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Category: Bike Rides 2008
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The Rain Escape

"A shadow’s image on the rainy pavement,
walking in wonder past the vivid windows,
a half-contented guest among my ghosts?
Or one who, imagining light, air, sun,
can now take root in life, inherit love?" ~
Denise Levertov "Poem"

Not much of a summer this August. I wasn't hopeful when I looked out of the window. The rain was pouring. Fortunately, by 9:15, it had stopped, and a grey sky hung over Edinburgh. Hopefully summer will return and we can stop imagining light, air and sun, as we did on the Spokes Ride.

Paddlebike

Thanks to the people who turned up on this unexpectedly dry Spokes Ride. 11 of us turned up for an excellent ride out to Dirlton in East Lothian. The only wetness was to be found on some roads where the drainage was too good, one part in particular, just before Prestonpans, had quite a deep flood. There was no way around, as this was where the cycle path from Musselburgh rejoins the coastal road. There were other big puddles along the way, and the warm sun seem to provide in some places the effect of an onroad sauna.

As we rode on through East Lothian, a patch of blue sky followed us, providing extremely pleasant riding conditions. It even stayed dry while we had our picnic on the green across the road from Dirlton Castle.

After lunch, the rain did arrive, but we were in the pub at the time.

Stretching Bike to the Limit

One the way back, we zigzagged through some beautiful countryside to the old A1, then headed through Dalkeith Country Park. One incident of a broken chain, but I soon had it fixed. Not the first time I have had to fix a chain on a Spokes Ride. Sometimes, as was the case here, it is not always possible to predict the failure.

Of course these things do wear out, especially in wet weather, and when they do fail, it can be quite catastrophic. The blackness of a chain can hide a multitude of sins, but you can get an indication of wear by:

  1. looking at the middle chainring at the front, or looking at the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur for signs of wear.
  2. slipping gears, especially when going up hill or accelerating
  3. unexpected chain suck on bikes, or the chain sticking, causing you to take emergency procedures when chainging gear
Unfortunately you cannot just replace a chain, you must replace the rear gear cassette, and usually worn front chainrings as well. Get in to the habit of checking your bike regularly, and you will soon notice the signs.

Warm Regards,

Explore, Dream, Discover

Ride Statistics

Distance:       75.4 km (46.9 miles)
Average Speed:  18.6 km/h (11.6 mph) (Max 45.7 km/h)
Total Climbing: 589m (1932 feet) (Max Height 111m)
Time:           4 hours 17 minutes
Max. Temp.:     18 deg C (71.6 deg F)

Route Description

Start: Usher Hall
Out: Meadows, Innocent Railway, Bingham, Brunstane, Joppa, Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Port Seton, Longniddry Bents, Aberlady, Gullane, Dirlton
In: Athelstaneford, Hopetoun Monument, Bangly Hill, Huntingford, Gladsmuir, Macmerry, Tranent, Walleyford, whitegraig, Dalkeith Country Park, Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg, Lasswade
End: Captain's Rd

Interactive Route Map

The map belows shows the route that we took on the August 2008 Spokes Ride.