Road through the Meldons - Sunday Bike Ride

Bike rides are getting a bit longer and faster. Its a bit longer ride than the one I did a couple of weeks ago. There is some wind, and it is in my face initially as I head south along Seafield Moor Rd. Down to Auchendinny, the wind is not noticeable, but the climb up to Pomathorn, it is. At the top, I turn left, and I am wind assisted over Mount Lothian.

It is a lovely sunny day.

Then it south to Toxside and Waterheads, a lovely moor road, to the A703 near Waterheads. There aren't many cyclists here, but on the A703, the Edinburgh Road Club Tour of the Meldons Time Trial is on. The cyclists head anticlockwise from Eddleston, to Shiplaw, Lamancha, Romannobridge, Blyth Bridge, Hallyne, then back over the Meldons to Eddleston.

At Eddleston, I tun right on to the Lyne road, heading south over the Meldons. Yes, the wind is in my face. Just as I start to decend, I stop to get a photo of the Meldons. I have to pedal downhill a wee bit because of the wind. Just after Meldon Cottage, I fork left, and head down to Lyne Station and take the back road to the B712.

The B712 heads south through Stobo, over the River Tweed to Drumelzier, before the road heads west. I stop here to get Extra 2, you can see the Tweed. The road goes back over the River Tweed, to the A701. There something satisfying about the signpost that says I am closer to Moffat than Edinburgh.

I turn right to head north. The wind should be behind me now, but it isn't. In fact it stays in my face through Broughton until I reach the A72. Yippee. the wind is now behind me, but that's because the road heads NNE. At this point, the A701 is really the A72. At Blyth Bridge, I carry on north Mountain Cross. Cyclists are still riding the Tour of the Meldons. At Montain Cross, I turn right and head through Callands, then north to Romannobridge. Left on to the A701, then right on to the Bogsbank road to West Linton. Wind in my face again as I climb the hill heading west, then north to West Linton. Its on to the Harlawmuir road to the A701 and Penicuik.

I take Bog Road and Carlops Road to add a wee bit on to the distance and to avoid the town centre. (a note here, I decided to do 100km, and need all the extra distance I can get) I am back on the A701. The number 37bus slows down the traffic a bit, but it pulls in to a bus stop just past Tescos. Its a fast ride through Milton Bridge, the traffic lights at Belwood Rd change just as I get to them, and I head up to Gowley Moss.

Back on to the Seafield Moor Road, A703, to close the loop. Where the road joins the A702 at Hillend, there's a queue of traffic. I spot a couple of cyclists near the front, so I sneak up the left hand side and join them. As I get there, the road clears, and we're heading to Fairmilehead. I am 1km short, so I do a quick loop through Caiystane before heading home. to make sure I do more than 100km, I loop through Comiston.

Total distance of the ride is 101.88km, 63.3 miles. 971m worth of climbing. A bit slower than two weeks ago, but that's not a bad thing.

In the afternoon, its a trip down to Morningside, a quick visit to the charity shops. I need some energy, so its cake and coffee.