Know any short easy loops in edinburgh

heftyrider

A friend and I bought road bikes just before christmas and due to weather etc haven't really had a ride on them yet.

We're both new to riding on the roads, so are looking for an easy 10-15 mile loop some where near Edinburgh or Fife.

Anybody any suggestions?

Thanks
Hefty

gavmac

I stay in Murrayfield and usually head out the Calder Road cross the bypass and loop round parts of the Long Dalmahoy Road and Kirknewton. The A70 and the smaller roads between it and the A71 I find quite good. The A71 I hate as too many fast cars give you very little room although the road is pretty wide.

ded

If you are actually in Edinburgh you could do worse than head to Arthur's Seat/Holyrood park. OK it does have a hill! But on a Sunday cars are banned from 2/3 of the road and it's 5km around, a couple of times round there will get the blood flowing...

East Lothian has lots of smaller roads too - plenty of loops out there without too much traffic or too many hills.

Depends what kind of loop you want

mercurykev

I'd suggest doing a search on Bikely (www.bikely.com) for Edinburgh. There are a lot of nice routes on there.

Personally, I like the coutryside round East Lothian. There are plenty of quiet roads and loads of variety.

heftyrider

Thanks very much. They sound perfect. A71 handy for work and Holyrood Park sounds great for a sunday.

Tried looking at www.bikely.com it looks great, can't get the damm thing to load the pages though.

Thanks again.

Of course any other suggestions welcome to stop us getting bored

amircp

Going along the coast towards Longniddry/Aberlady etc is nice as long as its not too busy (so Sunday mornings). Also pretty flat. Further south in East Lothian or in Midlothian is really nice with quite lanes but hillier. At this time of year routes can be restricted cos the lanes and bike paths (e.g. Innocent path) aren't always salted.

pneumatic

there's not much to recommend in Fife just over the Bridge; you need to work your way inland a bit before you hit the good stuff (Cleish, Kinross, Falkland, Freuchie, Cults and the East Neuk). However, why don't you set yourselves a target and train for the Edinburgh to St Andrews ride on 20th June. Details on:

http://www.lepra.org.uk/eventdetail.asp?article_ID=100

It is a mass participation ride over 67 miles, several food stops, all abilities and a good ride. The last 5 miles downhill into St Andrews are particularly exhilarating.

GavH

amircp wrote:

Going along the coast towards Longniddry/Aberlady etc is nice as long as its not too busy (so Sunday mornings). Also pretty flat. Further south in East Lothian or in Midlothian is really nice with quite lanes but hillier. At this time of year routes can be restricted cos the lanes and bike paths (e.g. Innocent path) aren't always salted.

Out of interest whats the traffic like on the A roads heading south around Penicuik? It looks likely that I'll be moving to Penicuik in Aug/Sep time and a quick scan of the map made me think I'd have to face rides on busy roads.

grantus

Hi Gav,

The A roads there are busy as they are the main routes into the borders with no motorways in this part of the country.

Edinburgh Road Club meet not too far from there if I remember correctly and from what I've read on their website they are a large club and so cater for all levels from beginner through to fast groups.

There's also a bike club in Peebles which is only 20 mins (by car) although whenever i've been driving down to Glentress the A roads are very popular with cyclists

There's also plenty of good B roads however that you could use thereby avoiding the busier routes.

Also if you like off-road you're in for a treat as Penicuik is right at the foot of the Pentlands - there's miles and miles of excellent rideable trails there which are literally 5 mins from Penicuik by bike. It's also only 20 mins by car from Glentress and 30 mins from Innerleithen.

grantus

Hey hefty, if you head West out towards queensferry there are lots of nice wide flat roads around there, through the Dalmeny Estate and around the back of Turnhouse and up to Kirkliston way. Maybe only 7 or 8 miles from the city centre. Very nice.

amircp

GavH wrote:

Out of interest whats the traffic like on the A roads heading south around Penicuik? It looks likely that I'll be moving to Penicuik in Aug/Sep time and a quick scan of the map made me think I'd have to face rides on busy roads.

Plenty of roads around Penicuik which aren't too busy, including some A roads. Going south (avoiding Peebles) even the A roads are pretty quiet. I live in the northern edge of Midlothian and tend to prefer Midlothian to East lothian on Saturday rides simply cos it is quieter. I expect there'll be a lot less traffic than Hampshire anyway.

pneumatic

Despite amircp's sage advice, you will need just once to ride from Penicuik to Peebles down the main road. This is because, once you get past Fairmilehead, you get 10 miles downhill all the way on a good road. It's a blast!

amircp

pneumatic wrote:

Despite amircp's sage advice, you will need just once to ride from Penicuik to Peebles down the main road. This is because, once you get past Fairmilehead, you get 10 miles downhill all the way on a good road. It's a blast!

Absolutely! Great coming back through the Moorfoots as well.

holmeboy

cycle-route.com
go to scottish routes then east lothain
some handsome talented bloke has entered a few routes
8) :oops: :twisted: