Forthcoming ride : A half-day ride for Christmas morning

This is a quick reminder of our short ride next Wednesday morning (Christmas Day).

I know that many of you will have other things to do that day. But, if you happen to be at a loose end, you're very welcome to come along. As always, the ride is open to all, with no need to book in advance.

We'll leave at 10.30, from our usual spot at the north end of Middle Meadow Walk. With luck, there won't be much traffic in town that day, so we'll aim to visit parts of the city centre and nearby districts where we might not otherwise venture. There will be a couple of short steep hills, but most of the route will be fairly flat. We'll stick to roads and paths with good surfaces for most of the way (apart from the occasional cobbles).

The total distance will be 10 - 12 miles, which we'll take at a slow-ish place, with a few short sight-seeing stops. Note that there will be no lunch break.

We'll aim to finish by 13.00 at the latest - but we won't necessarily end up back at the Meadows. (Last year, most people had peeled off by about 12.30, so we ended the ride at the West End.)

Our next normal monthly ride will be on 11th January. I'll post more details of that event nearer the time.

Windy December ride to Cramond

The weather forecast was a Weather Warning for strong winds (30-60mph), but despite that, 18 people joined the ride this Saturday. Which probably makes us the only 18 people who weren't on Princes Street trying to do our Christmas shopping.

After a standard "get to Roseburn" route, we turned along the side of the Carrick Knowe Golf course and after the only rough(ish) track of the day we joined the smoothest tarmac of the day, on the new cyclepath alongside the tram line. Andrew led us at an appropriate pace to deal with the headwind - taking it slow, meaning that one doesn't have to struggle and get tired. The bridge over the railway line had particularly strong winds, so we didn't stop to admire the views.

We cut through Edinburgh Park and then through the David Lloyd gym park at the back of South Gyle. From there we crossed the Glasgow Road and began our ascent of Drumbrae. The good news is that we went on back-paths, none of which were steep or busy, and what can seem quite a daunting hill was broken down into a manageable ascent. From the top (at the Leisure Centre) we made a swift descent down to Barnton and then to Cramond, where the Cramond Falls Cafe had made a special effort to open for the group, and served us up tasty lunches (of the soup/toastie/scone variety which goes down well with cold and wet cyclists). Even the hard-core picnicers (who ate their picnics on the cafe tables outside) were driven inside by the cold and wet and joined us for a hot drink.

After lunch we headed East with the wind behind us along the promenade, then turned inland at Gypsy Brae and up through the Waterfront park, from where we joined up to the North Edinburgh Paths Network and (shedding cyclists all the way) returned back to the start.

We had one minor incident because of the wind - a BINcident if you will - where an already-toppled black communal bin's lid blew out in front of one of us (Jenny), who sustained a cut finger and was shaken up by the experience (understandably so). We tried to right the bin, only for it to blow over moments later, narrowly missing a passing car, so we decided it would be best to drag it back to the kerb still toppled, so it couldn't blow over again.

Our next ride is a short (10 miles-ish) one on Christmas Day. Come along and enjoy the wonderfully quiet roads, and be home in time for your Brussels sprouts.


View 20milers to Cramond Dec-13 in a larger map

Two rides for December

We've got two rides planned for the coming month:

14th December : Normal monthly ride

Our next ride will be this coming Saturday (14th December). Andrew Marchant will be leading us on a trip round the bike paths in the north and west of the city, with a lunch stop in the Cramond area. It looks like a very pleasant route, with a few moderate hills but no other difficulties. The total distance will be 18 - 20 miles.

We'll meet at our usual gathering place at the top of Middle Meadow Walk in time for a 10.30 departure. We'll try to finish before dusk, but it might well be dark by the time you get home, so be sure to bring lights.

25th December : Short morning ride

For the third year running, we will be having a short ride on Christmas morning, finishing by 1 pm at the latest. This was a very popular event last year, with 21 riders turning up. I'll post more details of this ride nearer the time.

Tenth Anniversary T-shirts now available

Next year, 2014, is Edinburgh 20-Milers' 10th anniversary. To help mark the event, we have produced an attractive T-shirt with a specially-designed logo. If you have been on one our recent rides, you might already have seen one or two people wearing them. You're sure to see more in the months ahead.

The shirts are available for order now. Here are the details:

• Colour: Red
• Material: 100% pre-shrunk cotton
• Sizes: Small (36"), medium (40"), large (44"), extra large (48"), really extra large (52")
• Weight: 206 grams (based on large size)

The anniversary logo is embroidered onto the shirt, over the left breast.

