Crest

The first Sunday of the month means I have to lead the Spokes Ride. I decided to go to Midlothian to avoid the chaos of East Lothian and the first stage of the Tour of Britain and the Let's Ride associated with the Tour of Britain results in quite a few road closures. There are also the Queensferry Crossing walks,so the group isn't very large.

Toavoid traffic, we head to the canal to Craiglockhart and take a back route to Fairmilehead and in to Midlothian. From Hillend, we cycle to Loanhead, then Roslin. Extra 1 is at the site of the Battle of Roslin, the monument is behind the cyclists. A steep descent down Roslin Glen, then up to Rosewell. We join the cycle path, which is downhill to Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith. The town centre is avoided by following the national cycle route. This takes is on to another cycle path to Whitecraig, where we cross in to East Lothian. We have lunch at the Craig House Hotel

After lunch, its back along the national cycle route through Dalkeith to Bonnyrigg, and then south. There is an initial down hill, then the road starts climbing. We pass through Carrington and up to the Braidwood Bridge. We follow the Top Gear road for a wee while, before turning off Castleton. We are not cycling south, so we'd better head back to Edinburgh. We take the turning to Outerston, then south for a wee while to access Gladhouse Reservoir. Just before the reservoir, we hit the highest point of the ride, 287m ASL. The blip and Extra 2 were taken at a point just down from there. 

At the reservoir, just after Gladhouse, there are two fishermen in a boat.Extra 3. We stop again for a bit, before carrying on west, then north. We follow the Top Gear road west, over Mount Lothian, then down Pomathorn Rd to Penicuik. We follow the main road to Gowkley Moss, then a minor road through Bush and on to the Seafield Moor Rd to Hillend and the end of the ride at Fairmilehead.

Total Distance 83.1km in 4hr28 mins. (An all day ride, but with a few stopping points.)