Edinburgh

markyone

Anyone on here from Edinburgh? I am staying for a short break and just wondered what is it with your roads. They are the worst roads to drive on I have ever seen, it must be a nightmare to cycle on them holes and craters everywhere. What's your thoughts
If you live in the area.

pblakeney

The price to pay "free" education, health and travel for the elderly?
Everything comes at a cost. Including schools, apparently.

homers_double

I'm not from up there but this thread reminded me to complain to the council about the state of a particular stretch of road.

bikes`n`guns

Just ride out to East Lothian. Superb riding out this way.

ben@31

Yes, the road surface is scandalously bad. Especially Colington Rd.
The best place I found to cycle was the NCR 754 which is the canal through Edinburgh. The city centre parts are all smooth tarmac but you'll need a bell to avoid head on collisions going under bridges ! The NCR 754 deteriorates a bit out of the city centre but If you have a a cyclo cross or MTB you could easily cycle all the way to Glasgow, on it.
The north part of the city has a few long sections of disused railway that has been tarmaced for pedestrian and cyclists. I think its BLackhall Path, Trinity Path, Goldenacre Path, Chancelot Path,Burstaine Burn Path.
Taking cycle route 1 through Davisdson Mains, Barnton Ave, Dalmeny Park (keeping to the back roads to the north and avoiding the A90) and through Queensyferry to the Forth Road Bridge was a good route. Route 1 is well signposted.

PBBlakeney... Its the price to pay for HBOS. Thats where our money has gone !

Garry H

You are correct, they are a f***ing disgrace. I commute by bike 40 miles a day , most days, from just inside Scottish Borders and the roads for my 6 miles or so journey from Fairmilehead onwards to work on Ferry Road are awful. Maybe it's the price they pay for the millions squandered on the vanity project that is the tram system.

Just go cycling in the Borders, or, as mentioned previously, East Lothian.

markyone

Thanks guys I just could not believe how bad they were

andyrr

I used to commute from the outskirts to the South across to the West near the airport and certainly some bits were/are bad. Regularly reported the worst on fillthathole. Very infrequently ventured into the centre and just as well - dreadful, worse than the roads I was used to and had thought were an embarrassment. However I've driven on roads in the centre of Glasgow and tbh I don't think the roads there were much different in a positive way. I just think that the pounding the roads get, the crappy weather we get, crappy maintenance and useless road repairs result in roads more akin to the surface of the moon.
We used to drive on the left of the road, now we drive on what's left of the road !

Garry H

andyrr wrote:

I used to commute from the outskirts to the South across to the West near the airport and certainly some bits were/are bad. Regularly reported the worst on fillthathole. Very infrequently ventured into the centre and just as well - dreadful, worse than the roads I was used to and had thought were an embarrassment. However I've driven on roads in the centre of Glasgow and tbh I don't think the roads there were much different in a positive way. I just think that the pounding the roads get, the crappy weather we get, crappy maintenance and useless road repairs result in roads more akin to the surface of the moon.
We used to drive on the left of the road, now we drive on what's left of the road !

Sums it up very nicely!

mcstumpy

I'm an Edinburger and concur with the above, had my first p since rediscovering cycling 3 years ago last week on a potholed back road, hit one at speed.

The East Lothian shout is a good one, the roads out that way seem a lot better

nuclearred955

F*cking awful roads in town.

I moved out of Edinburgh to West Lothian about 18 months ago - a few dodgy surfaces here and there are more than adequately compensated for by the Bathgate Alps

ben@31

When I was doing some work in Edinburgh for a few weeks, I took my road bike along to give me something to do on an evening. After a just few days on the Edinburgh road surfaces, I called back home to swap it for my full sus mountain bike !