Edinburgh - Continental breakfast

I’ve cycled on the continent a few times now. I absolutely love it, whether it’s pootling through the pleasant countryside of France or whizzing along the excellent bike paths of Holland and Germany. I both started and finished my two-year, world bicycle journey on the continent and a couple of years later cycled for six months across northern Europe. There have been many highlights on these continental rides. One of them was a cycle tour within a cycle tour in the French Alps, as I was on the homeward leg of my world cycle. Over ten days or so, my friend Bart and I cycled fourteen of the French cols made famous by the Tour de France. One of the cols really stood out for me. It wasn’t the most beautiful which would be Galibier, or the highest which was Col de la Bonette, but it was a wonderful moment as we pulled up onto the top of this special col. Something about it captured the essence of my whole round-the world trip with a sense of triumph, joy and incredible freedom. It was Col de la Croix de Fer.

What a contrast life is just now with our freedom taken away by a global pandemic. Despite the lockdown, I wanted to do something that would at least give me a sense of joy. So I hatched a plan. My home city, Edinburgh, has an iconic hill as its centrepiece called Arthur’s Seat. This extinct volcano rises above Holyrood Palace and, despite its small size, affords great views in every direction. It’s guarded on the west by the tall, fortress-like cliffs of Salisbury Crags but on the east a steep road climbs up then contours round the hill’s upper flanks. The height gain is 90m. 

My plan was to cycle enough circuits of this high road on Arthur’s Seat to mimic the climb up Col de la Croix de Fer. That would be 17 circuits as although the col is 2067m in total height, the actual climb doesn’t start at sea level. I would cycle a few circuits before breakfast each day of the five-day working week and be ready to start work around my usual time. Once the plan was made, a perfect week to do it came around quickly with light winds and the last of the cold, crisp weather giving beautiful mornings in the city.

Every day my alarm went off at 4.30am. Every day I asked myself why this seemed like a good idea and every day I eventually got up out of bed. I pulled on my cycling clothes that I’d laid out the night before, grabbed thick gloves for the freezing morning temperatures and wheeled the bike outside the front door into the half dark that was neither night nor day. I cycled off into a deserted city and enjoyed the ride in the cool air along traffic-free roads. It’s a gentle rise from my house at the seaside to the bottom of Arthur’s Seat, so I was warmed up before the stiff climb.

Already the birds were singing their dawn chorus as I cycled the first section of the climb up through the trees which formed a green tunnel ahead of me. The trees gave way higher up to open ground and gorse scrub. By the time I reached the top of the climb for the first time each day, the shimmering, red globe of the sun was rising above the horizon between the Bass Rock and North Berwick Law. It was a stunning sight and the golden, dawn colours were reflected in the waters of the high loch, Dunsapie.

As my climb levelled out and I contoured round the hill my view changed. Far below me now was Duddingston Loch. On the coldest mornings, mist hung above the surface so that it looked like a primordial swamp and only the top of a few rooftops poked above it. Further away the Pentland Hills caught the morning sun and as I cycled further around the hill, the city rooftops were laid out below me. There was then a fast descent down to Holyrood Palace to start the climb again.

I cycled enough circuits Monday to Thursday to leave me just one circuit to do on the Friday. I cycled slowly for the last one and enjoyed the moment. I also made enough time when I finished to cycle a lap of honour around the Meadows, a large park a few minutes cycle away from Arthur’s Seat. Here I enjoyed the blossom trees and celebrated my climb up Col de la Croix de Fer.

The plan had started as something for a bit of fun but it was profoundly beautiful up there early morning, watching the sun rise in the quiet stillness of the breaking day. I would never have done it but for the lockdown and it’s an experience that will stay with me forever. If Col de la Croix de Fer symbolised the joy of my world cycle trip, then the dawn cycles around Arthur’s Seat will be my abiding memory of the pandemic.