Edinburgh Saturday morning rides

Drumlin

Hi I'm new to the forum. Does anyone know of any Saturday morning rides from Edinburgh that avoid the infamous chaingangs along the East Lothian coast ? I stay in Colinton and usually head either around Gladhouse or into West Lothian. It would be nice to have some company.

Thanks,
Keith

scott_w1987

Out of interest, I'm in East Lothian and would like to do some rides with others at some point, can you tell me what's wrong with the East Lothian Chain gang?

Drumlin

A victim of it's own success basically. Probably over a hundred riders from the Road Club rides plus others from the 'pro' 9.30 ride plus others from Edinburgh Triathletes. With two exceptions they all end up using the same section of coast road much to the extreme irritation of other road users who having struggled to overtake one peloton find themselves held up by another peloton a few mins up the road and another a few mins beyond them and another...etc. Week in week out they face this issue and get more and more annoyed by it. It leads to some very scary overtaking manoeuvres. Plus the usual risks of chaingang riding.
There are two exceptions - the two slower rides. I believe that the 9.50 development ride doesn't always follow the same route, and speaking from experience I can verify that the 9.45 ride often splits into two, one taking the standard coast road the other a more lumpy inland route.

Alain Quay

The 9:40 and/or 9:45 groups sometimes split at Dalkeith, with 10-20 branching off to do a varied hill route. See ERC website or post a question there.

Brian B

Drumlin wrote:

A victim of it's own success basically. Probably over a hundred riders from the Road Club rides plus others from the 'pro' 9.30 ride plus others from Edinburgh Triathletes. With two exceptions they all end up using the same section of coast road much to the extreme irritation of other road users who having struggled to overtake one peloton find themselves held up by another peloton a few mins up the road and another a few mins beyond them and another...etc. Week in week out they face this issue and get more and more annoyed by it. It leads to some very scary overtaking manoeuvres. Plus the usual risks of chaingang riding.
There are two exceptions - the two slower rides. I believe that the 9.50 development ride doesn't always follow the same route, and speaking from experience I can verify that the 9.45 ride often splits into two, one taking the standard coast road the other a more lumpy inland route.

Yikes, sounds like a great day on the bike :roll:. No wonder cyclist get bad press when every weekend other road users are subjected to hold ups like this.

I would still head up into West Lothian and try to hook with other like minded cyclists and avoid the crowds. Better still do what I do and throw your bike into the back of the car and drive to somewhere with nice hilly roads and train there.

the_spooks

Drumlin wrote:

Hi I'm new to the forum. Does anyone know of any Saturday morning rides from Edinburgh that avoid the infamous chaingangs along the East Lothian coast ? I stay in Colinton and usually head either around Gladhouse or into West Lothian. It would be nice to have some company.

Thanks,
Keith

I think Ronde bike do a Saturday cycle but no idea where, far better to come out and train on the Bathgate Alps. I may be biased though lol