Monday 27 September 2010

A Grand Day Out...


So i posted an invite to a rideout on MTBscotland and Singletrack world mountainbike forums for a days riding here in East lothian for Sunday,out an estimated 20 riders 15 turned up on 14 bikes...puzzeled?...Jeremy came on his Tandem!,i worked out a route in my head which could be shortened here and there if weather,bike breakdowns or stuff occurred but we ended up having a trouble free day bike wise and was blessed with Indian summer style weather despite a cool North easterly straight off the coast...
but first saturday i was down the coast at for 7am to trim a few branches on the secret trail...moon was still out when i left...
yep i haven't ever seen a field of Pumpkins before in East Lothian either...

was a lovely morning...


back home and it was off to the shops for essentials...jelly babies,whiskey and cake...lots of cake...

Sunday dawned cloudy as forecast but dry..clear out to sea and offshore wind i knew it would later clear as it did...with everyone arrived who could make it we headed up onto the Garlton Ridgeroad...

at the top of the climb at Barney Hill a few sips of Hip flasks and sweets while we had a breather...then we headed to descend down to Haddington through the roadside woods...time to switch on the camera`s...here a rear view mount under the seat...



East of Haddington an old road descends from Trapain Law to Hailes Castle...

dual power!



then it was along the Hailes trail to East Linton...some film...



alongside the River Tyne east of East Linton...

and joining the John Muir Way we winged it to the cafe at Tyningham for food...


the cafe is in the old blacksmiths beside the now closed village Post Office...

Jeremys cannondale tandem..had a wee shot and its real different to a regular bike...has a big turning circle!...i really like it...

Earl Grey tea for me today (old chap...)

then it was off down to the coast to show everyone some of the coastal scenery here...think they were impressed...



i was impressed at all the MTb`s in East Lothian...bet this is the biggest organised ride around here ever...

all this was on video...including the secret trail...




riding the rocks while we re-group...


next through Binning Woods heading for Sherriff Hall woods and The JMW again...



caught on camera...



stopping off at mine for more tea,coffee & cake!

then the last of the trails back to drem railway station...


we rode 55Km...over 6 hours...
pinched this via Andrew...via Tim!...

and we all felt tierd...riding home alone again i hoped everyone went away having enjoyed my local trails...North Berwick tp Tyningham and inland to Haddington has become my backyard since moving to the centre of here and im really glad...and lucky to live here and have all this accessable countryside on my doorstep...


have a read through the thread i posted for this ride...gives you an indication of the friendship and humour of these guys...organising lifts etc...some great pics from friends and a pic of me on the Tandem!
Singletrack World Forum...
great folk to spend a day biking with...

10 comments:

  1. Welcome to COASTKID Tours!!
    Your guide for adventures cycling in East Lothian!!

    LOL

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  2. aye...and its free!...just bring a hip flask of Scottish whiskey...sweets...and a love of the open air and you get a fun day out -:)

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  3. Looks really good Bruce. I've rode the Hailes track before from the top of Traprain and some of the Garleton ridge (managed to get lost up there, wtf) And I've walked through Balgone (if that where the vid was) Hopefully I'll be up for doing it all in the same day soon!! I had a play about in Saltoun Big Woods, some nice trails there. Also a nice wee bit of singletrack that starts at the top of Kinchie and ends up joining the railway track. I think its marked as burnt woods on the map. look for the blue gates on the google map link.
    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=ar+125&ie=UTF8&ll=55.893435,-2.892666&spn=0,0.038581&z=15&layer=c&cbll=55.893391,-2.892859&panoid=CZMenvEza3KnS8Mcrqfpuw&cbp=12,4.66,,0,5
    East Lothian is a top place, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

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  4. yeah were lucky or what mike?! -:)
    i like it up at Saltoun,know the trail from the blue gate,theres a whole loop up there from Pencaitland...

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  5. Great stuff. They must have thought it was Christmas at the wee coffee shop in Tyningham when you all arrived there. Its not the biggest of places - but some of the scones and cakes are fabby.......

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  6. looks awesome, scenery there is immense!

    i love that pumpkin pic

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  7. Loved the steps in the top video (7:32)!

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  8. Rocketdog; East Lothian is a lovely county,often missed by folk as they speed up the A1 from Berwick to Edinburgh...

    Al; woman at counter did smile when i said 15!!!

    red; wouldnt like to crash on those steps!

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  9. Wow! What a megapost!

    Like how you covered the whole food circle with the 'food' on the table! =)

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  10. plenty cake always keeps everyone happy //harri
    were all doing a niteride at Glentress tomorroq evening...that will be fun too!

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