With the coronavirus lockdown finally easing, I fancied a long bike ride to blow away the cobwebs. I wanted to assure myself as well that I hadn’t lost too much fitness from months of being less active. Family visits, strung along the east coast north of Edinburgh, provided a goal for what was an 80 mile plus ride. I travelled light with not even a camera so the photos here are from my phone.
I used National Cycle Route 1 to cycle away from my front door and north out of Edinburgh. For sure the highlight of this first section is crossing the old Forth Road Bridge. With the bridge now only being used by buses and timetables still reduced, it was wonderfully peaceful cycling over it. I’d left the house early to cross before the winds picked up. It’s incredibly exposed at its high point and a less than pleasant place to be when it’s windy.
From the other side of the bridge in Fife, the route then climbs for a long, long way. I cycled up through Inverkeithing and Dunfermline, eventually popping out on the north of town to climb even more into the Cleish Hills. Passing through the outskirts of the town, through modern housing schemes, had been dreary but the road up and over the Cleish Hills was superb. A skinny, little road with no traffic, crested the ridge to reveal views over the Lomond Hills and the big splodge of water that is Loch Leven. It then plummeted down to Kinross through Nivingston Crags, an extension of the Lomonds escarpment and a surprisingly dramatic spot.
Out of Kinross the route used a section of the Loch Leven Heritage Trail. It's a dirt track that encircles the loch and is one of my favourite places to cycle. I only stayed with it for a couple of miles though before leaving at Wester Balgeddie. Here I picked up a wonderful, single track road that sneaked behind the Lomonds to Strathmiglo. A bit of a dogleg then took me to Auchtermuchty. I wanted to pay a visit here to the beautiful sculpture that commemorates Jimmy Shand, the Scottish accordion player. I sat for a few minutes on the grass beside Jimmy for a rest and something to eat. The onward route involved another climb to get over the hills and to return to the coast at Newburgh.
The back road out of Muchty quickly spawns a tiny, unclassified road that skirts to the west of Ormiston Hill. The little hills here actually belong to the Ochils range, representing their easternmost extension. As I cycled over the high point, I could see the River Tay below and follow its course back into the southernmost Highlands. From here there was another dizzying drop to Newburgh.
I might have thought that was all the hard work done but the coast road to Newport is a bit of a rollercoaster of a ride and the day was now hot and sweaty. Things flattened out however, by the time I reached my second bridge crossing of the day over the Tay.
The final stretch from here is another favourite place to ride. A seaside cycle path leaves Dundee through the port to head for Broughty Ferry. In times gone by, I used to tell people that you need your passport to visit the Ferry! Until a couple of years ago, the cycle path used to pass within the port’s security so photo ID had to be shown to get through.
The last time I cycled up the coast beyond the Ferry was at Christmas, well into the dark evening. The cycle path was covered with white frost that sparkled in my headlight. Between Monifieth and Carnoustie there are a lot less houses so the light pollution is diminished and that night the sky was twinkling with stars. But now in summer the verges were awash with flowers and the heat of the sun made the pine trees cast an aroma that reminded me of cycling in Portugal. Arriving at the championship golf courses however, reminded me that I was actually in Carnoustie.
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