Summer Spokes Ride Around the Forth

(Or Five Forth Bridges)
A cold September day for the last Summer Spokes Ride. It hasn't been very summery this year though. It is very cool, and five of us set out from the Usher Hall out to South Queensferry. The cycle path out of Edinburgh is busy with runners and cyclists. At least it is dry. I am feeling a little apprehensive on the Burnshot road as, in the distance, there seem to be rain showers out west.

WE cycle through Dalmeny and South Queensferry  to Forth Bridges for our first stop (Extra 1). We then cycle over the Forth Road Bridge and veering left up through Rosyth, a wee bit on the A road before taking the road down to Limekilns and along the coast and up to Charlestown. We are following the north side of the Forth on NCN 76. The route takes a cycle path alongside the A road to Crombie, then down to the coast at Crombie Point. A coastal path takes us to Torryburn where we join the B road through Newmills before turn off on the road to Culross Station. We avoid the path between those two points as it is rather muddy. But we rejoin the cycle path and head in to Culross for a picnic lunch.

Lunch is a bit cool, the cloud doesn't seem to be lifting. We are sheltered from the wind by some convenient hedges. There a nice view across the Forth (Blip). We forgo coffee in Culross and press on west. The next bit is offroad path to Kincardine, passing under the Kincardine Bridge through the west of Kincardine to the path on the Clackmannanshire Bridge.

On the south side, we join NCN 76 heading east for a while The cycle path goes on to a minor road for a wee bit, before returning to a path, then a bridge over the wide A road.

This brings us to the Skinflats, Scotland's miniature version of the Fens. Land reclaimed from the Forth and used for agriculture. An oasis of peace between the busy Forth crossing, Grangemouth with its oil refinery and Falkirk. As we head south, the Kelpies appear, small at first, on our right.

Carrying on, the Kelpies occasionally disappear behind trees, and then reappear slightly larger, until on Newton Road, they start to loom. We cross over the River Carron, and head down the rebuilt section of the Forth Clyde canal to the Kelpies (see Extra for a photo of Kelpies and participants) We opt for coffee as the sun has come out.

After coffee, it is through Helix Park and on to a couple of quiet Falkirk roads before joining the B805 up to the canal and NCN754. The canal path is much nicer now it is a tarmac path. In the sunshine, it is a nice route to take. It is a very pleasant ride through Polmont, Linlithgow, Philpstoun to Winchburgh. (Extra 2)

From Winchburgh, we take the B road as it is a fast descent to Kirkliston. This is the final par of the ride. We go through Carlowrie to Cramond Brig, which is the end of the ride. While the rest of the ride is on NCN Route 1, which is followed back to Russell Road and the actual end of the ride, we catch up with fragments of the Kiltwalk. As a result, we split up to take the easiest route home.

The whole ride can be seen at Relive here.