The Loanhead Ferret Run, 10 zones along a 2.40 km stretch of what was once the Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin branch line of the North British Railway, now seeing new life as a very popular walking, horse riding and cycling route. And the fact that it is very popular was the reason why I was there at the ungodly hour of 2.00 am, otherwise known as silly o’clock.
Why, well, the Loanhead Ferret Run has become the place to attempt your Eager Ferret medal, that’s taking 10 zones in 10 minutes or less. And turfers often being of a competitive nature, sometimes like to see just how quickly they can do the 10 zones and get their name posted at the head of the 10z listing on turfa.nu. Recently, the list was reset, I think primarily due to remove the crazy times obtained using less than acceptable methods. Personally, I wanted to see my entry back there on the list. The Loanhead Ferret Run starts at zone RoslinCopse, about half a mile east of Roslin, and ends at zone SkippngZone, on the Roslin to Shawfair cyclepath.
Coming here at silly o’clock gives me the best chance of having the place to myself, no delays from encounters with dog walkers, children running amok and especially horses. You would have to be a brainless twat to ride at full pelt past a 500kg lump of unpredictable solid bone and muscle. And to get good times on the Eager Ferret, riding full pelt is a must. As it turned out I did indeed have the place to myself, other than a few rabbits and a curious badger I had to shoo away off the track.
Now, preparation. First thing is timing with quiet times of the day (or night) preferred, early mornings, late evenings and silly o’clock, offer a better chance of uninterrupted runs. Next, prep your bike. Pump up those tyres to keep rolling resistance to a minimum but not rock hard as the path is rough in places with numerous tree root ridges. Oil the chain and make sure the brakes work. If you are riding as fast as you can, you need to be able to stop quickly and not over shoot the zone, wasting time. If you are not mechanically minded, fellow turfer MuttsCycles runs a bike shop in Newtongrange and will be happy to assist.
When ready, take a few zones before you start the run to warm up those legs, if you have not already cycled to Roslin. This will test all is well and also give you a 5-second time bonus of each take. That equates to a total of 45 seconds off your overall time. But to be honest you pretty much need your GPS on for the entire run anyway so will get that time bonus regardless. You can also get another 5-second time bonus if you hold the Region Lord crown for holding the most zones in a region. That’s another 50-seconds off your time. I should also mention the higher your turf rank the shorter your take time will be.
On the app, set the zoom to a suitable level, one that gives you adequate warning of the zones approach yet detailed enough to see where you are positioned within the zone. I find that if you zoom in to the fullest extent then, using the minus button, zoom back 2 or 3 level you have a good compromise. You can use the take time to move forwards inside the zone but don’t stay out of the zone or time will be lost. For this attempt, I opted for Mr Bumble, the single speed Brompton folding bike. Perhaps not the ideal choice but thought it would be interesting to see what the results are.
Usually, the best direction for the run is west to east, placing the prevailing winds roughly to your back and the overall downhill gradient in your favour. Having said that the total fall over the distance is only about 50ft, or 15m, so it’s pretty well flat and being an old railway line there are no hills to bother about. Then it just a case of spinning those pedals, taking each zone in turn then, after the final zone, falling off the bike to the ground to get your breath back. Oh, and watch out for those aforementioned tree root ridges, fallen branches, horse shit and stay clear of those wet, sticky patches of silt where the track puddles after heavy rain. The route can also be slippery with leaf debris should dry weather is safer.
So, how did I do? Well, the 10z listing on turfa.nu updates four times every hour, so you may not see your results displayed on the web page immediately. But by the time I was back at the car in Roslin, the results were showing.
I was both delighted and disappointed at the same time. Delighted to see that even riding a silly bike like the single speed small-wheeled Brompton, I was competitive and up there in 4th place in the Scottish listing. Yet disappointed that the time was exactly the same as I’d achieved previously, back on 28th May 2024. The time was 7 minutes and 45 seconds.
So, what next? I’m planning further runs using alternative bikes; Mr Orange, my 6-speed Brompton, a single speed normal bike and a 12-speed trail bike. Might even give the Swifty Air kick scooter a run for comparison. Might also be tempted with an electric bike purely in the interest of scientific discovery or one with an Infinite Improbability Drive* which should allow me to do the run is less than one second and to hang with the side effects. Back with more Loanhead Ferret Runs (and others!) soon.
* The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Copyright ©2026 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
