photo of Kate with new Brompton on her rail commuter journey
Part of Kate's entry, including picture on Forth Bridge bike path... 5. If doing it as a there-and-back route from Edinburgh the Honeypot cafe in South Queensferry is lovely. Lo ok at all of the single track roads and paths in Dalmeny Estate and take a different route home. Highland cows and their calves are a particular treat in late summer. 6. On days when the weather plays fair, my commute home is the best part of my job. Crossing the Forth Road Bridge, the view always stops me. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, the wide sweep of water and sky makes me feel lucky to live here. Often my colleague and friend Tom rides with me. We always stop on the bridge, take in the view, and let the working day fall away. From there the route drops into Dalmeny Estate. The lanes are car-free and quiet, lined with trees and fields where highland cows and sheep graze. Pheasants dart out and, for a while, the pressure of the day is replaced by simple rhythm — turning the pedals, moving forward.
more from Kate's entry; pictures of cows & landscape At Cramond Brig we pause again, a small ritual that gives us time to catch up outside the hospital walls. Those moments of conversation and quiet are as important as the ride itself. The Roseburn Path then carries us back to the city, busy with other cyclists heading home. There’s a kind of shared purpose, even without words. The new link to the canal makes the route flow easily, and by the time we reach Bruntsfield Links the ride feels more like a privilege than a commute. The last stretch, past James Gillespie’s school and down into Morningside, is quiet and familiar — a gentle end to the journey. I work as a paediatric radiologist, and the job brings its own intensity. Families depend on the decisions I make, and the responsibility can be heavy. But this ride — when the weather gives me the chance to take it — restores perspective. It makes me grateful: for the beauty just outside my door, for work that matters, and for the chance to share the journey home with a friend.
😍 #SpokesComp prizewinner #KateThomas won a contribution to a @bromptonbicycle.bsky.social
"My new #FoldUpBike! No trouble getting this guy on the #train - my #commute is so much less stressful"
@edi.bike @edfoc.bsky.social @keithirving.bsky.social @railfuture.bsky.social @railmag.bsky.social