so, you can still smoke in public places in Scottland, but criminey, they dont play games with the packaging... they run you about $8 american too 
Crashby goes to Europe
- Thread starter Crashby
- Start date
LOL!!! That picture is hilarious! Some really beautiful shots today!!! Have fun riding tomorrowOriginally posted by Crashby
so, you can still smoke in public places in Scottland, but criminey, they dont play games with the packaging... they run you about $8 american too
Man that runner up photo of the day looks like something out of a videogame. Wow.
Bikes ,beer, chicks, travel this thead has got it all.
I gives this thread two softys up!
I gives this thread two softys up!
Crashby, I don't know you, but man! What a really great thread this is. Your ability to provide insight to the wonderful pictures you've provided us all with is a very nice touch indeed!
Me thinks you're setting the bar pretty high for future "slide" shows.
Hope the rest of your trip goes well and look forward to seeing more pictures if you have them.....
Me thinks you're setting the bar pretty high for future "slide" shows.
Hope the rest of your trip goes well and look forward to seeing more pictures if you have them.....
Yawn... stretch... *grmmmphhhhh* (translated: I had a few more whiskeys than I planned last night...)
Will, time to get me arse out the bed and get my steed... I have a little walk to the shop... - hopefully I can find me some Guinness and a bacon roll to fuel up for the day
Will, time to get me arse out the bed and get my steed... I have a little walk to the shop... - hopefully I can find me some Guinness and a bacon roll to fuel up for the day
calling for mid 50's and light rain all day... doesnt look too bad so far... (wind comming from the East this morning...)
So, the light rain this morning has turned into a steady heavy rain... Im soaked by the time I finish my 30 min walk to the bike rental shop...
here is the shop... looks legit...
The door is locked... ok, nobody panic... there is a nice little note on the door...
50 meters, 50 meters.... white shop, red door, white shop, red door.... ahhhh.... here we go.... hmmm looks a little sketchy... and very much.... locked 
Ok- so Im a bit miffed... pissed.... I even mutter "sod off then" under my breath... Its an hour round trip walk from my flat in the pouring rain... and I'm in the middle of the bloody ghetto of Edinburgh with no bike :angry:
...but, even in the 'ghetto', there are rich gardens...
Flowers and vines pour out of the walls like rain water out of a downspout...
Orchids in a flowershop window... (for you A.S.)
Stop by the LBS again so at least I do something bike related...
I try to rent a bike from them, but they decline... the owners says that the UK is the 2nd biggest market for Kona's outside the US... they are everywhere here...
I try to rent a bike from them, but they decline... the owners says that the UK is the 2nd biggest market for Kona's outside the US... they are everywhere here...
Like I mentioned... they love Americans here...
so.... maybe if the wind continues from the east, the rain will stop, the sun can work its way out from behind the clouds, and the bike shop will be open after noon....
Dude....that sucks that you didn't get your bike! 
But, that orchid pic is AMAZING!!!!
But, that orchid pic is AMAZING!!!!
the rain let up around 12:30, and I decided to try again on the whole bike thing (I dont give up easily...
)
As it turned out, the sun would only be out for about 10 min for the whole day...
)As it turned out, the sun would only be out for about 10 min for the whole day...
giddyup... pimp my ride... Bike shop guy slept in because he saw rain
anyway, here is my steed for the day... Giant somethingorother... front fork basicaly frozen, but she shifts good... so I'll run 'er a spell...
anyway, here is my steed for the day... Giant somethingorother... front fork basicaly frozen, but she shifts good... so I'll run 'er a spell...
She needed a little TLC to say the least, so I flipped 'er over in the middle of Grassmarket...
ok, not really what I had in mind, but it'll do as a warm-up...
skate-park... Edinburgh style...
I turn around and spy some major hills in the background... oh yes... I must climb them... I dont know how I'm going to get there, or how long it will take, but oh yes... I will climb them...
closer...
wait for it... wait for it...
Turns out that Ive been looking at Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat that make up a miniature highland mountain in the heart of the city, with its very own 350 million year old extinct volcano. During this period of time Scotland was near the equator on the southern edge of the continent that stood where the Atlantic is now. It is tectonic drift that has brought this landscape to its present latitude.
Some of the well-worn paths around the park have been in continuous use since the Bronze Age. Radical Road and some of the other tracks across Salisbury Crags are far more recent and are associated with the extensive quarrying that went on here in the eighteenth century.
Some of the well-worn paths around the park have been in continuous use since the Bronze Age. Radical Road and some of the other tracks across Salisbury Crags are far more recent and are associated with the extensive quarrying that went on here in the eighteenth century.
ohhhhh...ahhhhhh... the Salisbury Craigs of Holyrood.... I will mount my steed and climb thee... do not resist...
I'll bet you could climb up that hill goat man
mmmmm.........salsbury steak.........
... a paved path to start me oot...
turned into some amusing singletrack... lots of hikers on the trails... I got the distinct feeling that I shouldnt be up here on a bike, but what do I know? Im just a tourist from the states
It started to get dark again... really dark...
Here is the closest I got to the coast
Here is the closest I got to the coast
for hikers, there were some really tight switch-backs to the top of the craigs...
As I neared the summit, it started to pour... temp stayed in the mid 50's, so it wasnt too bad...
When I got to the bottom, it was raining so hard that I had to take cover in the thick underbrush of a riverside thicket... I happened upon these little fluffers... sorry mum.
there were 100's of swans in a quiet little inlet...
...a goose, and his pet chicken...