CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
@WFB I'm interested in the choice - if course there may be personal basis built into it, but was that because of the smaller wheels = smaller area presented to cross winds?
Had the wind not picked up, I might have spent lunchtime speculatively test riding a Brompton!
Robert
The correct thing to cycle is of course a low trike ;-)
Extreme weather needs an alternative approach...
Also means you can go downhill fast on slippy road (and risk hitting debris). Tested that out on hill on Tuesday (x2).
Of course a trike will not stop you being hit by things - (but neither will a bike).
Headwear worth considering at moment with falling slates etc?
I assume it is Thor's annual Christmas ritual of ending the career of another SNP transport minister?
Interesting how that meme has mutated through the day. It started off without swears and cartoon "weeeeeeeeeee!" lines!
Bromptons have a low stand over height so it's easy to get off in a hurry.
Never thought about the wheel size and cross winds. The steering feels twitchy to a new user but I've been riding them for a long time and I don't notice it. I wasn't blown about at all so perhaps that is a factor.
I don't like using my Longstaff in gusty winds. Upright trikes need you to predict and be ready for the things which make them fall over. I can do that with bends and camber but not the wind.
The main reason I used the Brompton was that I had to go to the quack for a script then have it filled at the chemist so I took the bike in with me rather than leaving it outside to blow over (no racks at the chemist).
Instructed that I had to go home just after 2pm. Went to Asda - bought ingredients for tea - mattar paneer, tarka daal etc. Loaded up pannier, cycled up the WoL path. Apart from the sludge on the path, no issues. No trees down, some saplings very wobbly at Currie. Wind was strong but I still don't get why so much caution. THe forecast was perhaps worse than the reality?
THe forecast was perhaps worse than the reality?
Yes and no. Edinburgh seems to have got away with it to some extent, other parts of Scotland not so lucky!
Well, the temporary traffic light at the top of Dublin Street is down, as are more than one of those poles with the parking regulation signs on them. Quite a few branches on the way home too, including one or two that you wouldn't want to smack you on the bonce from tree height...
The forecast was perhaps worse than the reality?
I think the good people of Ardrossan might beg to differ! Check out a wind turbine that caught fire, along with some of the River Clyde that ought to have stayed in the water, and a bunch of vehicles overturned on the Rest and be Thankful.
If anything forecast seemed (for Edinburgh) to slightly underestimate wind strength, gust speed and when it would arrive. Yesterday had 34mph constant speed, 55mph gust speed for the afternoon on Met OFfice site. It was doing something like 48mph constant, 69mph gust around 3PM in the event.
Two lorries down -
"If anything forecast seemed (for Edinburgh) to slightly underestimate wind strength, gust speed and when it would arrive. Yesterday had 34mph constant speed, 55mph gust speed for the afternoon on Met OFfice site. It was doing something like 48mph constant, 69mph gust around 3PM in the event."
When I looked yesterday afternoon it was saying 49mph constant, and 75mph gusts from 12 till 6. Changed all the time - in the end it was blowy, but... I tihnk elsewhere got hit harder!
It blew the glass in at Ocean Point, and it was strong enough that I walked the bike up to the second roundabout by the government. From there, no problem until the climb up to St Andrew's Sq which got a bit blowy, then the Mound (just made the climb harder). Big tailwind down George IV then ferocious across the Meadows - lots of kindling down, but easy to cycle through.
Not much of an event here compared with some of the crazy pics from the west...
So can we have snow tomorrow then, pleeeeeaaaaase ;-))
ok,in the lorry it was......interesting ! was west,kilmarnock this morning and chesser avenue this evening,one was scary the other was via bathgate, didnt seem that bad actually ! @SRD....please give thanks to the church of wallmart for all the micro ready pasta and cheese trays that the good people of our beloved country NEED ! and were delivered by the warriors of the asphalt who were close to being overcome by the forces of reason !( but were told to ignore them ! )
ps, i believe eggs actually come from that factory near peebles, the happy egg compound !its nice but sometimes i see chickens ! but not too often !
any way a short jaunt to Elgin tomorrow, snow over the drumochter........never forget the real and present danger of running out of peeperoni pizza !
not quite livin the wallmart dream, scott !
