We went to Dunfermline, Fife, birthplace of Andrew Carnegie. Whereas the Carnegie Hall in the U.S. has plenty of culture, the Carnegie Hall plays host to The Singing Kettle. There was still a lot of greenery around, very few trees had leaves that were starting to turn. The day was very warm, so we had an indian summer trip to Fife.

A very social ride. Some of us lunched in the cafe, others picnic'd. In the cool sunshine, children played on the old train and the play park, and some adults enjoyed trees planted by wealthy Victorians, including one by Andrew Carnegie.

After lunch, and as the route back is fairly short, we took a diversion down to Limekilns. We stood by the banks of the Forth admiring the views, wondering about how winter storms affect the village,and I took a few pictures. Just as we were leaving, a few of us noticed a Hotel and Italian restaurant called "Il Pescatore", The Fisherman.

After the Forth Road Bridge, we headed down to the bay between the two bridges, where we enjoyed more ambiance.

We had a wee chat on Cramond Brig and then departed for home.

First frost of Autumn was forecast that night, Summer 2005 was over.

Warm regards,

Ride Stats

Distance:        72.4km (45 miles)
Average Speed:   17.4km (10.81 mph)
Time on bike:    4 hours 25 minutes
Total Climbing:  868 m (2847ft)
Max. Temp.:      14 deg C (57.2 deg F)

Route Description

A 10 degree drop in temperature did not stop 20 people turning up for the last bike ride of BST. The route out was fairly easy, we followed National Cycle Route No. 1 to the east of Dunfermline. We left the Usher Hall at 10:15, went along to Fountainbridge, then down Dalry Road, along Murieston Crescent to  Russell Rd and on to the cycle path to join National Route 1 at Roseburn. We followed this route to turn off on to the track to Somerfield (it used to be Safeway!!!). We rejoined route 1, along East Barnton Ave, Barnton Ave, then the access path to Barton Ave W. We went straight across Whitehouse Road on to Braepark Rd. We crossed the River Almond using Cramond Brig, the followed the cycle path up to New Burnshot. At New Burnshot, up the cycle path from Cramond Brig, we turned off route 1 to follow a minor road to access Standing Stane Rd, turned on to Railway Path at Dalmeny. This path is tarmac’d along its entire length to South Queensferry Scotmid supermarket. From there we went along Morrison Gdns to access Forth Road Bridge.

We continued along Route 1 straight through Inverkeithing, across the double roundabout at Bois Bridge, turning north on to B981 (North Road). After about 750m (1/2 mile), we turned left on to Masterdon Road , which presented a stiff climb, but only up 35m. We crossed straight over the B916 (Aberdour Road) to follow Linburn Road.  After 1.5 km, Route 1 turns off the road to follow Lyne Burn up to the A907, we crossed over this to join the first part of the Dunfermline – Alloa Railway Path. We journeyed past East End Park (Home to Dunfermline Athletic), the along Ley’s Park road, Holyrood Place and East Port to access the High Street and finally Bridge Street to arrive at our destination Pittencrief Park at about 12:45pm.

We left at about 2pm, we went through the Pittencrief Park, which had some stunning views of the Bridges and the Pentlands to access the B9156, Limekilns Road to Limekilns. A quick stop then we retraced out steps back up the hill, then along the A985, turning off at Hilton Road to go through Rosyth, along Ferry Toll Road to access the Forth Road Bridge. We then retraced our tracks, to get on to the path to Dalmeny. We arrived back at Cramond Brig, sans rain, at about 5:00 pm.