September's Rides

Next month we have two rides: an ad-hoc 30-mile ride on Saturday 4th September - NB meet at 10am not 10.30am - in the same place at the top of Middle Meadow Walk, where Andrew will be leading us out to Roslin and Dalkeith, and the normal second-Saturday ride (11th at 10.30am) when Andy of Storybikes will be taking us out to Ratho and Kirkliston. Hope to see you on one or both of these!

August's ride to Balerno

Aug 2010 to the Reservoirs

Despite there being not one but two competing shortish easyish bike rides today, a good number of people turned up for our ride, including several new faces, including one chap who stood to win a bet with his sons that he would actually make it out and get all the way round (he did - we await news on whether the bet was honoured!). Ken led us out along the Water of Leith, including parts through Craiglockhart Hill that I'd not been along before (quite a nice path, with just a few steps to carry bikes up). We stayed on the WoL all the way to Balerno, where we had lunch - some in the beer garden of a local pub and some who sampled the wares of the farmer's market.

After lunch we had a long hill to climb up to Red Moss nature reserve. My chain fell off as soon as we hit the steep bit (or that's what I'm telling people) but we all made it up eventually. The weather was glorious and not too hot, and we had some lovely views of the Pentlands.

At Red Moss we turned to head back towards town, past Thriepmuir, Harlaw (pause to enjoy the view, toilets, Ken's chocolate cornflakes and fix a puncture), Clubbiedean and Torduff reservoirs. It was at about the highest point on the route that I noticed that my rear disc brake had started to leak hydraulic fluid. Not the best time, with all the downhill ahead of us - but it got me home safely and is booked into the bike shop for fixing when the part comes in.

At Bonaly people started to peel off and head for home. Eventually only about 6 of us got as far as the Leamington Lift Bridge at the end of the canal. Then I went shopping for bike stuff.

Today was quite a long day as we had plenty of stops to recover (climbing hills) and chat. It was a great route though, thank you to Ken for leading us.


View Aug 2010 to Red Moss in a larger map

30milers ride to North Queensferry

Fourteen people turned up for the inaugural 30-milers ride yesterday. The concept had been long-discussed; aiming to go a bit further but still at a measured pace and ensuring that people still have breath to talk on the ride. We set off at the earlier time of 10am to give us time for the extra miles, and Mike led us to South Queensferry and then across the Forth Road Bridge, and over the back road (and up the hill) into North Queensferry. I spotted security cameras and a policeman with a gun in the grounds of one nice house - I presume that it was Gordon Brown's, not Iain Banks' home!

Nearly all of us decided to lunch in NQ; most people visiting the Albert Hotel which served us pub lunches very quickly and efficiently, while some had picnics with a fabulous view of the rail bridge. Photos to follow when I can upload them!

We then headed back over the road bridge (thankfully not up the big hill that we'd come down, and we avoided gatecrashing some wedding photos in a hotel garden (shortcut)) and down into South Queensferry to collect Logan who'd gone back there for lunch. Finally, we came back into Edinburgh via the Dalmeny estate, with unfortunately two casualties who skidded on gravel on a steep bend and caused themselves injury in the process. They made it back to the Cramond Brig hotel and called a black cab and we hope that they get better quickly.

The total distance was just over 30 miles and wasn't much later than many 20-milers rides. We went a little faster overall and probably had shorter breaks to recover, but overall it didn't feel too much of a stretch from some of the 20 mile-ish rides that we do.

The next 20-miler ride is Saturday 14th August, and the next 30-miler is Saturday 4th September.

Next rides

Our next ride is a special longer ride on the 24th July at the slightly earlier time of 10am.
This is to allow us time to go a little further - Mike's plan is to take us over the Forth Road Bridge, with lunch in South Queensferry (probably) as we've done before.

The next regular 20-mile-ish ride is on Saturday 14th August at 10.30am when Ken will be leading us up to the Reservoirs near Balerno.

There will be another longer ride on Saturday 4th September with the route to be announced nearer the time.

July's ride to Prestonpans

A small but dedicated (some would say committed, some would say "should be committed...") band of 20milers showed up for today's ride in the rain. We managed to lose 4 people within the first 20 minutes (2 decided that it was too wet, one person went the wrong way and the person sent to bring him back went to a different muster point - memo: next time, check which Lochs have Swans in before using them as a reference...) - we eventually met up in Musselburgh though.

Chris led us through some interesting back roads to Newhailes House near Musselburgh, whereupon Mike and I split from the main party to go to find the lost sheep who had found shelter and coffee in Musselburgh. Mike then went home to work on his rear brake, and Andrew & I went on to meet the rest of the group in Prestonpans. We arrived only just ahead of them: they looked rather muddier than us and had collected nettle stings too, but seemed happy that they'd been on an interesting route.

After an excellent lunch at the Gothenburg Pub the remaining 8 of us headed back to Edinburgh along the coastal path. At one point we passed a rather foolish fisherman who had got himself stranded by the incoming tide on rocks - with a sea whipped up by the wind he didn't look particularly safe but he seemed to be reassuring his friend that he was fine, so we cycled on.

I have mapped out the bits I cycled, and the yellow bit in the middle is a wild guess based on some things that Chris mentioned at lunch - corrections welcome from those who were on the ride!

View 20milers to Prestonpans in a larger map

Next ride - 10th July

Next month's ride will be on the 2nd Saturday, as usual, at 10.30am (also as usual) from the top of Middle Meadow Walk (also as usual!) Check on Mike's Cycling-Edinburgh website for more details nearer the time.

June's ride to Kirkliston

View Jun2010 to Kirkliston in a larger map

I missed this ride, so this report, the route map above and the photos here are second hand...
- over 20 (24?) set out.
- weather warm but not really hot, remained dry, not very windy.
- Going at a reasonable pace, there was plenty of opportunity to chat.
- Encountered some ill-mannered cyclists along the way - a group of Roadies expecting cycle/footpaths to be clear as though they were racing and a mountain biker shouting about obstructed pavements (when a polite "excuse me" would have probably worked much better.) Didn't dampen spirits though.
- Only 1 puncture.
- Sandwich stop at South Queensferry. Most people used the "Picnic" cafe, which was busy but handled rush of orders with good grace.