Turf zone – ArthursSeat
Thoughts these past few days have turned again to one of the most interesting, rewarding and indeed challenging turf sessions you can do in Edinburgh, The Seven Hills of Edinburgh Turf Challenge. This unofficial turf challenge was created by ESOC – Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club and involves taking a specific zone at each of the designed seven hills dotted around Edinburgh. There is no official turf medal for this challenge. The seven hills are:
- Calton Hill, 103m, zone CaltonHill.
- The Castle or Castle Hill, 128m, zone HillGate.
- Corstorphine Hill, 162m, zone TheHillTower.
- Craiglockhart Hill (East), 158m, zone Craighill.
- Braid Hill, 213m, zone BraidView.
- Blackford Hill, 164m, zone BlackfordHill.
- Arthur’s Seat, 251m, zone ArthursSeat.
Back in July 2022, I made my first and only attempt so far at the Seven Hills on my trusty Swifty Air kick scooter and was rewarded with a time of 4 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds, giving me second place behind the challenge leader Cruachan, who cycled this in 1 hour 52 minutes and 41 seconds. Time to start looking at another attempt, this time by bicycle. My plan would be taken all the seven zones in a single session.
Now, as you may be aware I’m rather partial for doing turfy things slightly differently. I’ve done the Seven Hills of Edinburgh during the day on the kick scooter, so this time, how about at night on the bicycle? Unfortunately, at this time of the year there’s one big problem. Zone HillGate on Castle Hill is not accessible out of hours due to the seating installed for concerts and the Festival. So, I’m going to have to wait until all that clears late August before trying.
I actually spoke to security on the esplanade while in Edinburgh today and they confirmed there’s no chance of access after the castle closes until then. Guess I’ll it will be while before I’m heading for the Seven Hills. But my trip into Edinburgh was not wasted, managed to tick off another seven turfer uniques, five in the centre of town and two on the way home towards Bonnyrigg. They include: jcop, macspiggles, Ita, MrHybris, fitz, Pigbot and EdMedic23.
And finally, to end this post, yes, some slightly boring stuff on bicycle brakes. I’ve been considering upgrading the brakes on my new Ribble CGR SL from the current Shimano 105 2-pot beasties, which are fair and reasonable, to Hope 4-pot monster stoppers. Why you may ask? Well, because I can, simple as that.
So, having corresponded via the ethereal web with the wizards at the Temple of Hope Tech, deciphered the secret number codes and measured the magical mystical measurements (three times I might add), I’ve determined that I require an HBSPC76 Rx4+ Flat Mount Front +20 and an HBSPC78 RX4+ Flat Mount +20 and I bet you don’t know that! Now, just need to find some bargains online and speak nicely to Scott at Mutts Cycles to install them for me. Or should I throw caution to the wind and have a go myself?
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