Copper and Gold, Purple, Red and Green on a Blue Background.

"Fiery colors begin their yearly conquest of the hills, propelled by the autumn winds. Fall is the artist." ~ Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

About fourteen, or sixteen, people, the number varied, turned up for the November Spokes Ride. After the disappointment of the weather, especially on Saturday afternoon in Edinburgh, Sunday was beautifully sunny, although quite cold. A lovely day for a bike ride. There were three options available, an Aberdour Ride, a north Edinburgh Ride and a guide yourself. I split people up in to different groups, allowing the shorter North Edinburgh ride to go off first. The only panic was leaving my mobile at home. Once the short ride had left, we set off for Aberdour.

Autumn Fire

Very few trees have green, most are wearing their fiery autumn colours, everywhere was a blaze of copper and gold. It was quite quiet in town as we headed out along to Fountainbridge and the Telfer Subway. The cycle path at Ravelston had loads of leaves on the path leaving a horrible and smelly experience. Later on the path is clearer, and the trees still have the autumn yellow that reflect the sunshine. The blue sky created a nicely contrasting background. Even though it was cold, the colours warm.

At Barnton, after taking the path through the golf courses, I borrowed a phone, I had left mine at home, to call the Hotel to confirm numbers for lunch before continuing down to Braepark and up Cramond Brig Toll. Well I was impressed that you could go to a website and instead of trying to remember the number, you just clicked on it. The cycle path up to Burnshot was very leafy, bright orange leaves about a foot deep lined the grey wall. We stuck to the narrow strip of grey between the road and leaves. There was the temptation to jump off the bike to spend some time kicking at the pile of leaves.

As we came over the Forth Road Bridge there were some lovely views of hills and far off mountains. No wonder people wanted to stop to take it all in. A couple of us waiting for quite a long time at the north end of the bridge were getting a little worried. Then up to Inverkeithing, where the road resurfacing works made the ride a little bit interesting, and one person nearly got lost. Then a u-turn to end up on the coastal path. The sun shone with a silvery gleam across the water, and we all enjoy this peaceful interlude in the awful weather we had been experiencing at the beginning of November.

The roads through Dalgety Bay added extra colour, reds and purples were added to the yellow and copper of leaves. Beech Ave lived up to its name with copper leaves. Summer had been used to transport the yellow of daffodils to the sky. Now is the time the colour longs to return to earth to start the cycle again in the Spring. Plenty of people were walking along the path, so a bell will come in very useful. Everybody is happy, enjoying the lovely weather. The wooded areas will soon be very bare, but for now enjoy the colourful display. Then we reach Aberdour.

Lunchtime leader switch

The Aberdour Hotel was in the process of refurbishing the bar, so a good job I had phoned the previous day to book tables. There was just enough room for us in the restaurant, which has been turned in to a temporary bar. The menu listing nicely priced good food as always.

After Lunch I had to return early. A breeze had picked up, making the ride across the bridge a tad more exhausting than before. A nice quiet ride home where the first stop I made was at Dalry Road. I made it home at just the right time, 2 hours after leaving Aberdour. Thanks very much to Mark Symonds for doing an excellent job leading the rest of the group back to Edinburgh.

All too soon the colours will be gone. I hope the winter is white, and not one of those grey ones where while it is warm, the wind blows and the rain obliterates all four dimensions. However, keep warm and I hope to see yo on the next Spokes Ride.

Warm Regards,

Explore, Dream, Discover

"Never are voices so beautiful as on a winter's evening, when dusk almost hides the body, and they seem to issue from nothingness with a note of intimacy seldom heard by day." ~ Virginia Woolf

Ride Statistics

Distance:       72.0km (49 miles)
Average Speed:  19.9kmh (12.4 mph) Max 44.5 kmh
Total Climbing: 789m (2589 ft) Max 79.9m, Max Incline 9%
Time:           3 hours 36 minutes
Max. Temp.:     7 deg C (45 deg F)

Route Description

Start: Usher Hall
Out: Roseburn, Silverknowes, Barnton, Cramond, S. Queensferry, Forth Road Bridge, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Aberdour
Return: Aberdour, Dalgety Bay, Inverkeithing, Forth Road Bridge, S. Queensferry, Cramond, Barnton, Silverknowes, Roseburn
End: Dalry Rd.