CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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Anyone here taking part in Pedal for Scotland this year? I've just signed up for The Big Belter, and I'm getting the bus through to Glasgow in the morning.
I did it last year and found it reasonably easy going (though I did take 8 and a half hours), and I'm certainly not a hardcore cyclist and don't do any long distances.
Last year's effort: https://www.strava.com/activities/1177738803
Since I've realised I won't be able to do the Borders of Fife audax the week after, this is looking fairly tempting now, yeah.
Going to register for this the morn. If anyone wants me to use their referral link, let me know.
If nobody else offers theirs, sure: https://endurancecui.active.com/new/events/47821951/select-race?e4p=07690939-9a93-49d1-9915-1392d5975269&e4ts=1533888227&rc=X-1W36JP8N&e4q=f5fd705d-9561-4835-8f03-7cdc6009b87c&rf=6vIFny7Nf2YnrYNjquaI73mi&e4c=active&e4e=snawe00000000&e4h=5ec2df7fe609880dbb943512a2e7be49&e4rt=Safetynet&_p=36415935148676803
I will be doing the Classic Ride on Sunday. My ride buddy is currently struggling with a virus, so I maybe looking for a new buddy.
That was great fun!
Clocked in at just under 8 hours, including stops, which I'm delighted with.
That hill at Carmichael got the better of me - ended up walking the last third; I'm blaming the stuffed pannier.
How'd everyone else get on?
@frenchy, that is a mad detour to go up the hill at Carmichael after approx 70 miles
There is a right turn at the bottom of the hill which is a longer way round but nice and flat also takes you to the great Tinto Hill Tearooms
I've signed up for this again this year (The Big Belter again). I've already warned the friend I did it with last year that if she's anywhere near as slow as last year, she's getting dropped - we were something like the 4th last to cross the finish line, and got told at the last rest stop that we couldn't stop unless we wanted to be picked up by the sweeper bus.
I got this mail today - apparently this is the last year they're doing Pedal For Scotland:
Thanks for signing up for Pedal for Scotland this year – it’s a really special event to be a part of, it’s our 20th anniversary event and it’s also the last ever Pedal for Scotland Glasgow to Edinburgh ride.
After 20 years, we have decided it’s time for Pedal for Scotland to evolve into shorter, local, free events, to help more people across Scotland enjoy cycling.
September this year will be the last Classic Challenge Glasgow-to-Edinburgh ride, Big Belter and Wee Jaunt Linlithgow-to-Edinburgh ride.
“
it’s time for Pedal for Scotland to evolve into shorter, local, free events, to help more people across Scotland enjoy cycling
“
Sounds good.
It does - but I enjoy the longer rides as well :)
I've always thought Pedal for Scotland was a terrible way to promote everyday cycling. Setting up cycling as a one-off event, an endurance challenge, something to be trained for and sponsorship obtained. I'm sure it may have got a few people (back?) into regular cycling - but I reckon the cash spent over the years would have been far better invested in infrastructure.
“I've always thought Pedal for Scotland was a terrible way to promote everyday cycling.”
That was my view at the time of the first one. I’ve seldom been impressed with Cycling Scotland’s priorities - but that was almost inevitable given that was (to a large extent) a PR arm of SG policy.
I’m sure CS has done all sorts of market research to show the ‘positive benefits of P4S’.
Not sure how much it’s helped with ‘drivers’ attitudes to cyclists’. I’m sure one hope was to get people who drive out on bikes at least once to help change their attitudes.
Then there was the NiceWayCode debacle.
“but I reckon the cash spent over the years would have been far better invested in infrastructure.”
Probably, but would hardly have made a dent in the amount really required.
I’m sure Sustrans has been better value for money, but again it’s an arms-length way of doing what SG just should...
Decided on doing this again.
Going to cycle through on the Saturday again, but haven't decided whether to do a long route on the Saturday and then the "Classic Challenge" on the Sunday, or short route on the Saturday and the "Big Belter" route on the Sunday.
If anyone has a referral link they'd like clicked, feel free to post it.
I'm doing The Big Belter, and getting the bus through at 4:30am again. Hopefully the friend I'm doing it with isn't as horrendously slow as she was last year ;)
If you don't get any better offers for a referral link: https://endurancecui.active.com/event-reg/select-race?e=56551851&rf=6vIFny7Nf2YnrYNjquaI73mi
My mate lives in Switzerland is making noises about this. Is it fun?
Define "fun"?
Last year's was definitely Type II fun. I'm praying to all the Gods I believe in that it won't be as wet this year.
It's a 100 mile cycle ride through the central belt/South Lanarkshire, with free food at regular intervals and a blooming big hill 70 miles in. First 20 miles are on closed roads (or the whole route of the shorter version).
