Alastair Dalton joins Edinburgh's Dawn Patrol cycle ride
The Dawn Patrol is a free, 19-mile cycle ride on a set route round Edinburgh from St Andrew Square at 5.40am every Tuesday and Thursday.
The Dawn Patrol is a free, 19-mile cycle ride on a set route round Edinburgh from St Andrew Square at 5.40am every Tuesday and Thursday.
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00:00I'm Alistair Dalton, the transport correspondent for the Scotsman.
00:03I've been up early in Edinburgh to join a new free activity, the Dawn Patrol,
00:10which leaves at 5.40 in the morning from St Andrew's Square
00:14and follows a circular route of nearly 20 miles cycling.
00:20An amazing start to the day.
00:22And I'm with the organiser of this activity, Marcus Stitz.
00:26Marcus, welcome.
00:28So you do this twice a week, 5.40am.
00:32Why on earth are you doing this?
00:36So I initially nicked the idea from the Oslo Dawn Patrol.
00:40My partner lives near Oslo and I joined the people over there
00:45and it was just like an amazing social thing.
00:47I had the same thing.
00:49I felt like it's just super early.
00:50Why do I need to get up that early?
00:52But it was great because it's basically you ride the streets of Edinburgh
00:56before all the car traffic appears.
00:59So it's actually quite nice.
01:01And it's also a really, it's a nice start to the day,
01:04like having a coffee afterwards
01:06and then going to do whatever I need to do for the day.
01:09So yeah, love it.
01:10It's great.
01:11And what sort of people does it attract?
01:14Really wide array of people, like whoever wants to join.
01:17It's obviously, I think it's people who like getting up quite early.
01:21But one of our regular riders, Mark, for example,
01:24I don't think he liked the early mornings before he joined the Dawn Patrol.
01:29Yeah, just anyone who wants to join in the morning.
01:32I think it's really handy for most people
01:34because it's something you can do before you start your day job
01:37or if you've got kids, you'll mostly be back before they wake up.
01:41And yeah, it's just a really nice thing to do if you like riding bikes.
01:46Now we had a beautiful morning today.
01:48It's the spring equinox.
01:50A wide variety of different views from along the prom at Portobello
01:55by the shores of the Forth
01:58and then round amazing views from Little France Park,
02:00which I was unfamiliar with.
02:02So a real variety of terrain and views that you cover.
02:07Yeah, and once again, like when I did the route in Oslo and Edinburgh,
02:12actually quite similar cities.
02:14Oslo is on the Oslo fjord
02:16and then you've got the Nordmarker mountains rising in the backdrop.
02:20And Edinburgh is like you've got the beach and the waterside on Portobello
02:25and then you've got the pendulums in the background.
02:28So I kind of tried to find a route which is quite similar to that
02:31because I really like the mix.
02:33And yeah, it's lovely.
02:35And it's also, I think, when I first rode the Oslo Dawn Patrol,
02:39there were bits of Oslo I'd never been to
02:42and possibly bits I'd never ridden a bike
02:44or would never choose to ride a bike.
02:46Because I didn't know they existed.
02:48And it's the same on this route.
02:49I think there's bits, especially the bit between Masebo and Little France Park,
02:54where you normally, I don't know,
02:56like I normally, when I mapped the route,
02:57I needed to find like a connecting bit through there.
03:00And it's, yeah, it's like it's a nice, nice surprise in there.
03:04And if people want to join you,
03:06what are the key information about the time and where you meet and so on?
03:10So try to make it super simple.
03:135.40 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.
03:16Every week.
03:17Don't need to sign up.
03:19Just walk up.
03:19It's at St. Andrew's Square on the Western Gate.
03:24Be there five minutes beforehand, which is nice.
03:27And that's about it.
03:29The route is available.
03:31There's an Edinburgh Dawn Patrol Instagram account.
03:34And the route's on Komoot, so it's linked there.
03:37So it's the same route every time.
03:39So when people want to join along the route, that's totally fine as well.
03:44You can join in New Haven or Portobello or anywhere along the route.
03:47And yeah, so very simple.
03:48It's going to stay the same.
03:50So it's not complicated.
03:51And yeah, just walk up with your bike and that's it.
03:54Great. Thanks, Marcus, very much.
03:56Well, that was an amazing experience.
03:58So I would highly recommend that.
04:00Just pick a good day when the weather's fine.
04:04And you can read much more about transport at scotsman.com.
04:08Look under news and transport.