Ride to the Sun 2024

No worries. It’s all quite informal, as in there’s no sign-in in Bitts Park and you just set off whenever you feel like it.

Hi folks. There’s no confirmation email as others have stated, and I think we say on the website somewhere – we just need to know rough numbers for the chippy and Fresh Start at Cramond Kirk Hall. Thanks so much for signing up 👍

What tyres for…?

Got some 28mm Continental Ultrasport, with tubes, which were ideal last year (when it was dry). In the meantime I’ve put some 40mm G-One Allround tubeless on following a PSA on here.

Hoping it’s going to be dry again, obviously, but right now it’s really not, and while it was properly dark between 1 and 3am and the fear of hitting a pothole was real, the roads were actually fine.

Question is, all else being equal, is it less hassle to swap the tyres back over, or ride 100 miles on tyres that might be bigger/draggier than necessary?

I’ll likely be on 28mm GP5000s on the basis that I really don’t need any impedement to a dawn finish.

Cool. How difficult/messy is it swapping back to inner tubes?

35mm Land Cruiser Plus, though it’s the Alfine 8 (on a Genesis DayOne) that will make this, my first, 100 miler a decent test 🤞

Doubt I’ll be the 1st to Cramond!

Does anyone cycle out to Port Carlisle (say 12 miles from Bitts Park) first to make it a sort of C2C?

I’ll be starting from my mates house in Beaumont, four miles west, rivers well tidal there, hadn’t thought about it but I suppose it could be a C2C. On 35mm gravelkings, i’ll be leaving a wee bit early to compensate!

Yup, we are planning on making it a C2C .

Train to Carlisle Friday night ,then head down Sat morning (Maryport) for a bit of an explore along the coast.

Back up to the start and choose a group to get out of town with.

trains booked.

leeds to carlisle saturday afternoon, with time for a pint

and Auld Reekie to leeds mid morning sunday……. time for a spoons fry up.

so if you see a bloke who is the least cyclist looking bloke ever…….. say hello.

I’ll look out for you Tony. I plan to hit the road at 7pm, assuming my bike is unloaded by then.

@fasthaggis Ah, that’s a fuller C2C and an extra 30ish miles which is probably a step to far for me. Enjoy.

@ton think there’s going to be a few of us ‘least looking cyclist’s

I’ll be on 28mm tubeless tyres at 65psi. The roads are definitely a bit bobbly and rough, especially between the Crook Inn and Edinburgh bypass – the bit where you’re feeling tired. So some cushioning will be welcome.

The River Eden (?) that you cross between Carlisle and Gretna is tidal a fair bit inland, so I’ve always thought of it as a C2C…or enough of one to claim it!

Update eshot hopefully coming before the weekend, but basically we’re all prepped and ready to go. Just been in touch with Stewart Brewing today to get everyone’s sunrise free beer for the sea front 👍

The River Eden (?) that you cross between Carlisle and Gretna

You cross the Eden about two mins after you leave Bitts Park. The one you cross nearer Gretna (by Longtown) is the Esk 😊

👍

According to the OS, Neither the Eden nor Esk are tidal at the point the route crosses them, but the Sark is tidal up to the point that you cross it just before Gretna.

schwalbe g one allround 700 x 47.

fat tyres for a fat bloke.  but comfy.

Have fun.

I can’t be arsed.

In my head its good fun but then i remember from crook inn to leadburn… With a big sign that basically says “home is closer than the finish” i don’t think i would stick it this year.

Did my last “prep” ride for RttS today, covering 161km in 6h43m (moving time). It’s a while since I cycled that far so I was happy to feel OK at the end. That makes me feel less anxious about making Cramond in time for the sunrise. I won’t be able to set off until after 19:30 though, so I guess I’d best not hang around the rave too long 🤣

Someone was asking whether I’d be using my Varia light/radar; I had it on all day, plugged into a USB powerbank and it ran fine. When I got home it’s still showing as fully charged. That was in Day Flash mode but I reckon I’ll switch to Night Flash at some point during the RttS ride.

