There were four of us- Jane Robertson, Jonathan Whitehead, Britton Smith and your correspondent. We set off along the coast to Longniddry, then turned south to enjoy near deserted roads through deepest East Lothian and places such as Samuelston and West Saltoun. Everyone showed real depth of character and resilience on the outward leg- the strong tailwind meant peddling was hardly necessary but nobody complained except Jonathan. Despite a fair amount of emailing suggesting fitness and form was lacking, the same character attributes were evident on the return back into the steady westerly wind, with the only complaint being about my smutty double entendre of which President Gibson would have been proud. We all thought it lovely of East Lothian Council to resurface some of their quiet back roads for us, although I wonder if the technique of throwing gravel onto wet tar and letting the traffic do the rest only really works if the traffic is wholly comprised of road rolling equipment. Anyway, we did 38 miles altogether in around 3 hours, so the ride fulfilled its billing of being 3-4 hours at around 13mph and everybody seemed to enjoy. Additional ride related statistics are one slow puncture, two slices of malt loaf, one Eccles cake but no calls of nature. Here is the route : http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6659403, although I confess to making up the return to KBU from Dalkeith as I peeled off to head back home in the East. Next outing will be the end of month hard road ride on July 26th. Updates as they occur.
Robin Haynes