Extra ride to Livingston (19th August)

For our third Extra ride of the summer, Jenny Meek led a 21-strong group on a sortie into West Lothian. It turned out to be one of those rides where all the ingredients are just right: a delightful route, with quiet roads, well-surfaced bike paths, and mostly gentle gradients; an interesting lunch stop; congenial company; and, above all, near-perfect cycling weather (most of the time).

From our meeting point at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre, we took the canal to Hermiston House Road, then weaved through a series of pleasant country lanes by way of Gogarbank and Bonnington Mains, before re-joining the canal for a crossing of the lofty Almond Aqueduct. We entered Almondell Country Park at the north entrance, and enjoyed a fast freewheel to the Visitor Centre, where we stopped for a toilet break and general regrouping (see photo).

The next stage was on NCN 75 as it follows the fast-flowing Almond through a deep wooded gorge. This is a tricky path, with several narrow and steep sections. Inevitably we had to dismount a couple of times to haul our bikes over some difficult bits.

We emerged from the park in south Livingston. Now, this is a part of the country where I usually get myself lost (the trouble with the bike paths in Livingston is that there are so many of them). But Jenny's diligent recces had paid off, and she led us unerringly past the civic centre and St. Margaret's Academy to reach our lunch stop in Livingston Village

This was something of a revelation to most of the group. Livingston Village is the original Livingston, before the arrival of the new town in the 1960s. It dates back to the early 12th Century, and was a typical West Lothian farming community. Today, the village is still intact, despite being entirely surrounded by the new town. Its focal point is the 18th Century Livingston Inn, where we enjoyed a leisurely al fresco lunch.

After lunch, we took the well-surfaced bike path that runs alongside the Edinburgh to Bathgate railway line. We then turned right at Uphall Station onto a somewhat rougher path, which eventually led us onto the dramatic Camps Viaduct. From here, we were able to look down onto the path along the Almond that we had traversed a few hours earlier.

A mile or so later, we re-joined NCN 75 for a mostly downhill stretch via Kirknewton, Long Dalmahoy and the Herriot-Watt campus. Up to now, the day had been mostly warm and sunny, but as we reached the canal for the final leg, it turned cloudy with some spots of rain. So we quickly got to the junction with the Water of Leith path, where we went our separate ways. At just over 35 miles, it was another highly successful ride.

Leader: Jenny
Report and photo: Mike

August's ride to Mortonhall

One of our largest ever groups - 34 people - showed up this month, with Mike leading and Ken as the crucial back-stop. We followed a similar route to last month as far as Colinton Road, then continued south and east alongside the bypass to Mortonhall Garden Centre, where many people had lunch in the cafe. Others had brought packed lunches and sat in the courtyard of the Stables Bar in the sun. The weather was lovely, although maybe a bit too warm given the height of climb today's ride involved (mostly gentle gradients though).

After lunch we turned north back towards town, climbing a little way behind the Stables Bar and then following a track beside the camp site due east. A lovely bit of downhill wheeee followed, then we turned onto the Hermitage of Braid path and started going uphill again. Recent heavy rain has gouged a horrendous gash in the path along there - a couple of feet deep; cycle with care along the edges. Most of the path was fine though, and not muddy at all really. At the top of the path we doubled back on ourselves to go along Hermitage Drive with some beautiful views of the city, then down and through Grange to get back to the start.

Total distance today was only about 16 miles, but with the large group, the warm weather and the hills, it felt like a good exercise.


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Next month's 20miler ride is on Saturday 8th September, starting at 10.30am in the normal place, however next Sunday (19th August) there is a longer ride (about 30 miles) starting at 10am at the Water of Leith visitor centre on Lanark Road.

August rides

Mike will be leading this Saturday's ride (11th August, 10.30am) on bike paths, forest trails, suburban streets and parkland on the southern edges of the city - some pleasant countryside with fine views. The total distance will only be abut 17 miles, but that doesn't mean you'll be left off lightly. There will be a number of steep-ish hills and a few rough tracks, and we'll also have several short stretches on main roa

ds. Fortunately, we'll get most of the climbing over with early, and have some nice long freewheels on the way home.

The lunch stop will be at the Mortonhall Garden Centre, where there's a spacious cafeteria. Those who prefer a pub lunch can opt for the nearby Stables Bar, which is also a good choice for those of us who like to bring our own food (plenty of seating in the courtyard).

 

20-Milers Extra (19th August)

Our second August ride will be somewhat longer and faster than our usual outings. These Extra rides are aimed at those who have no difficulties keeping up with our normal 20-mile runs, and now want something just a little more demanding. We start half an hour earlier than usual, finish a little later, and take slightly shorter breaks. But we still pedal at a sociable speed, and still wait for stragglers.

