Spokes Ride to East Lothian

To celebrate the Tour Of Britain coming to Edinburgh, I took the Spokes Ride along the route of Stage 4 from Edinburgh as far as Gifford in East Lothian.

It was a very cool morning, so all the riders were waiting in the sliver of sunshine outside the Usher Hall. 11 people turned up. The first diversion to the route was taking our own roll out route out of Edinburgh to Milton Road East. This was up Lothian Road, through the Meadows, following the new route to the Innocent Railway, and a cycle path to Brunstane.

The rest was pretty easy as we follow. From this point, the cyclists on ToB would start racing. Not racing ourselves, and not using much energy, we to go at an easy pace. We really have to start pedalling at Joppa, along Edinburgh Rd. We take a quiet route through Musselburgh, avoiding the busy High St.

Once past Musselburgh Racecourse, the ToB then follows the coast. We have the wind behind us. We're in the sunshine so it takes the edge of the cold. The water on the Firth of Forth while not flat, has no white horses today. The sky is a lovely blue. Cockenzie Power Station is an empty shell, and the chimneys are set to be demolished. A little diversion on the ToB route, we turn left on to Cockenzie and Port Seton High Street, which is quite busy as people are heading to the art galleries. At Port Seton Harbour, we follow the cycle path back to the coastal road.

At Longniddry, we turn inland up the B6363 and start the slight climb up to Gifford. Its not that bad as the wind is NW, so in the main, we are blown up. Combine harvesters and tractors are busy in the fields. Its also getting warmer, so I swap to normal track mitts. At Pencaitland we join the B road to Duns. This will take the ToB riders over Redstone Rig, a stiff climb that has inclines of 17%. While my bike ride is not doing that, there is a climb up through East Saltoun, which can be taxing, so I wait at the top. When everyone has caught their breath, we have an east ride along a high B road. Being on a bike, we have views to the North not afforded to those in cars.

After lunch, to make the ride back to Edinburgh easier, I take a high road. The ride back is also much shorter than the morning ride. We have already done a little under 27 miles. It starts with the climb out of Gifford and back along the B road we took in to Gifford to East Saltoun. The high road carrys on west from here, and takes us along quiet country roads and goes past the Glenkinchie Distillery. Despite the signs, no one make a detour. A nice long descent on the B6371 road, and then a short stretch on the A6093. The A road is not very pleasant where it crosses in to Midlothian, but its not for very far as we turn right on to the Fordel Dean road.

At the top of Fordel Dean is an ideal place to take a few snaps of East Lothian. Everyone is looking a little tired, so we head into a nearby pub for a sit down and refreshment. After refreshments, its along the River Esk path, and then following NCN Route 1 in to Edinburgh and the end of the ride. I make it through the Innocent Railway tunnel with one rider. He decides to go home. I wait for a while, but no one else turns up. I go back to the tunnel and its empty. I presume the rest of the riders have gone home, and head home myself.