Lejog day 26 Edinburgh to Rosyth
The wind was back with a vengeance, quite calm to start with, riding along cycleways through Edinburgh parks but building up to ferocious levels on the Forth bridge. More about that later.
It seems to be a trend now that accommodation places offer room only without breakfast. Such was the case today. I started the day with orange juice, cup of tea and a pastry. Rosie was much the same minus tea and plus a yoghurt. Less than a mile into our journey, like an oasis in the desert, there appeared a mobile vendor selling 'gourmet sausage rolls'. Too irresistible to pass, so I had one.
Edinburgh has a brilliant system of cycleways. Other than occasional bits and pieces we were on them for much of the route leading out of the city, many of them passing through pleasant parkland.
After about twelve miles we arrived at the Forth Road Bridge. The bridge we were to cross only allows cyclists, walkers and public transport. It's the middle one of three bridges. To say it was howling a gale is an understatement! It's over a mile long so Rosie decided to walk. I stayed on the bike and rode with great caution. Sudden stronger gusts would temporarily throw you off balance. Roughly halfway across a van came along driven by an official looking man wearing a high vis jacket. He stated very nicely that the bridge was about to close because winds were exceeding 50 mph. He'd already spoken to Rosie offering her and the bike a lift to the other side but she'd refused, politely of course. He offered to take my bike and I could pick it up at the end if I wanted to walk. I also declined. If we didn't do the whole thing riding our bikes or pushing them we'd feel to have cheated. We didn't want to go back to Land's End and start the whole thing again!
We eventually got to the other side safely and rode the three miles to Rosyth without further incident. It was still windy but manageable. Only sixteen miles today but it's felt like one of the toughest days so far. A thirty mile day tomorrow to reach Perth. A tailwind would be nice but not at hurricane strength!