 

Jenny Meek will be leading this month's Extra. She's worked out an excellent 33-mile route through the West Lothian countryside, with an especially nice lunch stop. I'll send you more information nearer the time, but for now, you might like to note the date (which is a Sunday, not our usual Saturday), the non-standard starting point (the Water of Leith Visitor Centre in Slateford Road), and the fact that the ride starts at 10.00

 

Remember, all our rides are completely free. You're welcome to bring your friends, and you don't need to let us know whether or not you plan to come along - just turn up on the day.

July's ride to Balerno

It's important to challenge assumptions. 20milers rides are not intended to be long, fast or competitive in any way. The aim is to explore the city, discover routes that our riders might not know about and find ways that don't involve busy roads or tiring hills (mostly). However Edinburgh is a small city, and there is a limit to how far outside the city one can go and still get back within 20 miles. There are a number of "nice" cycle routes - the Innocent Railway to get to Musselburgh, Route 1 to get to South Queensferry, the Union Canal to go West, and the Water of Leith to get out to the South West.

Photo by Logan Strang

So today's ride was interesting because we managed to get all the way to Balerno and back without setting wheel on the Water of Leith, at all. 32 people turned up for today's ride (including our first ever fixie, and quite a few new people too) The morning's route took us through Morningside (where a small piece of glass caused our first puncture in several rides), Craiglockhart (a useful illustration of how not thinking like a car user ("main road - good, side road - bad") transformed what could have been a slog up Colinton Road with busy traffic into a pleasant ascent on a quiet back road - Craiglockhart Road North. I had a lovely chat with a fellow cyclist all the way up - something that wouldn't have been safe or comfortable on a main road. We then had to spend a few minutes on a busy road before we got to Colinton village and passed under the bypass and onto quiet country lanes and paths. Some of the tracks had suffered considerable damage in the recent heavy rain (right down to bare rock in places) but we pushed our bikes over the worst bits, and ended up in Balerno just in time to catch the farmer's market before it closed at 1pm. The Grey Horse pub kindly accommodated the majority of riders (some found other fare or had brought their own packed lunches) with simple sandwiches and soup - just right.

After lunch (and some time fixing another puncture) we followed NCR 75 down to Long Dalmahoy Road, then turned right and came down to the canal through Heriot Watt campus at Riccarton. From there we used the canal all the way back into town, to Harrison Park. By this point many people had peeled off to make their own way home, but a hard core of about 10 followed Andrew on a novel route that got us back to the starting point via Church Hill.


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July's ride

July's ride this coming Saturday (14th) - Balerno for lunch so some uphill in the morning and some downhill in the afternoon. Bring a packed lunch, or buy soup and sandwiches in the local pub or food from the local farmer's market if we're there by 1pm.

20-Milers Evening Ride (27th June)

This Wednesday, we tried something new for our group: an evening ride. Devised and led by Andy Hunter, eight of us enjoyed a pleasant run to Portobello, returning by way of Holyrood Park. We set out at 7 pm, and as the summer solstice had only just passed, we were able to finish the ride comfortably before dark.

We started by heading down the Royal Mile to the Parliament, then along Abbeyhill and up Regent Terrace. From Regent Road, we climbed to the top of Calton Hill. On a good day, this has some of the finest views in the city, but this evening, it was grey and overcast, and even the Castle was hidden by cloud (as you can see in the photo).

We then enjoyed a dramatic descent to London Road, followed by a stretch through quiet back streets before emerging in the northern reaches of Easter Road. Here we joined the excellent bike path that goes through Quarryhole Park and on to Seafield. The section of this path east of Lochend has been greatly improved recently, and provides some superb traffic-free cycling. The only difficulty is the very narrow and often muddy descent from the end of the path down to Seafield Street.

On arriving at Portobello Promenade, Andy (who is a professional story teller) told us how the district got is name. (Short version: Robert Jenkins gets his ear cut off; Britain declares war on Spain; Britain captures Spanish town of Porto Bello on the Panama coast; much celebration back home; several places around the world are named or re-named in honour of the event; Edinburgh's seaside suburb is one of them.)

We left the prom by way of Bridge Street (passing Sir Harry Lauder's birth place), then via Fishwives Causeway, Mountcastle Drive and Abercorn Avenue, before entering the east end of Holyrood Park by Duke's Walk.

At this point, I was just reflecting on what a pleasant, gentle ride it had been, and how I would be home in a few minutes. But then we made a sharp left turn onto Queen's Drive. As we started the long, slow slog up to Dunsapie Loch and the back of Arthur's Seat, I could see the riders in front of me disappear into the clouds. After a lot of slow pedalling, we all made it to the top. Of course, we then had a lovely freewheel down the other side to the park gate.

We were back at the Meadows a little after 9 pm. The total distance was just over 12 miles. It was an excellent route, and, despite the cloud, the weather had stayed dry and reasonably warm. All in all, a very pleasant way of spending an evening.

Leader: Andy
Report by: Mike
Photo by: Andy

July's ride

Next month's ride will be on Saturday 14th July - Bastille Day. More details on route to be posted nearer the time. But I think it's likely that we won't be going to France.