These are really nice shirts, and excellent value at only £7 each.

You can order your shirt from either Ken, Logan or Mike on any of our rides. Alternatively, send a cheque or postal order to Ken Roxburgh, 30 Alemoor Crescent, Edinburgh EH7 6UJ. (Don't forget to mention your size.) As we have to pay for the shirts up front, we must ask you to let us have your payment at the time you place your order.

Please allow 2 - 3 weeks for delivery.

Our thanks go to everyone who has been involved with producing the shirts, including Ken, who has been liaising with the suppliers, Glenn, who produced the artwork, and the person (who asked not to be named here) who created the original design.

Note added 28/1/14: The same design is now also available as a sweatshirt, at £14. This is a polyester and cotton shirt, with long sleeves.

Where to take on food and drink on a bike ride

Over the years - both on our "official" rides and on ad hoc runs by members of our group - we have stopped at a vast number of eating places to take on food and refreshment. So for the benefit of anyone planning a ride of their own, we have now compiled a list of the pubs, cafés and other eateries where we have found the staff friendly and the food of an acceptable standard. The list should not be taken as an endorsement - after all, standards change over time - but these establishments have all served us well in the past, and we would be happy to visit them again in the future. (We've also taken care to exclude the minority of places where cyclists are clearly unwelcome.)

To view the list, click here.

Our thanks to Logan, who did most of the work of compiling and checking the list. Feel free to use the comment box to add your own suggestions or to flag any changes.

Chilly November ride around Edinburgh

More than 30 people came on today's ride - encouraged by the early sunshine and not daunted by the chill in the air. We set off to Leith in completely the opposite direction (such is the way of 20milers!) and made our way up through quiet roads and parks to Colinton, where we joined the Water of Leith for a long downhill ride to Roseburn, where we met the Rugby traffic starting to build. Around this time it started to rain (against all forecasts - most unsettling!) and this persisted most of the way to Leith (we joined the North Edinburgh Path Network at Roseburn) - we got to lunch very cold and very wet, but joyous at the realisation we'd gone all the way across the city with only about 100m of the trip on a road.

We locked up our bikes all over the newly renovated street (wider pavements, traffic calmed road) and enjoyed a warm and tasty lunch at Rock Salt. They coped with the arrival of about 30 wet and cold and muddy cyclists very efficiently!

After lunch we made our way through Leith Links, up the Lochend Path (joining up with pedestrians heading to the Hibs match this afternoon) and then out to Figgate Park and ultimately up the Innocent Railway Path and back to our starting point.


View Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH3 1AW in a larger map

Next ride is Saturday 14th December. Bring lights!

Leader: David
Map: Jim
Report: Livia

Forthcoming ride: November

Our next ride will be this coming Saturday (9th November). We'll be starting from our usual meeting spot at the top of Middle Meadow Walk, at 10.30. I hope you'll be able to join us.

One of the aims of our rides is to introduce you to useful cycling routes that you might not already know about. This month's run is no exception. Our leader, David Gilchrist, has mapped out a fascinating route around the city. Although we'll never be far from the city centre, I guarantee that there will be at least a few sections of the itinerary that will be new to you (this was certainly the case for those of us who accompanied David on his recce.)

The total distance will be 24 miles. There'll be a certain amount of climbing near the start, but definitely no killer hills this time. For the most part, we'll avoid main roads. In fact, quite a lot of the route will be on paths, but note that some of these might be rough and possibly muddy in parts. There will also be a couple of short flights of steps where we will have to dismount.

We'll have a café stop at lunchtime, or you can bring food for a picnic if you prefer. Note that the lunch stop will be a little later than usual, so adjust your appetites accordingly.

Lighting up

Now that the clocks have gone back, we encourage everyone to bring lights on all our rides - and to make sure they are in working order, with plenty of juice in the batteries. Although this week's ride is planned to end before dark, it's always possible that we'll be delayed, so make sure you have both front and rear lights with you - especially if you live some distance from the end point.

A few more points ...

Those of you who also enjoy EasyCycle's rides might like to know that the group now has its own website, courtesy of Alan Stalker.

On my own site, there's a new article, by David Wray, giving some useful tips for bike maintenance. This is aimed especially at the non-mechanically minded cyclist (of which I am one).

That's all for now. Keep warm, and happy cycling.