Coast & Castles North Day 1 Scissett-York then Edinburgh - South Queensferry

 

It’s that time of year already…! Following the success of Coast & Castles South last autumn with Frankie from Newcastle to Berwick, it seemed rude not to carry on and do the North bit from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (unfortunately I couldn’t make the ferries work to carry on from Aberdeen to Shetland and Orkney, I’ll have to save that for another time!) Looking at the route, it was 3 fairly even days of around 65 miles if I could get accommodation in St Andrews, Montrose and Edinburgh then the last night in Aberdeen. Of course I booked the train back from Aberdeen first thinking it would be a doodle to get cheap accommodation on the nights I wanted as it was March and it would be quiet…

Of course it proved impossible to get any accommodation in St Andrews or Edinburgh for under 150 quid so the route had to be split differently. I could get accommodation in Dundee but that would be a big day of around 95 miles from Edinburgh so I moved the search to Queensferry by the Forth bridges meaning a little trip off the train on the travel to day, then 80 ish miles first proper day. With a short second day I can also maybe get to the V&A in Dundee in the morning so all good! I then booked the train from Wakefield to Edinburgh…or rather didn’t! There was no trains North until you got to York! Ahhhhh! 

Hence why I was servicing the bike at 7am this morning and frantically packing to be on the road for 9am as I was going to have to ride the 50 miles to York to make the 3 o’clock train to Edinburgh! The new Ribble which debuted on the Coast & Castles South last year and with the additions of dual bottle cages on the front fork legs to stop losing bottles from the rear luggage (see Dec’s video on the Hebridean Way, the debacle at the start of the South Downs way with KC etc, etc…) was the steed of choice and just before 9.45 (!) it was out into the mizzle to York.

The first 20 miles were very familiar, to Wakefield down Denby Dale road and the climb approximately 2 miles from my house will be the biggest one on the whole trip! Steady away and a couple of hours later we were through Castleford and onto some new roads, some of which weren’t, as I spent 15 minutes trying to traverse a recently ploughed field and I was under and over the M62 a couple of times and into the nice villages South of Selby, Birkin & Gateforth then joining the path alongside the Selby canal with bloody massive Styles every half a mile. The epitome of grace I was not, trying to lug a fully loaded Steel gravel bike over them…

Filthy and my glass back now making itself known, after Riccall I joined the “cycle the solar system” bike path which runs from Selby to York and is a scale model of the solar system spread over several miles. You’ll be impressed that I eschewed the photo with Uranus and the predictable saddle sore gag…😁 I was looking forward to it, but I would say I was somewhat underwhelmed as obviously there was a huge distance after Uranus to the rest of the planets…! When I got to Earth, someone had nicked it (appropriately enough at the moment…) then the path was diverted for building works so never got to see Mercury or the Sun! Anyway I was nearing York, had 45 miles under my belt and hadn’t stopped for any food…

Finding a nice little cafe on the outskirts of York, I had loads of time until the train so polishing off the chicken and avacado flatbread in no time, had a little smooch around York, obligatory photo outside the Minster, and to the train station were despite not setting off for 40 minutes the train was already there, I’m guessing as there were no trains South. Lo and behold it was a new Azuma one. With the new trains, they’ll have lovely state of the art bike storage won’t they I hear you ask? There’s 4 spaces for the whole 10 carriage train, and they are little cupboards that you need to stand the bike on its end and hook the front wheel on a hook 6 ft in the air. Well I would have if it hadn’t been locked…some 15 minutes later I had found someone to unlock it and given myself a hernia getting it up there. I then unzipped the frame bag to get out my book and charger and the entire contents fell out…🙄

Waking up in a pool of drool as the train pulled into Waverley station, my main concern was the rain bouncing off the windows. The forecast said there might be some light rain, but it was stair rodding down! By the time I’d managed to get the bike down and all packed up again, it was dark outside. I’d also realised that I’d not updated the route to get me to South Queensferry. No problem, I know Edinburgh well, I’d been to South Queensferry before, I knew roughly which direction to go, it’s only 9 miles, no need to get the full rain gear on…

Everytime, every single time. I’m such a bellend. I was piss wet through in about 2 minutes. They’d made a change at the bottom of Princess street and although I could use the tramway, I couldn’t see where the tram lines where with the standing water (stupid death, stupid death etc) so turned off and promptly got lost. I stopped to look at my phone, but the rain was so heavy it was making the screen unusable. I knew I had to head downhill and aim for the A90 so 10 minutes later I was joining it just after 6.30 and it was terrifying. The spray and splash from the standing water (I’d left the mudguards at home natch…) meant I couldn’t see much and the water was hiding the massive potholes. Hitting one, I lost my sunglasses from my cap and a water bottle. How I didn’t come off is a miracle. Stopping to retrieve them before they got run over, I decide the pavement was the better option and 20 very slow minutes later I was off the main road and found the route I knew to South Queensferry just as the rain relented.

The last 6 miles were relatively uneventful thankfully and just after 7.30 I was pulling up outside the Premier Inn looking very much like a drowned, fat, grey rat! As I asked if there was anywhere I could put the bike, the very disinterested receptionist said just take it up to your room. Result! As I pushed it through reception, leaving a trail of wet detritus in my way, I managed to get it squeezed in the lift and up to the room! I’m wondering how upset they’d be if stuck it in the shower and then lubed the chain…anyway the Chinese laundry is in full effect and everything should be dry for tomorrow! 

Long one tomorrow, all the way to Dundee, so need to be up and away early. Forecast for rain in the morning, brightening up later, but it’s going to be cold. However the day will start with the Forth Bridges and that always makes my heart sing…☺️