ride had barely begun, but already many of us were somewhere we hadn't been before. Through the grounds and we emerged into the back streets of Prestonfield. Several twists and turns later and we were heading along Peffermill Road. We went into Craigmillar Castle Park, past the castle, across the road and along the new path in the area behind the Royal Infirmary. This brought us out on The Wisp. From there we made our way to Danderhall, crossed Old Dalkeith Road and through a door set into the wall, entered the Drum Estate. Through the lovely estate complete with trees wearing their autumn colours to emerge onto Gilmerton Road. We took to the path beside the road and headed towards Dobbies Garden Centre. We crossed several roundabouts to arrive at the one at Eskbank. We lost one rider and the backmarker at this stage. After a short while they reappeared having been delayed by a thrown chain. All together again, we continued and turned in to the grounds of Newbattle Abbey. After stopping to admire the big house, we continued through the grounds amongst more trees wearing their autumn colours. It was a bit muddy in places and the wet leaves were a little slippery, but it presented no real problems. We left the grounds through the kissing gate that always takes a while to negotiate with a large group. Through the housing estate and we were on the road that took us to the pub where we stopped for lunch. Three brave souls headed off to the park for a picnic whilst the remainder went into the warm pub. Except for a further three who had a mechanical issue to deal with first.

With lunch over and the three picnickers back with us, we should have been ready to roll. Unfortunately, fixing the issue with the chain had taken longer than expected and the three were just getting served their lunch as everyone else was ready to leave. It was decided that as the three could easily find their own way back, we would leave them to do so, thus avoiding delaying the whole group. So, with three less riders we made our way into Dalkeith Country Park. Past the grand Dalkeith Palace before pausing to admire the view from the bridge across the river. We retraced our steps and continued through the estate to emerge onto the busy A6094. A short spell on that road before we turned off to join the path down the Grove towards Musselburgh. Across the footbridge, along the path and road beside the golf course, across the main road out of Musselburgh and we were soon at the railway station. Here we were met by the three that we had left eating lunch in the pub. We took the path towards Newcraighall expecting to have trouble getting across the busy road there. Much to our delight, the road was so busy that the traffic was almost stationary and we got across easily. From there it was an easy and familiar route that took us back to the Meadows via the Innocent Railway.

Thanks to Graham for making this, his first ride as leader so successful. Everyone enjoyed the ride and it was good to reach a familiar destination by a new, interesting and unfamiliar route. Most of us could say we had been somewhere new today. Thanks also to Rob for fixing the problem with the rider's chain and allowing him to continue the ride. As the backmarker said, "it is good when someone has the right tools, and even better when they know how to use them".

Leader: Graham
Report: Glenn
Photos: Graham and Glenn

The dirty dozen ride to Roslin

Today's ride to Roslin was never likely to be cancelled due to the weather, despite a forecast promising heavy rain all day. But with that in mind, previous heavy rain and some muddy paths to contend with, anyone that had previously cleaned their bike must have wondered why they had bothered. It was also very cold, but fortunately not icy. The weather obviously had a big impact. Only 12 riders made the start, all of them hardened regulars. It's been a very long time since we had such a low turn out. No need to worry about two groups or any indepth briefing. We headed off towards the Innocent Tunnel. One rider was heard to say, "I'm wearing every item of clothing I possess". At Duddingston Road West, we cut through Kings Haugh to Peffermill Road. Once across, we took the path through Craigmillar Castle Park and encountered the first mud of the day before emerging beside the Royal Infirmary. We crossed the busy Old Dalkeith Road, pausing to allow an ambulance into the hospital and headed into Moredun. A road closure in the estate diverted us from our usual route. But we were soon back on course and heading for the cycle track that would take us all the way to Roslin. A mixture of mud and slushy snow made the path quite slippery. But a drama-free ride took us to our lunch stop in Roslin. It was lovely to be inside the warm pub eating hot food on such a cold day. Some even shed layers of clothing as they warmed up.

All nice and warm, that inevitable shock hit us on stepping back out into the cold. Despite a few grumbles and someone saying, "I'd rather have an afternoon nap", we were soon rolling again. As we set off, a small boy was heard to say to his mum, "look, an old man on a bike". Oh, from the mouths of babes! Consternation followed as the group tried to determine who he had been referring to! We headed back the way we had come. But we left the path and took the old route via Straiton pond. This stretch was the muddiest of the day and brought us out at Straiton Retail Park. Paths beside busy main roads took us to Burdiehouse, where we joined Burdiehouse Road. From there we headed back towards town via Howden Hall Road, Liberton Gardens, Liberton Road and Craigmillar Park. On Mayfield Gardens we were hit by a gust of wind so strong that it almost stopped us in our tracks. We recovered from that and made our way back to the Meadows where the leader declared the ride over. At just under 20 miles, this had been a shorter ride. But given the weather and mud, no one seemed to mind. Whilst the weather was far from pleasant, it was far from the worst we have endured and was not as bad as forecasted. Thanks to Jim for leading us on an interesting and less familiar route to and from Roslin. Thanks also to Verity on her maiden outing as backmarker. A role she seemed to relish. Something of a natural; we expect to see her bringing up the rear again soon.