Whilst I clearly enjoyed it enough to sign up again this year, I'm not particularly convinced it's worth travelling from Switzerland for...
Reminiscing* about that blooming Carmichael Hill has convinced me to do the long route again.
*The connotations of "reminisce" are far too positive here. Perhaps "shuddering" would have been more apt.
@Frenchy, does it not go to Kilmarnock first/?
We were at the hill of Carmichael the other day/ there is a most glorious road round to tin to hill tearoom that avoids the hill on the right.
Barry who is a big Irish man that cycles with us insisted on going up the hill, thus missing the glorious road
Maybe used to go via Kilmarnock, but certainly didn't last year.
@frenchy - ah I see what they have done. Same closed roads out of Glasgow with the wee one. Then at Avon bridge takes in all the routes fietsclub Balerno usually cycle. Tempting, I will tell Barry about the hill
Last year's route: https://www.strava.com/activities/1830545430
2017's route: https://www.strava.com/activities/1177738803
The 100 was introduced in the last third of the twenty years this has occurred? But clearly maybe only went to Kilmarnock into stiff head wind once or twice?
Was just wondering if my youngest was about the right age to stoke the tandem twixt Glasgow and Edinburgh, with a view to her doing it on her own bike in a couple of years. As eldest has already done. And they've only gone and made this the last one.
One thing really valuable about PfS is the closed roads. It allows folk to realise that cycling 45 miles is not really that bad, doesn't take that long, and maybe they could cycle similar distances on open roads. Great for kids too.
Now fretting over whether to book us both in for this last ever ride...
@crowriver - I'd go for it. Not sure the age of your stoker but the fact that other children will be on ride will be a huge boost. Tandeming does allow you to patch in their missing energy if they fade. Stops along the way. Is last one too.
What are the hivemind's top tips for getting little people to complete the course?
Having just had the go ahead to start cycling again, and it being the last year, I have rashly book us onto it.
Today's 1st training ride saw us venture over the bridge and back via Craigies (21 miles) They were fine with the distance (in terms of tiredness/comfort) but the speed was dreadfully slow, both in terms of sustaining speed and wanting lots of stops/faffing.
Will the buzz of the event be enough to keep them going? And what should we focus on for our next (& possibly final training ride)?
When mini-Greenroofer did this (several years ago now, I realise to my dismay: she was 10 at the time and is now 14) we put in quite a lot of training over gradually increasing distances. This did mean that she rode the whole thing with energy to spare (I still love watching the video I made of her riding up all the hills past the men in Team Sky kit), but it was quite slow.
She got quite good at not faffing (that is, we didn't waste time), as by the time we rode it she'd had a lot of practice at riding 'long' distances, but we still took time at each feed stop to pause and enjoy the experience and atmosphere. We took 5h 28m to do the ride, which is an average speed of 10mph.
Is it sufficient just for you to reset your own expectations? So long as you avoid the broom wagon, then if it takes them 8 hours to do it, that doesn't matter. Measure the achievement by the distance they rode, not the time they took. A relaxed attitude to the time may be all it needs to get them through it.
Thanks @greenroofer. I guess my expectation was that we would be something like your experience at a speed approaching 8-10mph when we were moving and long stops every 5 miles or so. They happily do the 4mile school run without a break at those sort of speeds.
In reality we were struggling to sustain 8mph. Some of that was poor gear selection but it was the stops that really killed us. Looking at strava we rarely did a mile without stopping for some reason or other.
When they want to they can apply themselves. Heading North on the bridge with the wind behind us was okay but they wanted to stop and look at things. Coming back into an really awful headwind and with another rider just in front of us, they both just got their heads down and powered over without stopping doing 8-10mph on the way up the bridge and 12-14mph down the other side. It was probably our fastest mile of the whole trip.
It may be that their heads weren't totally in it today (end of holidays and me only announcing the training ride this morning when they were already engrossed in their screens probably didn'thelp). It certainly is harder having 2 of them to divide my attention (with consequential jealousy tantrums) or the route be broken up by sections on public roads which then required a certain amount of safety instruction and higher stress levels.
I will look at next weekend's weather forecast and maybe do the Airdrie -Bathgate route to give us some flatter and more consistent offroad cycling.
We'll definitely be looking for an early start time to give us the biggest time window, so we can take a relaxed approach.
How closed are the roads during PFS? If a friend discovered at 10pm on the Saturday that they had a Sunday pass could they follow the route if they were self supporting? Or are there blocks which only registered riders would get onto?
I rolled onto the (leisurely fifty-odd mile, not the racing-costume whooshride) course by mistake a few years ago when I escaped the rutted canal path at Winchburgh. There were a few tabard-people dotted about but no-one checking anyone. The road was only half-closed around Kirkliston, with giant Asda artic thundering along in the oncoming 'lane', chewing up the traffic cones in the 'middle' of the road.
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