Riadsala’s Blog

Lindisfarne Abbey

Our original plan had been to visit Holy Island, then cycle inland a little through a little of Northumberland National Park. By now, we were starting to realise that all our mile estimates were a little low, as cycling paths tend to less direct than A roads. Just the ride to Holy Island and back would take at least an hour on its own anyway. So, we decided to skip the detour inland and take a straighter route south that would leave enough time to visit the island.

And of course, first, I had to change my inner tube.

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Edinburgh Castle >>> Colchester Castle

An early (very early) morning start as the sleeper train pulls into Edinburgh Waverly first thing in the morning. We get the bikes unloaded and head up in to the old down to meet Louisa for breakfast at one of my old favourite cafes. I miss my days living in Edinburgh at working at the Informatics Forum.

Still, we can’t hang about too long: we have to cycle to England today. Sounds like a long way when it’s put like that doesn’t it. Eeek.

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Have we forgotten anything important?

I didn’t manage to get out on the bike last year (2017), and as Moz was busy with impending mini-Moz, a trip this  year was looking pretty unlikely until Micha suggested visiting from America. After looking at the map for a bit, we relucantly decided that getting to the Scottish islands from Essex would be a little tricky (and expensive) , and settled on a route along the South coast from Cornwall to my new home in Colchester. The plan was to take the overnight train from London to Penzance, as the sleeper trains give you more time to board, sort out putting the bikes somewhere secure, etc. Sadly, this plan was quickly dismissed as GWR didn’t have any tickets (and possible no actual trains), so we turned to Scotrail for plan B: cycle to London, take the Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh, then cycle home!

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