Leader: Jim
Report: Glenn
Photos: Michael
Map trace: Jim

All paths lead to Gilmerton

Today we explored the parks and open spaces in the south of the city on our way to Gilmerton. Our route included the newly restored cycle path to Danderhall. Earlier in the week, the forecast had promised a day of heavy rain. Fortunately that rain passed through in the wee small hours, leaving us with a mild and sunny morning. A very impressive 30 riders turned up at the start. Amongst them were three who had graduated from Easy Cycle. The leader made the decicion not to split the group in two. So a group of 30 rolled away and headed through the back streets of the Grange. At this point the back marker had a minor mechanical issue with his bike. As we were passing his house, he decided to nip in and swap his bike. This being a first for the group. Nothing if not resourceful these 20 Milers riders. We went through the grounds of the Astley Ainslie Hospital and on to the Hermitage of Braid. Through there we had to keep our wits about us as there were so many runners and dog walkers to share the path with. Tracking eastwards along the glen, we emerged at the A701. From there Double Hedges Road led us in to Inch Park before crossing the busy A7 in to Craigmillar Castle Park. After a brief run around the park, we crossed on to the paths behind the Royal Infirmary. There we found several new and rebuilt paths, which we used to navigate our way to the Wisp. We meandered through the streets of Danderhall to come out on Old Dalkeith Road. After crossing that, we went through the green door set into the wall to find ourselves in the Drum Estate where we admired the woods, farmlands and stables, with its monument to the Merkat cross; before emerging right next to the Abbey House Hotel - our lunch stop.

Everyone got fed. But the impression was that they were not used to having such a large hungry group arriving en masse. On stepping outside it soon became clear that the temperature had dipped whilst we were having lunch and the sun was obscured by clouds. we headed South-east along the shared pavement of the B6392 past Dobbies Garden Centre an on to the Eskbank roundabout. We negotiated this horrible roundabout safely before entering the paths around the Newbattle Golf Club. There was a slight delay as we squeezed through the kissing gate one-by-one to emerge in the beautiful woodlands. We went through the delightfully named Waterfall Park and cut through the housing estate. From there we made our way past Dalkeith High School and on to Whitecraig. From there we took the Grove towards Musselburgh. Instead of following this all the way, we turned left and crossed the River Esk. This took us through the Fergusons and we came out at Musselburgh railway station. From there we followed the path to New Craighall. A short wait ensued before we could turn right onto the main road, which was busy with traffic heading to and from Fort Kinnaird. A quick run through the village and we were back on the quiet cycle track. This led us to the Innocent Railway for the familiar run back in to town. Thanks to Jim for putting his encyclopaedic knowledge of Edinburgh cycle paths to such good use and leading a very enjoyable ride, at a sensible pace. No idea who organised it, but whoever was in charge of the weather did us proud for November. To round off a pleasant day, a contingent of eight elected to sit outside at Victor Hugo, watching night [quickly] fall. A fine, surprisingly warm day, and maybe the last time this year we get to enjoy sitting outside in the evening; though we do keep saying that!

Leader: Jim
Report: Glenn
Photos: Michael
Map trace: Jim

A damp ride to Roslin

Today's ride to Roslin was a little damp. We ran a police roadblock and had the first unicycle on one of our rides. The weather forecast suggested we would be in for a ride blighted by long spells of heavy rain. Whilst it was grey and damp with some heavy showers; it wasn't as bad as the forecast had suggested. But it had been a while since we had to endure a wet ride. This may have affected the numbers turning up today. Just 22 riders started. It was good to see a few new faces amongst them, including a unicycle rider which was a first for the group. Despite the lower than usual turnout, the leader took the right decision by splitting the ride into two groups to keep things manageable on the several sections of busy road. We left the Meadows and made our way to the new traffic signals and cycle path at Hope Park Crescent. Its nice to have the cycle path there, but they need to hurry up and get the traffic signals switched on. From there we followed a familiar route to join the Innocent Railway. Riding through the Innocent tunnel, one of our regular riders suggested that we use it so often on our rides that perhaps it should be renamed the 20 Milers tunnel. At Bingham, we cut through a tunnel which led us onto the busy Niddrie Mains Road for a short stretch before making our way through Niddrie and Greendykes to emerge beside the Royal Infirmary. From there, we made our way through Moredun and along Gilmerton Road before turning in to Burdiehouse Valley Park. This section was rough and bumpy with exposed tree roots to contend with. But it caused us no problems and we emerged on to Lasswade Road. A few cones and blown over barriers slowed us as we made our way down the soon-to-be-completed cycle path beside the road. We then joined the cycle path that skirts the edge of Loanhead and crosses the Bilston Glen viaduct for our run into Roslin for our lunch stop. The majority of riders went into the pub out of the rain for lunch, with a few hardy souls picnicing outside.

After lunch we retraced our steps along the cycle path to Lasswade Road. But this time we headed towards Gilmerton and through the Drum Estate to come out on Old Dalkeith Road. Through Danderhall and a rough track allowed us to cut through to Millerhill Road. At Hilltown, we were confronted by a police car blocking the road and a "Police road closed" sign. The police car was empty. After weighing up the situation, it was decided to make our way along the closed road as we decided the worst that could happen would be us being sent back. A quarter of a mile later we came across two police officers and a recovery truck hauling a badly damaged minibus back onto its wheels. No one seemed to mind us being there so we had made the right decision and avoided a long detour. When the second group arrived, they took the "road closed" sign at face value and did take a detour. Once clear of the incident, we found ourselves in heavy traffic on the Wisp and Duddingston Park South. It was nice to turn off and get back onto the quiet Innocent Railway for the final stretch back to the start.

Leader: Alan Orr
Report: Glenn
Photos: Michael
Map trace: David