Turf Zone – ArthursSeat
When finally, after many moons, picnic lunches, aching legs and the many hazards of city centre cycling, I completed the 140 zones in alphabetical order challenge of the Edinburgh Roon mission, I said thank goodness that’s finished and I’m never doing that again! Well, that was then and this is now and I’m thinking why not give it another go? Yes, why not complete another round of the Edinburgh Roon?
Actually, I sat down this morning and calculated just how many miles you need to either cycle or walk to take all 140 zones of the challenge. It came to around 190 miles or 304 km and that does not include any additional distance for elevation. Based on Naismith’s Rule, I would add something in the region of 10% but that’s only a guess. If anyone’s used an apps like Strava for the entire 140 zones I’d be interested to hear from them.
So, that 190 miles would become around 209 miles or 336 km. Of course, that does not include all the extra travelling you would have to do if attempting the challenge over muliple days. All that travelling to the different start zones, and indeed, all the finish zones afterwards, all adds up as well. I should say the above mileage is approximate, calculated using the tools on the https://turf.urbangeeks.org/ map and not every section is optimal, especially for those on foot who might find more direct routes, though sometimes the most direct route is not always faster or the easiest.
And just out if interest, there can be a little variation regards the zone names listed on the Edinburgh Roon. A good example is zone Jacob’s Ladder which is really zone LadderOfJacob. In fact, when I first loaded the page the zone name LadderOfJacob was displayed and it changed before my very eyes to Jacob’s Ladder. Probably due to page translation software. And when I searched for Jacob’s Ladder, which initially came up with nothing, only after changing to JacobsLadder, did it find anything. However, that was a zone called JacobsLadder in Sidmouth, Devon, only about 500 miles away!
So, thinking about the Edinburgh Roon, and having completed it once, what advice would I give myself this second time round? What would I do differently this time, if anything? Well, I would certainly stick to cycling, rather than walking, far too slow on foot. Might even stick with using a more interesting bike for more or even all of the challenge, like Mr Bumble my single speed Brompton, or even use the kick scooter for additional fun. However, I am very tempted to use this as a valid reason (to my way of thinking anyway) to get that electric Brompton T-Line 4-speed titanium I’ve been dreaming about. Very tempting indeed. Slight down side is that it costs as much as decent second-hand car.
There are two awkward zones on the list, ArthursSeat and TopOfTheCrags, both located in Holyrood Park, where the authorities have banned any off-road cycling. As I’m never happy leaving my bike chained up while I walk to take the zones, I thought having the car parked close by, say, in Holyrood Park Road, which has free parking at the weekends, would allow me to leave the bike locked safely inside the car, then be able to continue with the challenge afterwards.
I’d also try to do a bit more during each session, perhaps aiming for 10 or 20 zones in a batch, that’s around 15 or 30 miles of cycling. If doing around 20 day sessions, you could if you were so inclined, complete the 140 zones over only 7 days. Now that would be quite a challenge.
Another tip I want to mention, one I’ve talked about in previous blogs on this topic, is the taking of additional zones during the mission. It can be tempting to take any zone you come across, a perfectly normal action for a turfer, however, check you will not need that zone later in your session. Taking it might block yourself for up to 23-hours and cannot take the zone later.
There are ways around this. If there are other turfers nearby, perhaps one of them might take the zone from you, freeing it up for you to take and continue the mission. If there are no handy turfers about, you can also create another turf account and use that to take the zone. However, it is a fiddly operation and time consuming, so easy to lose 30 minutes or more. So, keep an eye on the starting letters of the zones and see where they lie in the alphabet and if you will need that zone during your session. My best tip is don’t take additional zones, so no chance of blocking yourself later and saves time for the mission itself.
So, yes, another go at the 140 zone mission that is the Edinburgh Roon. Not sure when I’ll start as I still have two sessions to complete on Canal Quest 754 Westbound but soon, I hope. There always seems other things needing done when you retire. In fact, you seem to have less time than when you were working, if that is at all posible. Bye for now.
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