[dezzo66@hotmail.com]

Looks like my work might take me and the family to Edinburgh. We’d live on the south side of the city somewhere, out of town, within a cycling commute of the Royal Infirmary. What’s the road cycling like in this neck of the woods? I’ve been spoilt by living on the edge of Dartmoor for 3 years…but am hoping Edinburgh could be just as good?

Topic

[mike the bike]

I went to Scotland once.
I went to Scotland once.

[FatAndFurious]

I used to stay in Liberton,
I used to stay in Liberton, so had the luxury of a straight ride out, under the bypass and into the countryside.

I can heartily recommend the back roads south of the bypass heading down from Bonnyrigg out towards Innerleithen. Stay off the A7 and A68 as these are major artery A roads – fast roads with a lot of traffic. They’re wide and pretty smooth, just not my cup of tea.

My favourite was the B709 down to Innerleithen – very little traffic, great views and some reasonable hill climbs.

You can cut East across from the B709 halfway along, to Heriot and then along the B6368 (cutting over the A68) then the B6371 back towards Edinburgh, skipping back over the A68 and down into Dalkeith.

There’s some great rides to the East as well. The B6355 towards Whiteadder Reservoir is out in the exposed moorlands. North Berwick is a super little coast town with plenty of good cycling roads around it.

There not much flat terrain to be had though.

If sportives tickle your fancy, get on the Ken Laidlaw, end of August, out from Hawick. Some proper lumps to haul yourself over, and without doubt the best event in the area for support, food and drink stops, marshalling and just plain the route itself.

In town itself, there’s plenty of bus-lane routes into the centre, but the money-suck that is the Trams debacle has meant that road quality – potholes etc – has markedly declined in the last couple of years. Bike theft is a big problem too, though I reckon that’s a universal for any big city these days.

Enjoy!

[b3nharris]

Watch out for tram tracks:
Watch out for tram tracks: http://road.cc/content/news/96857-video-cyclists-hurt-lethal-edinburgh-tram-tracks

[b3nharris]

Watch out for tram tracks:
Watch out for tram tracks: http://road.cc/content/news/96857-video-cyclists-hurt-lethal-edinburgh-tram-tracks

[Goldfever4]

The borders are
The borders are lovely.

Suggest you have a fairy hardy frame for commuting to the RI though, some of the city roads are poor.

[OldRidgeback]

If you move to the north side
If you move to the north side of Edinburgh there’s always the option of a ride out over the Forth Bridge and then into the Kingdom of Fife. Or if you opt for the east side then the ride out in the direction of Edinburgh’s old airport (and current Scottish aircraft museum) at East Fortune gets you through some nice flat land (but it can be windy) as well, with Dunbar being a decent final destination before coming back by a different route. West can take you past Turnhouse Airport and then on through the towns of Broxburn and Bathgate in the general direction of Glasgow and there are some good rides in that direction too. For a short evening blast in the summer, the road round Arthur’s Seat in the centre of the city is a popular cycling route.

In short, Edinburgh’s surrounded by some good cycling country. The network of old rail tracks converted to shared cycling/walking paths comes in useful for getting from here to there, though I wouldn’t recommend cycling along that at high speed as there are dog walkers with animals on leads, joggers and family groups.

[tommygarland]

As the previous comment said
As the previous comment said some really gorgeous roads, tends to be windy out though.

Also a good community, if you do end up in Edinburgh there’s good chain gangs leaving on a saturday morning that anyway can attend, they’re a good workout!

[8701dg]

South side is ideal for road
South side is ideal for road cycling. Lovely routes down towards Peebles & Innerleithen if you stay off the main road. Within 10 mins of leaving Edinburgh you’ll find plenty of quiet roads and lanes. Equally lovely, the east side of Edinburgh as plenty flatter routes

[Author]

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