River Almond at Almondell Country Park

Sunny start to the day, but chilly. Left a little late to head down to the start of the Spokes Ride, and the consequence was that most traffic lights were red.

There were seven of us in total on the ride, so approaching normality. As some participants have not been on long bike ride for a while, i opt for a fairly flat route. So we take the canal path out of Edinburgh as far as Baberton, then we take a back road to pass through Heriot Watt Uni campus to access the Long Dalmahoy Road. Normally there is quite a fierce headwind, but it was absent today because is is a NW wind, and the trees shield us. The highest point of the ride is in Kirknewton, so we now have a mostly downhill ride in to the wind through East Calder and on the to National Cycle Route 75 to head through Livingston to Livingston Village and to Livingston Inn for lunch.

After lunch the sun has gone and the wind is a wee bit stronger. We head back through Livingston to Mid Calder on the National Cycle Route, then head down to Almondell and Calderwood Country Park through East Calder. The blip was taken from the historic Nasmyth Bridge (see wikipedia). We carry on through the park to access the canal path at Newhouses. We now have a mostly wind assisted ride all the way back to Edinburgh.

The ride can be seen at Relive here.

The rain starts just as I put the bike away. Good timing.