Queensferry Cycle – 14/10/2006

In the early part of the summer, Thomas had made an effort to form a Pyromaniacs on Wheels group. He called it something different. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. They took one trip together, cycling to the Falkirk Wheel along the canal. This time, Juan de Dios was the instigator. On a walk in one morning, he described his "to do" list of trips before returning to Chile. Among the list was a trek to the Forth Bridges, which was also on my "to do" list. A plan was hatched. Alan joined us. Others expressed regrets for other committments interfering.

Juan and I set off around 10am. We met Alan at the boat house on Union Canal and headed west to Ratho. Union Canal is nice for being somewhat sheltered and very car-free. Saturday late morning means it has plenty of pedestrian congestion. Initial miles were slow, but we were able to cycle more consistently after crossing the Water of Leith. We made reasonably good time to Ratho, where we stopped for a lemonade and a map conferral.

Neil had warned against cycling this route. The canal can be kind of boring. Having trained for and run a marathon recently, I suspect we have different connotations of boring. Also, his group had some traffic excitement getting out of Ratho. My map gave us a reasonable trek through an industrial park and short stretch on a protected cycle path beside a busy road before putting us on dirt track most of the way to Queensferry. The path beside the busy road was the least pleasant part, but easily endured. The dirt track smelled of cow, but otherwise was more interesting. We made a semi-wrong turn at one junction with a car road and ended up having to carry bikes through a gap between fence and wall. That one was sort of my fault.

We cycled through the woods for a long time and then suddenly through the trees saw water and bridge. The suddenness made it more interesting. I wasn't expecting it quite so soon. We followed the now-paved cycle trail to its end in Queensferry and then began exploring. We cycled downhill to the water, wandered out on a cement pier for photos and then continued on the cobbly High Street to consider pub options. The basic plan was pub first then lunch, so we stopped at one of the pubs under the Forth Railroad Bridge. Pub was nice, but I enjoyed lunch in the sun more. :)

After lunch, we cycled across the Forth Road Bridge, stopping to enjoy the view and take photos. At the other side, we locked the bikes and walked to the top of the stairs to find a smallish playground beckoning. Only I heard its call. Among the other playground staples waited the best playground ride ever. The Helicopter. Would you believe I had to intice others to spin with me?

We cycled back on the other side of the bridge, which required a portage. In the distance, I could see the ferry to Zeebrugge waiting in port. I stopped for a few more photos before bidding bridges goodbye. We cycled back along the High Street, under the rail bridge and then up a very long hill. We knew it was coming. Uphill to Edinburgh was inevitable. It was a lung-in-throat hill, not quite Granny Gear material, but close. I get a bit myopic with hills, so I ended up waiting at the top for my compatriots to catch up.

We followed cycle route 1 back into town, enjoying the rolling hills from the countryside back into the city. We stopped for one last round of photos at the River Almond, which should provide a nice contrast of before and afters for Juan. The downside of following cycle routes is following them blindly. We found ourselves confronted with the big road by Haymarket, not so keen to tangle with busy traffic and not sure where we could have turned differently. Finally, we decided to go for it and let Alan lead the way. It wasn't bad. Congestion helps slow the cars down. I never felt like I was going to die, a bonus. Juan and I parted company with Alan after a convoluted detour at Tollcross. I led the way and promptly jumped to the cycle paths at the Meadows for a short break. The path home was mostly downhill and just a few minutes later, I was carrying my bike back upstairs to home after thanking Juan for instigating. Time check said 17.00 more or less on the nose. Perfect. No big plans for the night, because tired wouldn't be all that far away. Good stuff. :)