The First Time I saw Edinburgh

The first time I saw Edinburgh it wasn’t after stepping off a train at Waverley.  It was from a hilltop 25 miles away using borrowed binoculars.  I was there with my wife Ruth, and a man called David who I’d known on and off for 3 days.  We were all on bikes.  It was Friday 22^nd July 2005 and we had been following Sustrans Coast and Castles Route 1 for 5 days since leaving Newcastle the previous Sunday. 

That morning we had ridden for 12 miles uphill from Innerleithen towards a little arrow on our map which said ‘Superb views of Edinburgh’.

I sometimes get to places where there's supposed to be an amazing view and think 'Is that it?' but this time I wasn't disappointed.  Looking back, it wasn’t just the view, it was the company, it was the pies, it was the effort required to get there.  I could say it was the best day of my life but that wouldn’t be true.  But it could have been the best moment.   

The day didn’t start well.  It started with a fire alarm at 5 in the morning.  We were staying at a B & B in Innerleithen.  Innerleithen is a Mountain biking town, very busy on weekends.  This particular Thursday it was dead.  We were the only guests in the B&B.  Even the owners weren’t staying on site.  When we asked about bike storage, we were told to take them up to room with us.  The guidebook had said that evening meals were available on site but a sign on the back of the room door advising us not to get takeaway pizza on the bedclothes or something like that was the only reference to food.

 As the owners weren’t on the premises, when the 5 am alarm started going off we rang the owners number which was on the back of the bedroom door.  About 20 minutes later after we had wandered the corridors of the B&B alone not meeting another soul she came and reset the alarm.  We got back into bed about 5.30.  About 10 minutes later the alarm went off again.  And the cycle began again.

After the second alarm reset I looked at the breakfast room set with only cutlery for 2 and I said to her ‘Look, why don’t we just forget about breakfast.  As we’re up why don’t we just set off? She seemed relieved and delighted that she didn’t have to get up again to do us breakfast in a couple of hours.  She only charged us £15 to cover her cleaners wages and not the £55 we should have paid and she pointed us in the direction of the bakers over the road which was just about to open.

Delighted with my £40 saving, we went to bakers over road at 6.30 and stocked up with scotch pies, chicken tikka and crab salad sandwiches and bottles of pop and we set off. 

We set about the 12 miles of climb with only sheep and clouds for company.  The only sounds were gentle running water and the sound of tyres on the road.  Upon passing the golf club we met a green keeper who told us a famous tale about a man who in a moment of drunken boasting had claimed he could walk from there to Edinburgh playing the bagpipes all the way.  Then he showed us his grave.  He had dropped dead shortly after he began.  Hopefully we would have better luck.

A few miles further on we encountered a road closed sign and just as we were contemplating finding another route we spotted a smaller sign in a plastic wallet hanging off the big sign which read ‘Cycle Route Open’.  This was great news.  This view we were heading for was to be for cyclists only.  No cars allowed. 

I can’t describe the view I saw when I finally saw it because I’m no good at descriptions.  Except to say that it’s the best view I’ve ever seen.  Not only Edinburgh but the whole Firth of Forth shining below us in the sun. 

Just at that moment a guy we had been meeting all week called David arrived.  He had been doing the same ride as us all week.  We only usually met him in the evenings though because he set off earlier than us and he was faster.  But because of our earlier start today we were ahead of him.  And just as we were admiring the view he arrived.  And he had binoculars. 

He pointed out some sights and we took some photos of each other and we ate our sandwiches and our pies and we sat on the grass and drank our fizzy pop and I’ve had no better feeling before or since. 

After the view, we had a fabulous descent, but then we encountered heavy traffic through Dalkeith, got a bit lost and arrived in Edinburgh about 1.30.  Great we thought, an afternoon exploring the sights.  But rather than leave the bikes in the centre of Edinburgh, we thought we’d go and check into our accommodation and then explore.

Three hours later we were still looking.  Ruth insists to this day that she advised me to buy a map of Edinburgh before we left home but I don’t remember.  The other 5 days of the tour had been easy.  All the other places we stayed only had 1 street.  If we found that, we found the B&B.

In my guidebook it said our Edinburgh accommodation was near the foot of Arthur’s Seat.  I didn’t really know what Arthur’s Seat was and I thought, ‘If we find Arthur’s Seat, we’ll find the B&B.  But it’s not a seat, it’s a mountain.  We spent 3 hours circumnavigating that mountain, mostly in the wrong direction. 

If we asked for directions, we got sent the wrong way, if we tried to buy a map, we couldn’t find a map shop, if we phoned the B&B, we got the owner’s Thai wife and her broken English only added to the confusion. 

If was after 6 when we were showered and ready to set off to see the sights.  Ruth was so tired she could barely walk and my refusal to get a bus did not help her weary state.  We ate a Chinese all you can eat meal with her almost passing out and then we set off walking back to the B&B.  .

Seeing her looking forlorn I paid a tenner to get her a ride in a cycle rickshaw part of the way back to the B&B but this seemed just to embarrass her and even with his giant and prominent calf muscles bulging away, the rickshaw pilot wouldn’t take us all the way to our out of town B&B.

So we went to the far end of a rickshaw fare and I walked her the rest of the way back to the B&B, tucked her up in bed and set off back into town, this time by bus.  But the castle was closed for an event and as it was falling dark the streets became a curious mixture of drunks and tourists, who managed to peacefully coexist despite my fears it would all end badly.

To sum up, the day started with alarm, it ended in exhaustion.  It started in the peace and quiet of the countryside and finished in the bustle of the city.  We’ve done many cycle tours since.   Had many more ups and downs, and on one of them we sat down and compiled High Fidelity style our Top 5 all-time cycle tour moments.  That few minutes looking at Edinburgh through borrowed binoculars, sitting on the grass eating pies and drinking pop, and most importantly sharing the moment with each other was our number one.  Maybe it always will be.  But I’m sure we’ll keep looking.