@gembo that is a delightful valley. Around there is a ditch that flows into both the Clyde and the Tweed (eventually). Its worth a cycle up the dead road into the hills behind Coulter.
Wind negligible on the Audax. Great route thanks our organiser!
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
The "I had a lovely ride today, thankyou" thread
(2696 posts)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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@ Amir the valley from Biggar to Broughton is beautiful
The climb over to Coulter is really good just hard.
On map I did like the look of the dead end road. Road bike ok I presume?
Spoke to Jamie on way out who was going to Moscow. Carradce and a smiley face reflector
Posted 3 years ago # -
Yes re the valley. You can very nearly get to the reservoir on roadie tyres.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Proper road up to the farm Amir? How much further can a roadie go without pushing?
Posted 3 years ago # -
About here
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bw98SEYbUDNBrQJT6Posted 3 years ago # -
@amir, makes sense, ta.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Did the Spokes “loch-down” challenge this evening. Basically a route round Edinburgh’s main lochs. From my start point this was Figgate, Lochend, Inverleith, Craiglockart, Blackford, St Margaret’s, Dunsapie and finally Duddingston. Perfect weather conditions meant that even the ride up the High Rd was enjoyable!
Posted 3 years ago # -
Just as I reached the top of Buteland a gorgeous tan Hare lolloped across the road under the hedge into the field with the bad bull. Much lighter than the mountain hares up the River Dulnain on the Kinrara estate at the weekend.
The four good bulls are in the other field.
I progressed to Buteland house where I fell off whilst still clipped in that made the shadow laugh.
Tailwind round to thriepmuir then up to Bavelaw Castle and back down the Beech Avenue into the headwind which meant little braking was needed. Unlike the Burma Road descent above Aviemore On Sunday when very much braking was needed.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I fulfilled a desire I've had for a while to ride up Lowther hill from home on Sunday. It was perfect weather for such an excursion with unbroken views in all directions and very little wind at the top.
Sadly the apple pie was shut when we made it back that far but the quickening was in force on the Lang Whang which partly made up for it.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Grand Day Out
Posted 3 years ago # -
Had an enforced ride all the way home from the Trossachs due to the train strike today. The stonking tailwind made it an absolute joy. Even the short stretch on the A985 to Rosyth was almost pleasant since I could maintain Ludicrous Speed with ease, even with full panniers.
Was great!
Posted 3 years ago # -
Cycled to dacha Sat am, via Innerleithen & Yarrow: 124km. Glorious but mostly up - some of those hills were unrelenting.
Shall take a different route next time, knees will not allow that to repeat.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@acsimpson - I missed your news of the ascent of Lowther Hill. Nice work!
For an encore, I'm expecting an ascent of Great Dun Fell. In my assessment this is also practical as a day ride from home, although the 'day ride' would start with a train to Penrith.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Great Dun Fell is 400 metres higher though
Posted 3 years ago # -
400ft maybe, not metres?
Posted 3 years ago # -
In my assessment this is also practical as a day ride from home, although the 'day ride' would start with a train to Penrith.
You could totally ride to Great Dun Fell then do Ride to the Sun on the way home.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@murun Oops
Great Dunfell is 400m above Wanlockhead but 116m above Green Lowther
Posted 3 years ago # -
@Frenchy - although this year RttS seems a bit lower key. I'm also confused about which weekend it's on. They said 'nearest weekend to the solstice' (which I think is this weekend) but actually seem to be planning it for the weekend after.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I think they pushed it back a week due to optimism about Covid restrictions relaxing on the 21st June.
Posted 3 years ago # -
@Greenroofer. Watch this space.
Day rides starting with a train aren't on the plan until after LEL at least. However I have a recce of Yadd Moss planned so who knows what will happen.
As Frenchy says they pushed RTTS back in the hope they could run the full event. As it is they are running a low key event with no bike transport or bacon rolls. There will hopefully be something at the Crook Inn but it may just be a banana left in a lonely corner of the car park.
Fortunately the weather looks like it might be OK to transport a bike down the way the designers intended.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Low key RTTS is 26th
Even lower key RTTS is 19thPosted 3 years ago # -
Indeed. Either way it's on so the midsummer trip to the covenanter's grave will have to wait.
Posted 3 years ago # -
The Covenanter is still happening. Weather dependent. You dont want to be stuck out there when it is wet and windy. Though it is always windy.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Was a date decided on? Not sure if I can get a pass as well as getting an all day one for RTTS.
Posted 3 years ago # -
saturday 19th overnight.
One route from Balerno other from south east embra. Mostly off road.
Meeting at Carlops.
Possible fuel stop Allan Ramsay
Roman road to the Gowfie at west linton then out the ashphalt then gravel to the Grave.
There is then a signpost to return via Boston Cottage on the a70 but I fear the route which starts looking great will just fizzle out at a row of grouse butts.
Posted 3 years ago # -
So I did a low key RttS yesterday/this morning, as I can't do it next weekend.
Down via Dunbar, Ayton (where an older woman with one of those very posh drawly voices was holding forth to an uninterested man about her dissatisfaction with her offspring as I went into the shop and still at it when I came out), Cheviots (which were looking lovely), Newcastleton, Longtown, Carlisle.
The railway path between Longtown and Carlisle is now almost impassable on a road bike with slick tyres, as it’s down to a muddy singletrack. It was bone dry yesterday, so rideable (though it broke my mudguard), but on a wet day I’d have ended up in a heap in the nettles.
Back via Annan and the A74/A701. I know it's not on the RttS route, but I had a fancy to recreate @bill's coast to coast to coast route, and I've done the road from Carlisle to Lockerbie too many times for it to be a novelty.
On the Beef Tub climb, with 190 miles in my legs and suffering a bit from inability to tolerate food, I was plodding. I fell in a with a group of four also doing RttS (for the first time, and constrained by their train tickets). They disappeared up the hill ahead of me. However they weren't really working together: rather than a chaingang, the faster two kept dropping the slower ones, and they always seemed to be stopping for some reason: I'd catch up and then they'd overtake. Despite my plodding, we reached the traffic lights at Fairmilehead at the same time.
The weather wasn't as good as expected. There were intermittent torrential downpours: the first at Dunbar, where the rain was bouncing off the road, the last at Fairmilehead 20 hours later, where it was also bouncing off the road. That was the only one that didn’t stop for, as I knew that it finally didn’t matter if I got soaked. For the rest there was a continual round of jacket on/jacket off, which slowed me down.
240 miles in total in 22 hours, and overall a grand day out. It’s nice, every now and again, to have a challenge for which there’s a realistic prospect of failure. The Garmin says I need four days to recover: it's going to be interesting to see if it's right.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Chapeau!
Posted 3 years ago # -
Epic
Posted 3 years ago # -
Great stuff @Greenroofer!
I didn't notice any squiggles on your Strava track which usually indicate stopping at the shops etc. Did you stop anywhere to restock?Annan was @edinburgh87's idea :)
Posted 3 years ago # -
Congratulations on an epic day (and night) out.
Google tells me Great Dun Fell is 130 miles from Edinburgh (Fairmilehead is still Edinburgh). So it looks like you could do it in a day without resorting to the Penrith train.
Posted 3 years ago #
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