Our Service

bus

Luxury Coach Service from Cramond to Carlisle with on board toilet departing on Saturday afternoon, and early on Sunday morning

bike

Bike transport by lorry with protective packaging provided. A bike can only be booked along with a coach seat

bag

 Bags (with change of clothes etc.) from the start of RTTS in Carlisle transported back to Cramond for collection when you finish

Booking is now open for the 2023 Bike Transport Service

Welcome

We look forward to seeing both old and new customers at Ride To The Sun 2023 and booking is now open – we hope the information on this website helps you decide if you want to use our transport service. Please don’t hesitate  to email us if you have any questions or comments and our Scout volunteers will respond as soon as possible.

Thank you to all our customers from previous years, and to Gary and Fraser and the RttS crew for your generous support – the proceeds from this service makes a substantial contribution to provide an exciting and challenging Scout Programme for hundreds of young people in our local area.

Feedback from customers

We’ve been so delighted with feedback from last year with 84% of customers giving an outstanding rating and here are some of the many positive comments:

  • From check-in on the day through to tea first thing in the morning I was struck by the care, consideration, and willingness to help by all scouts and helpers.
  • The much younger than I showed maturity beyond their years, truly humbling
  • The transport was run impressively efficiently.  I was super happy with your organisation!
  • At all times they were helpful, cheerful, and made my life a great deal easier and felt totally confident my bike and myself, were in good hands. I would have no hesitation in recommending or using their service again. Thank you and well-done guys …you did yourselves proud.  (Ex-Royal Marines)
  • I thought it was faultless. Extraordinarily efficient and well organised

We always want to learn and improve this service – so please do email us feedback and suggestions, or complete the feedback survey after the event.

Ride To The Sun is a very special event with a unique vibe – we hope our service helps riders have a fantastic experience and read Scouts help with cycling event and a Fresh Start Cafe to find out how it helps young people, Freshstart and  homeless people in our community settle into new homes. Thank you for making it all possible!

Important Information

  • Check our terms and conditions and service details
  • Visit our online booking office
  • You can book and cancel tickets at any time, and payments by debit and credit card are accepted.
  • Participants accept bicycles are placed, transferred and unloaded in our vehicle at their own risk and the organiser is not liable for any loss or damage caused during this process.
  • Timings are based on typical loading, unloading and travel times, and may be impacted by a number of factors out of our control.

  • Bookings are non-refundable. They are non-transferable without our prior approval. Please email us in either of these situations and we will see if we can assist.

  • If you arrive late and miss check in and departure time we are not responsible for your revised travel and transport arrangements.

  • Your personal details will be held for the purposes of contacting you concerning transport for Ride to the Sun 2023 and will be deleted within 6 months of the event.

  • Seats are unreserved on coaches
  • Participants agree to follow any requirements that may be in place relating to Covid-19 or similar situations.

  • Your details will be held for the purposes of contacting you concerning transport for Ride to the Sun 2023 and will be deleted within 6 months of the event unless you give permission for it to be retained.

Good news – our prices have remained the same as for 2022.

  • One bike and one passenger from Cramond to Carlisle – £50
  • Transport of one bag from Carlisle to Cramond – £5
  • Changes to time of coachEmail us and if there are spaces on you new chouce we will transfer them so you avoid having to cancel and rebook/pay
  • To cancel – visit the online booking office and cancel your booking online. We can not guarantee refunds, but if you email us we will try to resell the ticket and provide a refund with the online booking fee charged by the booking site deducted.  We may only have time to process such refunds once Ride To The Sun is over. It is difficult to resell late cancellations.
  • If you are unwell with COVID-19 symptoms or have a high temperature, you should follow the ‘Stay at Home’ guidance available on NHS Inform.
  • You are welcome to wear face coverings at any time
  • While in our operating areas at any of our car parks, keep the safety of yourself and others in mind as there will be vehicles moving, loading and unloading of lorries, and up to 250 coach passengers embarking and disembarking from vehicles.
  • On arrival at Carlisle by coach, please go to the indicated waiting area on leaving your coach and do not approach the rear of the lorry until  you are called forward to collect you bike when it is unloaded.
  • There will be a Safety Controller in overall charge at each of these locations – please raise any questions or concerns with them or members of the team.
  • When a vehicle is entering or leaving our car parks, the Safety controller will ask all individuals to remain in safe areas until the movement is completed. Please remain in one place until the all clear is given.
  • Please be patient when waiting to board or disembark from a coach – we may need to complete some other task before you can proceed.
  • There will be a trained First Aider at each location – please ask if you require assistance.

