Edinburgh, in my experience, has very good cycling connections, except in the town centre. Crossing Edinburgh city centre is awful in any direction. I live in Granton and if I want to cross to the south side, I go down the Telford path (NCR 1) to Haymarket, then cross to the Union Canal, then through the Meadows and pick up NCR 1 through the Innocent tunnel or Causewayside towards the bypass, depending where I’m heading. Thus avoiding the city centre altogether.