I reckon you’ll be fine. I set off at 7 last year and hit Cramond at bang on 2am, with stops in Moffat and at the Crook Inn. I’m aiming for a better time this year, ie not arriving too early and being tempted to head home to my bed and missing the free beer and the actual sunrise.

My train back to Leeds isn’t until 11.30 Sunday so I think I will be taking the leisurely approach.

Think I best set off about 6pm and hope to catch the sunrise at Cramond 🤞

Is it OK to kip on Cramond beach?

My train from Edinburgh isn’t until ~1pm on Sunday, so current thinking is take a sleeping bag, bike lock, etc .. maybe even a bivvie bag.. .. not that I’ve ever slept in one.

@scotroutes in the end I went for the mirror option rather than the Varia. Will see how much I use 🤷‍♂️

My train last year was mid-morning, I wasn’t the only one dozing in Waverley waiting rooms. Wished I’d taken a better lock with me, though, paranoia hampered my sleeping.

If you want a nicer spin up to Waverley than just hacking up the roads, head along the coast from Cramond towards Granton and Leith and pick up the old railway line near Ocean Terminal. It’s a nice spin up from there and it brings you out just between Murrayfield and Haymarket.

Cheers, I’ll have a look at that route.

Is it OK to kip on Cramond beach?

I think you will find it a bit difficult to bivi on the beach. Sunday morning is likely to be very busy with kids, dog walkers et al & I wouldn’t have thought it would be easy to find a quiet spot.

If the tide is out you could head for Cramond Island. 😉

Yup,do this^^^

What could possibly go wrong 🤔 😆 🤣

There’s a few folk have bivvied on the beach before, or slept on the wooden benches, before heading off riding back to Newcastle or Carlisle. You might get a couple of hours. Dog walkers will be out and about 8ish, Cramond is still deserted at about 7ish when the riders have left the kirk hall and everyone has headed home. It’s got a bit of a flash mob feel – 2-5am lots of cyclists kicking about, 7am, no sign that it ever happened.

Last eshot from us coming tomorrow and weather hopefully looking OK at the moment 🙏🤞

Cheers @fatmax, bivvying for a few hours on the beach it is, followed by Waverley Waiting Room 🙈

He who hesitates 🤷‍♂️

Lots of folk seem to have a second brekkie (after the kirk hall) at the Waverley Wetherspoons before hitting the train home too.

^ 👍

Checks glue in tube repair kit .. .. dried out!

Chain links in bag are 9 speed, swopped to PC1 (Alfine 8 gears) 🙂

lol, i set off for a ride this morning on the gravel bike, which i was gonna ride.

changed gear, chain went over largest sprocket, and wedged between cassette and spokes.

tried to remove it, chain snapped and also bent dropout.

touring bike now prepped and ready.

Similarly, had to build an unholy gravel/commuter frankenbike but it might actually be alright on the night. Look out for a black Hoy Shizuoka with stupidly fat tyres.

Come and say hello tomorrow folks – look forward to meeting you 👍

Look out for the inappropriately dressed chap on the eliptigo.
That’s my younger brother Alan whose doing it again this year . He’s aiming for 5pm departure as he missed the sunrise last year by 30mins

Legend

What a great fun and well organised event, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well done @fatmax and the whole team.

Thanks to Fraser at Cramond Scouts for the last minute flag that there was a space for my bike and myself back to Carlisle instead of loitering in Edinburgh for an extra 7hrs.

@fasthaggis for the idea to start in Maryport, made it a nice 135 miles.

Brilliant event. Shout out to the piper who played despite the midges. Brilliant atmosphere at the Crook Inn. Saw one poor chap go down with a pot-hole induced puncture just before the descent into Penicuik. Beer at the end was much appreciated. 135 miles? Go on then.

@ton @fasthaggis @scotroutes – brilliant to see you all 😁

Ah, I said hello to Henry/Bananaman at the start 🙂 The badges were a nice touch.

On 40mm tyres compared to the 28mm last year and the overall time was much the same, though felt better over the bumps.

Now to eat all the food.