This service is provided by Craigalmond District Scout Council(SC027398).

All proceeds are used to support local Scouting in this area.

Our adult and youth members also volunteer to staff the Cafe to help raise funds for Freshstart. 

The organisers of Ride to the Sun are not responsible for any asepct of transport organisation. On the day, our helpers will all be wearing Scout neckers – please speak to any of us if you need assistance.

The organisers wish to thank the following who generously support this event:

  • Tesco – for transport and use of their carpark
  • Scottish Co-op – for transport
  • Cramond Kirk – for the use of their Hall and carpark
  • The many adult and youth volunteers from local Scouts who generously give their time to run this service 
  • Bike loading and coach departures from the rear car park of Tesco Davidson Mains (36 Cramond Rd South, EH4 6AA)
  • Coaches depart at 3.00pm, 3.30pm, and 4.00pm with an approximate travel time of 3 hours depending on traffic conditions
  • Check-in opens 2 hours before departure and closes 30 minutes before departure
  • Final boarding on the coach is 15 minutes before departure
  • Bike unloading typically takes 30 minutes, and bikes must be collected immediately on unloading as we cannot store them for later collection. 
  • Arrival and unloading is at Castle Car Park, Devonshire Walk, Carlisle CA3 8UL, a few minutes walk from the start of RTTS at Bitts Car Park.
  • Bike loading and coach departure from  Cramond Kirk Hall.
  • One coach departs  at 06.00 with an approximate travel time of 3 hours depending on traffic conditions
  • Check-in opens 1 hour before departure and closes 30 minutes before departure
  • Final boarding on the coach is 15 minutes before departure
  • Bike unloading typically takes 30 minutes, and bikes must be collected immediately on unloading as we cannot store them for later collection. 
  • Arrival and unloading is at Castle Car Park, Devonshire Walk, Carlisle CA3 8UL

We will email all ticket holders in early June to confirm final check-in and service details.

Click this link to view the final arrangements to help you plan for Ride To The Sun.

Helping Young People and Homeless in our communities

A very important part of our Scouting values is to provide young people opportunities to develop and gain skills for life, and to contribute to the communities we live in. Ride To The Sun gives us a great opportunity to do both.

Fresh Start – helping the homeless in our communities settle into new homes

As well as raising funds for Scouting, our team also volunteer to help run the Café to raise £2,700 which Fresh Start will use to support over 2,000 people each year. Jenn McQuistan, Corporate Partnership Officer from Fresh Start gave us this feedback:

All the Scouts volunteers (leaders, young people and parents) were absolutely brilliant and such a fantastic help on the night. We literally couldn’t pull the café off without the help of the Scout volunteers, particularly on the scale that it now is, so please pass on a big thank you from everyone here to all who helped on the night and of course for the amazing organisation in the run-up to the event.

Fresh Start relies on the support of individuals and community groups, like the Scouts, to provide time, funds and goods to help deliver their services. There are many ways to get involved – for more information, please visit Fresh Start’s website.  Through your help Fresh Start can make a real difference to someone’s life, helping someone settle in their home and gain the skills and confidence to move forward with their life.

Scouts – preparing young people with skills for life

Every week, Scouts helps almost half a million people aged 4-25 develop Skills for Life. Being a volunteer is so rewarding for you in so many ways. You’ll only know if you try. You can work directly with the young people or more behind the scenes in whatever flexible role suits you in time, skill and space. You don’t have to have had any prior Scouting experience, you just need to want to do good, and help others.  If you believe in this as a set of values then this is a great opportunity for you. What’s not to like!  Please email us for an informal, no obligation, chat – it could be the start of a great new adventure!