With roads and cycle paths still too icy for safe cycling, my wife Cathryn and I set off on foot for a pre-lunch walk, of course, routed to take back a few zones lost to fellow turfers over the past few days. From our house in Bonnyrigg, we headed straight down to the Newbattle area, stopping at OldBattle (185 points) the first zone of the day. (Unfortunately, I failed to complete the take, though thought I had at the time and PognHog retained this one.)
Our walk then leads us through the woods around Newbattle Abbey taking RecentBattle (185 points), Newbattle (185 points), BattleForrest (185 points) and SouthEsk (185 points) as we passed them. Then through Waterfall park for Peppermint (185 points) and around Woodburn estate for JamesTheLean (185 points) with TheGuitar (185 points) taken when crossing back over the River South Esk.
We now started back towards Bonnyrigg, taking HolyBuccleuch (170 points) at St Nicholas Buccleuch Parish Church and SayAhhh (185 points) at Dalkeith Medical Practice. These were the only two unique takes of the day. Continuing onwards we were able to re-take a few more lost zones starting with WhichKing (185 points) in King’s Park (no royalty here, just a Mr King who farmed here, once upon a time), followed by Beatles (185 points), BikeSlooowly (185 points), CollegeZone (170 points), EskBank (185 points) and finally, A7View (185 points).
It was not the most pleasant of days. The weather was cold and wet though on the plus side the rain was doing a good job of shifting the snow and ice. With a bit of luck, I’ll be back on the bicycle again soon for some serious zone taking excursions. Today’s efforts brought my points total to over 38,500 and a new rank of Rank 14 – Master Explorer. No new medals this time.
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