Turf zone – RoslinPark
11.00 am Sunday 1st August saw the start of another Turf round, Round #134. At the start of the previous round I’d set myself a target of 500,000 points to aim for. And even at that time, I knew it would be a tall order indeed for me to get anywhere near that figure. So what did I finish with? Well, 217,614 points to be exact. Way short of the target by about a million miles. And why didn’t I get those 500,000 points I was looking for? Two things really. The main one was back trouble, that kept me off my bike or kick scooter for much of the time. The other was family holiday commitments. Anyway, a fresh round and a fresh start. So, what’s my thinking this time?
I’ve decided to go for something nice and simple this round, the Diversier medal – visiting 500 round unique zones during the same round. No need to bother about how many points I have or don’t have, or how many zones I lose to other turfers. Just simply get out there and take 500 round unique zones – a zone that is unique for the round. As a supporter, I can keep track of that total on the Turf App. All nice and simple, though perhaps not all that easy to do..
Of course, I did a bit of research first, to see if achieving the Diversier medal was even possible, namely, if there were enough zones to take locally and also if I could actually have enough time to physically take them during the round. And the answer to both was yes. I would need to take just about all the zones in Midlothian, along with all the zones between Musselburgh and Longniddry with a good few from the south of Edinburgh as well. All rideable straight from the house in Bonnyrigg. I’m still managing fairly well to stick to my no-car rule for turfing.
Holiday commitments lost me the first two days of the round, but I was able to start my Diversier medal challenge today, on the 3rd of August, turfing both Rosewell and Bonnyrigg, racking up a good start with 50 zones for a morning’s work. I would have liked to have kept on cycling into the afternoon but my dodgy back says otherwise, so I’m having to take it easy and spread my turfing out over the remaining 30 days of the round. My plan is to tackle the larger clusters of zones first, for example, the towns of Dalkeith, Gorebridge, Musselburgh and so on, and leave the small groups of outlying zones, such as those in the woods at Newbattle Abbey, around Dalhousie Castle and down in Roslin Glen, for night-time kick scooter mini-adventures.
Not much to report about my turfing of Rosewell and Bonnyrigg. Most zones were still uniques after the round reset and had their 50 point bonuses for the taking, although most of those situated along the cycleway had already been taken. I may be wrong but the number of turfers in the area seems to be reducing all the time, or perhaps turfers are simply turfing less.
To finish of this page. Cathryn and I spent a couple of days up in Perth last week and I managed to take about 30 zones. Ideally, I would have liked to take them all but when you are on holiday with someone who isn’t a turfer, that isn’t always practical. Most of the zones I did take were found during our walks in the countryside around Perth. Perhaps a trip for another time. More to follow soon.
Copyright ©2021 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