RIght. Status report at 1AM.
Just back from the following cycle;
Marchmont > MMW > Tollcross > West Approach > Canning Lane > Haymarket > Roseburn Park > Roseburn Path all the way to the end at Hawthornvale > Water of Leith > Bonnington Path > Chancelot Path > Fiveways > Goldenacre Path > Rodney Street Tunnel > Broughton Street > Picardy Place > North St Andrew Square > George Street > Up and down Princes Street a coupla times > Lothian Road > Marchmont > Home.
Nothing much to report.
Front off a billboard at Haymarket;
Lots of twigs and kindling down on all sections of path, pockets of surface water. No obstructions or large bits. Could cycle safely at reasonable speed (15-20mph) in dark for most of it. Possibly a tree has slipped down embankment between Junction Bridge and old Bonnington Station and is now propped up across the path, but quite high up and not currently an obstruction unless it chooses to continue its journey.
Was a bit disappointed, was nothing else to photograph! But I suppose that's a good thing.
tree down on B'field links, half one down on meadows, lots of big branches down.
Remarkably little evidence of the apocalypse this morning. One tree down and blocking footpath on Regent Road. From the train window going north I saw the Forth was very calm, no swell and no real waves either. Seals popping their heads up to say hello near Aberdour. Noticed quite a few pine and larch trees down near Ladybank junction. Tay was a bit windswept but nothing compared to the twenty foot waves that apparently appeared yesterday afternoon (according to colleagues' photos). Quite a few shattered slates littering the narrow wynds of Dundee, otherwise not much to report.
@crowriver, Scotrail got you to Dundee?
They were announcing Dundee cancellations over the tannoy when I was at Haymarket this AM.
(As an aside, why why why oh why why whyety why, does the Haymarket tannoy man wait until there is a diesel train sitting in the station, or worse, accelerating out of the station before making his wee announcements. Does he think we can hear him? Does he /have/ a clue?)
@cb, the 0800 from Waverley was cancelled, maybe earlier trains too. Probably debris/trees on the line needing cleared. The 0830 express left late, stooped additionally at Inverkeithing (presumably to drop/pick up folk who missed earlier stopping services) and got into the city of discovery only 10 minutes late.
Train a wee bit busier than usual, but very pleasant journey, sunny, calm, seals to smile at, etc.
At the minute, it's worse than last week out there, and without the protection of a police & met office warning to reduce traffic volume and increase courtesy...
Take care!
Robert
I was thinking that at lunchtime - it feels worse, more gusty, than last Thursday. And our building is falling apart (well, a large door on the balcony along from our office has been ripped off).
Doesn't seem quite as bad to me - windows aren't rattling quite as much.
Wind direction similar - colder though.
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/Weathercam/station/latestweek.html
People still wanting to use it (the bike part of the crossing was done away with ages ago).
I use it every day, and usually see a few other riders at the same time.
The irony is there's a huge ASL painted in front of the crossing, and when it's red, nobody sits after the red light on the other side of the road - so literally the only thing stopping it being a formal crossing is the stupid fence that the council have put up (and the box-ticking exercise of using the right crossing light).
Have to say, the door/window that broke here, I became cyclist to the rescue. Two guys holding it up as the top hinges had broken - about 8 feet high, thick heavy double glazing and metal frame. Wouldn't break free from the bottom hinge and couldn't be left the way it was - we noticed it had an allen bolt holding that hinge on. Aha! Carradice sought, allen keys obtained!
T'was cold out on that balcony though!
Just moved my bike to a more sheltered lockup as the wind was pounding it. Definitely getting close to last week (in gusts at least).
Joy. First real test of the legs on the single speeder then... Joy...
"
Forth Road Bridge – closed to high sided vehicles, cars with trailers, caravans, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. #edintravel
"
Tay road and rail bridges shut!
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts