Today was dry and clear so it was a good opportunity to go on a longish city ride with my friend J . I had another first when I bravely cycled on the main road down to her house even though there were lots of cars. So far I have kept to cycleways and very quiet sidestreets and simply got off and pushed the bike on busier roads. I'm sure confidence will come in time.
J is a regular cycle commuter and has a good knowledge of all the possibilities for cycling off-road yet accessible from the city centre. We cycled on the local cycle/walkways which are mostly based on redundant railway lines. These criss-cross a large area and include a path to Victoria Park and also following Edinburgh's mini river called the Water of Leith leading down to the port of Leith.
We did a couple of loops down to Leith and around the park and then J took me further west along the path leading to Drylaw and I saw parts of the city which I have never seen before - mostly because they are not on roads I would usually drive along. Our route took us towards the sea again and we briefly crossed over the main road at Granton to look at this modern sculpture - a family group complete with dog, all heading for the beach.
It was great to be out in the sunshine and we made the best use of the lengthening day. I was happy to finish up at J's house to help her eat up the last of her Christmas cake!
J is a regular cycle commuter and has a good knowledge of all the possibilities for cycling off-road yet accessible from the city centre. We cycled on the local cycle/walkways which are mostly based on redundant railway lines. These criss-cross a large area and include a path to Victoria Park and also following Edinburgh's mini river called the Water of Leith leading down to the port of Leith.
We did a couple of loops down to Leith and around the park and then J took me further west along the path leading to Drylaw and I saw parts of the city which I have never seen before - mostly because they are not on roads I would usually drive along. Our route took us towards the sea again and we briefly crossed over the main road at Granton to look at this modern sculpture - a family group complete with dog, all heading for the beach.
It was great to be out in the sunshine and we made the best use of the lengthening day. I was happy to finish up at J's house to help her eat up the last of her Christmas cake!
