"The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community." ~ Ann Strong
24 people turned up for the ride today, 20 opting for the full ride, others, preferring a shorter ride, turning back at various points in the morning. Stats and route are contained at the bottom of this report. Well we had a wonderful bike ride to Dunfermline.
Relatively Enjoyable February Ride
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the City Hotel, as the cafe in Pittencrief Park was closed. The weather was very kind to us, although it wasn't as sunny as Saturday, It was still quite mild for February. Too early in the year for leaves on the tree Andrew Carnegie planted all those years ago.
Some interesting lunch conversations, my table talked about how some veggie food is dubious because it is made from organisms that are more akin to insects than plants, although the organisms are not animals either. And that most important subject of all: Beer. Stef kindly pointed out that the lace effect that the beer head leaves on an empty glass was deliberately engineered in to beer, Yeast is not a plant, all beer used to be cloudy, various attempts by people to develop a yeast that could live in high-concentrations of alcohol to make more alcoholic beer, Eastern European beer which tends to be high in alcohol anyway, white beer, raspberry beer. Plus we talked about the Middle East, cider / scrumpy and the effects of scrumpy on spanners (an imprint on the bottom of the barrel!!!)
It was nice to see so many smiles at the end of a Spokes Rides, and loads of Thank Yous. I'm glad you all enjoyed the ride.
I hope to see you on the next ride on March 5th. And if you don't come on a Spokes rides next month, you'll be one month older when you do!!!
"Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving, and does not get off the bicycle, he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and, I think, of any society of living things." ~ William Golding
William Golding wasn't far wrong, but Albert Einstein put it far more succinctly: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep movingâ€. A less well known theory of relativity!!!
Warm Regards,
Explore, Dream, Discover
Ride Statistics
Distance:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 62.2km (38.6 miles)
Average Speed:Â Â 16.9km (10.5 mph)
Total Climbing:Â 623m (2043ft)
Time:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4 hours 12 minutes
Max. Temp.:Â Â Â Â Â 6 deg C (43 deg F)
Route Description
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 took the path through to Barnton Somerfield. Here we turned right, then left to follow Barton Avenue, take the a cycle path, then along Barnton Avenue West to Braepark Road near Cramond. We went straight across Whitehouse Road, down Braepark Road to Cramond Brig and up Cramond Brig Toll. We took a cycle path to Burnshot Gate and New Burnshot. At New Burnshot, we turned off route 1 to follow the road to Kirkliston to access StandingStane Rd, we turned on to Railway Path at the Dalmeny kennels. This path avoids all road straight to the South Queensferry Co-Op. We went up some steps, then along Morrison Gdns to access Forth Road Bridge.
On the Fife side of the bridge, we head the Rosyth dockyard along Ferry Toll road, then along Hilton Road to Admiralty Road (A985). We turn left, the almost immediately right on to Primrose Road, signposted for Pattiesmuir. We joined a path that took us behind Douglasbank Cemetery, across some lovely country side, through some woods and out on to a track. We turn left to access Limekilns Road, turning right. We followed Limekilns Road in to Dunfermline to access Pittencrief Park.
Just after 2pm, mob mentality came to play as everyone decided it was time to go, despite Sara not finishing her Latte!! We retraced our route through the Pittencrief Park, which should have some stunning views of the Bridges and the Pentlands to access the B9156, Limekilns Road, then along the A985, turning off at Hilton Road to go through Rosyth, along Ferry Toll Road to access the Forth Road Bridge. After the Forth Road bridge, we took a slightly different route back to the Dalmeny path. We went along Stewart Terrace, Loch Road, across Kirkliston Road on to Burgess Road. We tuned right on to Station Road. Just after Dalmeny station, we pulled in to the right and went down some steps, returning to the Dalmeny cycle path. Having left my camera at home, Geraldine kindly took some photos of us all. I also took a couple of photos, allowing Geraldine to pretend she had a great bike! We then followed the route back to Cramond Brig, StandingStane Rd, road to Kirkliston, New Burnshot and Cramond Brig Toll. We arrived back at Cramond Brig around 3:50 pm. There was a quick chat, and Geraldine kindly took some more photos, then we departed for home, following route 1 back in to Edinburgh. Near Murrayfield, we could hear the crowd, and assumed Scotland were winning.