Cycling in Edinburgh

My husband Ian is heavily involved in cycle campaigning & local cycling initiatives, such as the Bike Station which recycles old bikes giving some to folk who are needing them & selling others. He also helped set up TryCycling in Edinburgh which aims to encourage new & non-confident cyclists to get out on their bikes.

I went for many years not cycling at all, but after being unwell a few years ago, I started to ride again, & now I really love it as a means of getting around. There are many cycle paths in Edinburgh, along old railway lines, but my favourite path of all is along the Union Canal. This canal fell into disuse for many years, but was restored as part of a Millenium Project. It now runs to Falkirk where the Falkirk Wheel links it to the Forth & Clyde Canal. In the past it took 11 locks to make this link, as there is 110 feet difference in height between the 2 canals. Here are some pictures of the Wheel which I took when Ian & I went on the train to Falkirk in April 2007, we then cycled 2 to 3 miles to the wheel, before cycling all the way back along the Union Canal. Unfortunately, in uploading the pictures to Flikr, they have come out in the wrong order! But this will give you a flavour of the Falkirk Wheel & the Union Canal path. I haven't linked to the Falkirk Wheel web site, which I think is very unappealing, prefering my own pictures & those on the Undiscovered Scotland web site!