Cardrona to Kinross
93 km / 1100 m
Today we travel onwards, through the country borders and onwards to Edinburgh. We cycle through the city, stopping for coffee on the way before meeting up with the support vehicle at Queensferry, with spectacular views of the Forth road and rail bridges. Refreshed we head off on a challenging little jaunt to Kinross.
Oh - what a beautiful day in the neighbourhood! We started out the first five miles or so on a bike path from our golf resort hotel to the village of Peebles.
We skirted the village itself, but when I saw this road sign I figured we were headed the right way.
Just north of Peebles we picked up another bike path. So nice to be off the roads for a bit.
Back on the main road for a short while.........
....... before turning onto this lovely quiet road which was obviously popular with local cyclists. Being a Saturday, there were lots of them out there.
Baa Baa Black Sheep......... haven't seen too many of these..........
We started to see civilization in the distance.
And very shortly we were in it! We had tea break at about 25 miles; just before entering the suburbs of Edinburgh. And since yesterday was a day off for us, the guides went shopping and had all manner of Scottish treats for us.
A view of Arthur's Seat. We hiked up there when we were here in 2014. The hill rises above the city to a height of 822 feet. It is an ancient extinct volcano.
Shortly thereafter we went through The Meadows Park. That was a happening place! But, I didn't stop for any photos. Coming out of there I think we were close to the University of Edinburgh. Again - a very busy place and no photos. Then we headed towards the city centre. Very busy place! Below are a few random shots. I believe the last one is Edinburgh Castle.
Not sure what this building is..........
As we wound our way through Edinburgh we were on all manner of roads - cobblestones, alleys, cyclepaths, tramlines, streets. Yes, the cobblestones were rough but throughout the day there were a lot of sections of riding that were much rougher; potholes galore!
This impressive looking building is St. Mary's Cathedral.
In most major cities these days there is an amazing network of cycle trails that I'm guessing the majority of the citizenry have no idea of its existence. Edinburgh is no exception and soon enough we were on the pathways.........
At about 60 km we crossed the River Almond on the historic Cramond Brig.
And finally - a first glimpse of one of the bridges over the Firth of Forth (there are three).
The Forth Bridge is one of Scotland's major landmarks, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This magnificent railway bridge was built between 1883 and 1890 by Sir John Fowler, Benjamin Baker and over 4500 men. It is considered to be an impressive feat in engineering and was designed on the cantilever principle. Its three towers are over 100 metres high. It stretches 2.5 km between the villages of South Queensferry and North Queensferry. We had lunch at a restaurant on the south side close to the railway bridge.
There was a lot of train traffic going over the bridge while we sat and ate our lunch; a very well used bridge! We went over the Forth Road Bridge. Work began on it in 1958 and it was opened in 1964. This long-span suspension bridge is 2.5 km in length. Its towers are over 150 metres high and hold 49,280 km of wire in the two cables which take the weight of the suspended deck. Following the opening of the third bridge, this bridge is now dedicated to public transport, cyclists and walkers.
We had great views over to the railway bridge.
There were also views over to the newest bridge - Queensferry Crossing. It opened in 2017, and at a length of 2.7 km, it is the longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge in the world. The bridge is the main route for vehicles travelling between Edinburgh and Fife.
We also had views back to South Queensferry, and as I was cycling through it it seemed that every second store was an ice cream shop.
We had less than 20 miles to go after lunch, and soon enough we were back in agricultural and rolling rural terrain.
Who knew we were in a "kingdom". "By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, know as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland." On the northeast coast of Fife lies the historic town of St. Andrews, home to the University of St. Andrews (the most ancient university of Scotland and one of the oldest universities in the world) and the Old Course at St. Andrews, considered the world's oldest golf course,
Next up.............
In some of the small towns that we passed through this afternoon there were new-ish homes. These homes looked more North American than anything we have seen to date (in my opinion). No pictures....
A few last shots of the countryside as we're coming into Kinross.
At the base of the hill in the distance we could just glimpse Loch Leven. A better view further along, and perhaps the castle that Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in in 1567-68. The castle is ruined now, but was built around 1300. Before dinner I walked over to the lake from the hotel and took a look at some signboards.
Too bad the kilt shop was closed. I might have popped in to look for a Campbell pin.
Another great day comes to a close..................
Kinross:
Population: 5,700
Kinross is a burgh in Scotland, around 32 km northwest of Edinburgh. Kinross's origins are connected with the nearby Loch Leven and its islands whose history goes back to the 5th century AD. Mary, Queen of Scots, was once a prisoner at Loch Leven Castle in 1567. At one time three independent railway companies had their terminal at the town. Today there is no train service to Kinross.
Looks like Kinross is about 20km from Castle Campbell, said to be one of central Scotland's most dramatically situated castles. Close, but not close enough on a bike. My mother was a Campbell, so it would have been nice to check it out.
Hotel: Kirklands Hotel www.the kirklandshotel.com
A word from the owners: When we bought the Kirklands Hotel in 2007, it was a rustic 17th Century coaching Inn but the interiors were very dated and in need of some love and so the project began. In 2007 we did an overhaul of the Bar, Restaurant and ground floor modernising the interiors but keeping in touch with the buildings history.
Over the next few years we fully refurbished our eight bedrooms, we wanted to streamline the look and feel of them but in keeping with the historic nature of the building every room is different from the eaves to the sloping and sometimes creaky floors each has its own style.
We worked hard and built up a great and loyal team of staff and began to establish a reputation for great food, drinks & hospitality and this is what we still continue to do best.
In 2014 life changed a bit for us with the arrival of twin girls, who help make every day more fun and every day a juggle!
Having taken our foot off the gas for a year or so after the girls were born it was time to get back on track with another refurbishment of the Bar and Restaurant in 2015 and since then we have been working hard and are delighted to have won numerous awards over the last few years recognising our team’s efforts.
The Kirklands is our home and the place we love to welcome our guests, it will always be a work in progress for us as we are continually trying to improve what we offer our customers
Ride Stats:
93.6 km
1074 m (3524 feet)
Comments
Post a Comment