Alastair Dalton joins Edinburgh's Dawn Patrol cycle ride

The Scotsman

Alastair Dalton joins Edinburgh's Dawn Patrol cycle ride  The Dawn Patrol is a free, 19-mile cycle ride on a set route round Edinburgh from St Andrew Square at 5.40am every Tuesday and Thursday.

Transcript

00:00I'm Alistair Dalton, the transport correspondent for the Scotsman.

00:03I've been up early in Edinburgh to join a new free activity, the Dawn Patrol,

00:10which leaves at 5.40 in the morning from St Andrew's Square

00:14and follows a circular route of nearly 20 miles cycling.

00:20An amazing start to the day.

00:22And I'm with the organiser of this activity, Marcus Stitz.

00:26Marcus, welcome.

00:28So you do this twice a week, 5.40am.

00:32Why on earth are you doing this?

00:36So I initially nicked the idea from the Oslo Dawn Patrol.

00:40My partner lives near Oslo and I joined the people over there

00:45and it was just like an amazing social thing.

00:47I had the same thing.

00:49I felt like it's just super early.

00:50Why do I need to get up that early?

00:52But it was great because it's basically you ride the streets of Edinburgh

00:56before all the car traffic appears.

00:59So it's actually quite nice.

01:01And it's also a really, it's a nice start to the day,

01:04like having a coffee afterwards

01:06and then going to do whatever I need to do for the day.

01:09So yeah, love it.

01:10It's great.

01:11And what sort of people does it attract?

01:14Really wide array of people, like whoever wants to join.

01:17It's obviously, I think it's people who like getting up quite early.

01:21But one of our regular riders, Mark, for example,

01:24I don't think he liked the early mornings before he joined the Dawn Patrol.

01:29Yeah, just anyone who wants to join in the morning.

01:32I think it's really handy for most people

01:34because it's something you can do before you start your day job

01:37or if you've got kids, you'll mostly be back before they wake up.

01:41And yeah, it's just a really nice thing to do if you like riding bikes.

01:46Now we had a beautiful morning today.

01:48It's the spring equinox.

01:50A wide variety of different views from along the prom at Portobello

01:55by the shores of the Forth

01:58and then round amazing views from Little France Park,

02:00which I was unfamiliar with.

02:02So a real variety of terrain and views that you cover.

02:07Yeah, and once again, like when I did the route in Oslo and Edinburgh,

02:12actually quite similar cities.

02:14Oslo is on the Oslo fjord

02:16and then you've got the Nordmarker mountains rising in the backdrop.

02:20And Edinburgh is like you've got the beach and the waterside on Portobello

02:25and then you've got the pendulums in the background.

02:28So I kind of tried to find a route which is quite similar to that

02:31because I really like the mix.

02:33And yeah, it's lovely.

02:35And it's also, I think, when I first rode the Oslo Dawn Patrol,

02:39there were bits of Oslo I'd never been to

02:42and possibly bits I'd never ridden a bike

02:44or would never choose to ride a bike.

02:46Because I didn't know they existed.

02:48And it's the same on this route.

02:49I think there's bits, especially the bit between Masebo and Little France Park,

02:54where you normally, I don't know,

02:56like I normally, when I mapped the route,

02:57I needed to find like a connecting bit through there.

03:00And it's, yeah, it's like it's a nice, nice surprise in there.

03:04And if people want to join you,

03:06what are the key information about the time and where you meet and so on?

03:10So try to make it super simple.

03:135.40 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

03:16Every week.

03:17Don't need to sign up.

03:19Just walk up.

03:19It's at St. Andrew's Square on the Western Gate.

03:24Be there five minutes beforehand, which is nice.

03:27And that's about it.

03:29The route is available.

03:31There's an Edinburgh Dawn Patrol Instagram account.

03:34And the route's on Komoot, so it's linked there.

03:37So it's the same route every time.

03:39So when people want to join along the route, that's totally fine as well.

03:44You can join in New Haven or Portobello or anywhere along the route.

03:47And yeah, so very simple.

03:48It's going to stay the same.

03:50So it's not complicated.

03:51And yeah, just walk up with your bike and that's it.

03:54Great. Thanks, Marcus, very much.

03:56Well, that was an amazing experience.

03:58So I would highly recommend that.

04:00Just pick a good day when the weather's fine.

04:04And you can read much more about transport at scotsman.com.

04:08Look under news and transport.

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