20 January 2014 – Western Edinburgh and South Queensferry

This was another jaunt with the Lothian Cyclists, and was thoughtfully planned for a bright, mild and above all, wind-free day. As Colette and I are still unaware of most of the hidden cycle routes around Edinburgh, it was a case of follow the leader as we started off from a car park close to the Union Canal.

Soon we turned off the canal and shortly after that we were at the traffic lights at the east end of Gorgie Road. Fairly soon, we had arrived at a cycle track along a disused railway, accompanied by the familiar Edinburgh smell of brewing. At some stage I was aware that we had made our way onto National Cycle Route no 1, heading north. The centre of the city must have passed unnoticed, as the next thing I saw was a sign saying we were passing under Queensferry Road. It was all so effortless, as it was downhill all the way.

Somehow we ended up in the car park of a Tesco store at Davidsons Mains and there followed some unfamiliar roads, finally bringing us out at an entrance to the Dalmeny Estate. We cycled along a pretty decent track and made quite good progress until we discovered that one of the group was missing – due to a flat tyre. Once we regrouped, we carried on through pleasant woodland, passing the occasional cottage and mansion, with the view of the Forth on our right.

The iconic Forth rail bridge

The iconic Forth rail bridge

Finally, we came out at South Queensferry in the shadow of the Forth rail bridge. We only rode a small distance into the town before going up a steep path that joined onto another ex-railway cycle path taking us back in an easterly direction. My recollection is that we then turned onto some minor roads heading south.

This was an easy run so far, in contrast to the muddy slog of a ride that we had attended the day before. We did encounter some unavoidable mud however, when our desired road turned out to be under repair and we were diverted by one of the workmen through the squelchy stuff. It was quite a short detour though, and soon we were back on track.

I was starting to get hungry, so it was a relief to hear that our lunch destination was not too far off. After a while, we turned up a fairly steep road towards Craigie Farm, which is a cyclist-friendly farm shop and cafe, with an encouraging sign halfway way up the hill, saying not far to go now!

Lunch break for the bikes at Craigie Farm

Lunch break for the bikes at Craigie Farm

The self-service cafeteria meant that we didn’t have to wait long before we were all seated and tucking into lunch. Colette and I checked out the chickens after lunch while everyone else finished off, then it was back on our bikes to continue eastwards in the general direction of Edinburgh.

Our route took us past the Army HQ for Scotland then into Barnton. We avoided the main roads for a while, then came out at the busy A8. We rode on the pavement (dual use) along the north side of the dual carriageway in the direction of the airport, then crossed over to the other side via the bridge leading into the RBS HQ.

We carried on alongside the dual carriageway for a while then turned south and up a bit of a hill till we met up with the Union Canal again. In contrast to the canal in central Edinburgh, here it was quiet and tranquil, with very few people out on the towpath.

So we rode back into Edinburgh, taking in the sights, including various intricate wood carvings, high school rowing teams out practising on the canal, and the eerie sight of a humanoid torso floating in the water. The torso turned out to be the top half of a female mannequin, which I suppose makes a change from shopping trollies (OK, I only saw one shopping trolley!).

Carefully crossing the aqueduct

Carefully crossing the aqueduct

The highlights, literally, of this final part of the ride, were the aqueduct crossings, firstly over the city bypass and then over the Water of Leith. The latter crossing was quite narrow so we had to dismount, but still it was a squeeze passing other cyclists. I didn’t fancy an early bath.

Soon, we had reached our original starting point, said cheerio and went our separate ways. Well, Colette and I took a slight detour to help load one of our chums’ bike onto her car. It was a very pleasant day out: just the right distance at just the right pace, in the company of a very agreeable group of fellow cyclists.

 

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