I reckon if you're hiring him a bike then you should hire Laidback's Helios tandem. What could be more romantic than that? Also, depending upon how you order yourselves on said bike, you can eye up eachother's derrières without any awkwardness :)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
Best route to North Berwick
(57 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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hmmm...not for people accustomed to riding on their own i think. if 'captain' is at all large then stoker has limited visibility - at least on 'normal' tandems.
many moons ago we thought it would be clever (maybe even romantic) to hire a tandem and ride across vic falls. we didn't get far before i insisted we go back and get two bikes. tandeming together requires real synergies that even decades of married life may not generate.
i know i did suggest this for others, but toodling round edinburgh - esp for someone not used to our traffic - is one thing, but after a leisurely ride to the coast you might not be very happy (unless one of you is totally happy to let the other one do all the steering, set the pace etc...)
Posted 13 years ago # -
apologies,for,my,nixxare,typing.,i,spilled,water,ofer
my,laptop,keynoard,and,a,replacement,has,neen,ordered
nut,hasn.t,arrifed,yet.,,my,nottom,row,goes,xxcfnnm,./,and,
the,space,nar,gifes,me,commas.he.s,a,fery,experienced,cyclist,far,more,than,me,actually,
so,i.m,not,concerned,anout,his,anility,to,cope,with,traffic.
the,only,reason,he.s,planning,to,hire,a,nike,is,necause,it.s,
easier,than,trying,to,get,one,here,ny,nus,and,nack,ny,plane.
he.s,fery,keen,on,the,idea,of,a,tandem.,i,am,not.,i,do,not,hafe
the,tandem,temperament,at,all.,Posted 13 years ago # -
Instead of a tandem has LB got anything with a sidecar or adult-sized trailer?
Can you access any sort of accessibility-enabling on-screen keyboard?Posted 13 years ago # -
i.m,quite,happy,with,solo,nikes.,no,need,for,any,kind,of,tandem
or,sidecar/there,is,an,onscreen,keynoard,thing,nut,i.m,a,touch,typist,
and,it,makes,me,weep,to,hafe,to,poke,at,the,screen,so,slowly.the,pc,repair,shop,ordered,me,a,replacement,keynoard,last,
sunday,and,said,they,would,hafe,it,in,three,to,fife,days.,
eight,days,ago.,Posted 13 years ago # -
when's he coming? can you bring him to Dagda so we can all check him out????
Posted 13 years ago # -
:-0
Posted 13 years ago # -
hmmm...keyboard working okay then? :)
Posted 13 years ago # -
none,of,those,required,the,use,of,the,nottom,row,the,shift,key,
or,the,space,narPosted 13 years ago # -
Commas instead of spaces are fine, it's the 'n's in place of 'b's that make me giggle.
Posted 13 years ago # -
i,had,hot,cross,nuns,for,nreakfast,yesterday
Posted 13 years ago # -
that make me giggle.
me too. absolutely tickles my funnybone (and it needs it).
Posted 13 years ago # -
funniest thread in a while! Until I read back up the thread I just presumed kirst had been at the gin!
Posted 13 years ago # -
KIrst, don't know if you are starting from central Edinburgh on your trip, but there are alternatives to the Innocent railway path. You can go through Holyrood Park, onto London Road then pootle along Portobello Prom towards Musselburgh.
The ash lagoons route has a nice new tarmac path alongside most of it, so it's worth trying. Turn right off the main coast road at Aberlady, there are some wonderful quiet country roads (some resurfaced very recently and mirror-smooth) which will take you to Kingston then on to North Berwick.
Just back from cycle camping with the kids in North Berwick so this information is up to date.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"The ash lagoons route has a nice new tarmac path alongside most of it"
That sounds good. Some of 'us' were there a few weeks ago and it was vehicle churned mud in places.
Any chance of a bit of map in Google, EveryTrail, MapMyRide or similar?
Posted 13 years ago # -
@chdot actually I remember there was a nice new path but you turned off into the wilds as soon as you saw it :-/
Posted 13 years ago # -
"but you turned off into the wilds as soon as you saw it"
Nope don't recall that scenario.
I remember hoping the path from the hide went somewhere (it didn't).
Climbing over a fence because the 'promising' route turned out to be 'interesting'...
And being at the back because I had slow puncture/valve failure. (I'm glad you had a spare!! It wasn't the size for the bike you were riding - I'm sure you had those too. The spare I had was also for my 'other' bike!
Above remembrances are not necessarily in chronological order...
Posted 13 years ago # -
chdot, here's my route in Google maps. With comments on each part of the route. May be useful for Kirst also.
Just one small hill to climb. That was deliberate, I was hauling a trailer with camping gear, and had a 6 year old riding pillion, plus front and rear panniers... Had to get off and push only once, on way up to Kingston.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@crowriver Wonderful!
I think a lot of people will find that useful.
Posted 13 years ago # -
chdot, thanks. The route was planned using the excellent Spokes East Lothian map. Great because it shows precise gradients on roads, which are quiet, etc. Double-checked with Google Maps satellite view. Can't be too careful with route planning when you have two young children and the other half on the tour!
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Can't be too careful with route planning when you have two young children"
I'm surprised you didn't go for The Innocent - must have wanted to ride The Prom(?)
Posted 13 years ago # -
@crowriver Wonderful! I think a lot of people will find that useful.
Indeed. We will have to try it once we get our new one used to riding in a seat. Would want to go to Tantallon too (oddly not marked on googlemaps unless you search for it). Nice to have the option of train or inland ride back.
I take it there is good camping at North Berwick?
Posted 13 years ago # -
SRD:
I take it there is good camping at North Berwick?
Indeed, at Tantallon caravan and camping park, just on the outskirts on the road towards Tantallon castle. It's near the coast, so can get windy but the campsite section is reasonably sheltered with trees. Not the cheapest site, but good facilities, copious hot water for showers etc. included in the charge.
chdot:
I'm surprised you didn't go for The Innocent - must have wanted to ride The Prom(?)
If we lived in the Southside we probably would have. Instead we're just off London Road, so we went that way. Normally I use a quieter route to Portobello via Lochend and Restalrig and Fishwives Causeway. However with a fully laden trailer, six year old and front panniers I couldn't face the steep hill along Restalrig Ave. There is also a really badly designed shared use traffic crossing where Fishwives Causeway crosses the A199, with multiple obstacles, and a steep camber down to the road whilst performing a zig-zag left-right turn. It's like a slalom course. No thanks, thought I. Not while hauling that lot.
Portobello Promenade may be a bit slow, but it is lovely being by the beach and the Beach House cafe makes a great stop for ice cream (very important with youngsters in tow).
Posted 13 years ago # -
chdot:
NB to TC I've done it along the coast, with a bike, but not much cycling!
We did the 'quietest route' marked on your map as a day trip with the kids, but instead of heading to Tantallon we carried on towards Seacliff and a wonderful beach. Seacliff's that little loop of private road on the far right of the map.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"If we lived in the Southside we probably would have"
Ah, I thought you had started at Commie Pool.
Beach House good.
Posted 13 years ago # -
chdot: Ah, I thought you had started at Commie Pool.
I was just trying to be helpful to others, the pool is a well known starting point for rides...
I have updated my Google map route with a quieter alternative route which cuts out most of London Road and Portobello Road. Only suitable if unencumbered with trailers, heavy panniers, etc.
Posted 13 years ago #
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