5 Carnethies; Treasurer Paul, Jane, Jonathan, Magnus and yours truly enjoyed decent-ish weather, plenty snowdrops, skylarks, a comfort break and an unidentified red bird between Longniddry and Samuelston. Such conditions prevailed (ok, there was only one of those largish red birds) for all but the final 6 miles from Dalkeith back to Kings Buildings, where upon a good thin drizzle set in, it all got busy as everybody was in their car off to enjoy a retail experience and lunch at Aunty Ina’s and Edinburgh’s potholes threatened to swallow us whole.
Crucially, the route; here: came in at a whisker under 40 miles. Jonathan was adamant it was going to be over 40 miles and was accusing me of mis-selling, thereby risking his implosion, but happily all was well. Besides, the plot of the route is on real maps on the internet, so it must be right and those over 40 mile worries were spread by mis-calibrated bike widgets? And even though Jonathan-multiple-Bob-Graham-round-Whitehead invested considerable effort in merely threatening to berate me, a good pace was sustained by all, including him.
Next outing is the fast excursion on Sunday March 30th, for which speedy people are needed to ensure Paul is suitably tested.
Robin Haynes