Saturday 13 November 2010

Back on the Beach...


After a week off work ill with a horrid cold and no biking i was back out today for a short ride...i still have a bad cough but had to get out biking again!.
So i headed North 6 miles by road to Yellowcraig...

a place i visited alot as a kid on school holidays with my dad when he was the county ranger...
i rode down one of the trails i am leading a group of friends around tomorrow and despite a weeks heavy rain is bone dry...

thanks to the sandy loam free draining soil- the area is a raised beach,and was once sea...
from the trail to the east is one of my dream houses...

A former WW2 RAF building which was part of the coastal defence...what a house...it has alot of windows to clean!,it has a North and South conservatory for sunrise and sunset...


At the car park are good information signs about the area...

I love it down here,links with pine woods,a big wide beach,and its show piece Fidra Island and its lighthouse...


and the area is famous as being the haunt of one of Scotland's most famous author`s Robert Lewis Stevenson who spent many holidays in the local town of North Berwick,played golf and walked the beaches here...
and he based one of the most famous children's books here using Fidra island...

I did a loop of the woods on the clean dry trails,some covered in crispy dry leaves that crunched under the tyres...

Leaving the bike i walked up Yellowcraig hill, a low hill but gives a good coastal view...east across to the Bass Rock Island and the North Sea behind and to its right North Berwick Law...

to the North Fidra in the Firth of Forth Estuary and behind the coastline of Fife,the Estuary is around 14 miles at its widest-near here at North Berwick...

and of course a great view of the Lighthouse...it has a narrow gauge railway track on it down to its loading pier...

you can see its route here on a RCHMS website photo...

back on the pugsley and down onto the beach...

the new Larry tyres are amazing and have transformed the bike,no more strange steering on the road or bobbing up and down when peddleing hard like before, here is the new tread pattern to look out for if your down this way!...

Due to the shape of the Island Fidra looks quite differant depending if you are looking straight on or from the left or right,here straight on you dont see its sea arch...

there was a real cold wind on the near deserted beach...just a couple of dog walkers,this is the weather i love on the coast and the whole place nearly to yourself...this is a view!...

The recent strong winds have created tounges of soft sand up above the tideline...
and here they expose small stones and shells which sit up above the surrounding sand...

i love watch sand blowing like this,see here in a short bit of film...

There were a few washed up creels, ripped from there anchor points during the storms of last week...


Overhead a dark cloud threatend to rain but it never came...

time to zoom down the beach and enjoy the strong tailwind...

theres more of a buzz noise from the new Surly Larry tyres esp on tarmac but i like it!...

at the far end of the beach i stopped beside the coastal erosion from the big storms of last spring...

nearby some noisy Oyster Catchers were busy feeding...


Returning along the beach i headed for home as been out long enough while still not 100%...

came across this Sea Urchin Shell,it must of split while washed ashore,shame but there will be another sometime...

even got a bit sunshine...

what a lovely half days ride on the pugsley...love this bike...and have missed cycling on the coast....

13 comments:

  1. Nice report as usual...

    could you believe I just knew there is a sort of desert in my state!?...I'm trying to convince the wife to go tomorrow!...will be an awesome sort of beach ride!

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  2. Great post and I really like that first photograph.

    Totally different type of bike and tyres compared to what I'm used to but all great stuff.

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  3. martinsillo; yeah you have to go check it out!

    trevor woodford; the pugsley and since its creation the other makes of fatbikes have opened up a whole new type of offroad cycling!

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  4. Nice!
    Out of curiousity, what is the difference in tides there in height?
    The high water mark seems pretty far up the beach!
    Here it's only one or two feet.
    30 to 60 cms I mean.

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  5. B, Nice man, NICE!!!
    so..... it sounds like you are sold on the Larry's?? i'm also gonna take it the front hooks up real nice??
    how do you think a rear Larry (that doesn't sound too good!!?? LOL), would do in the snow????!!
    Peace, Joe

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  6. limom; tides vary up to 5 meters here, put in distance that can be up to 2 miles across some of the large bays like nearby Aberlady,

    joboo; a Lary tyre up front transforms the steering and handling,reckon a rear will be great in snow!

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  7. Wow! Some nice shots there! More new stuff on the bike besides the Larry's? Noticed the cool saddle. :)

    Those Larry's sure looks tempting, I'm waiting for the side walls on my Large marge to give up, hopefully(?) they will last over the winter, but then again it's now I need the grip! =)

    Was keeping good speed on a forest road this evening when I lost traction on my front wheel, thankfully I just fell over on my side glided on the road. Good thing nobody could see my pathetic acrobatic moves in the darkness. ;)

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  8. //harri; if you have the old 60 tpi sidewalls i cant recommend the newer 120 tpi tyres enough...
    alot of money but youcould sell your old tyres to help fund them, alot of folk are always looking for a 2nd hand endomorph tyre for semi fat front 29ers,well here in the UK anyway!

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  9. Glad you're feeling better and back in the saddle. Some great shots as usual CK. I like the tartan saddle in the first shot of your dream house!

    Cheers.....

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  10. Everyone has commented on the Tartan saddle Alistair!, world wide!, must only be available here in the UK!.
    Feeling alot better and good to be on the coast again!

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  11. You have some very nice write-ups along with the pictures/videos. I can't believe it took me so long to this.

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  12. Hi rlove2bike!, glad you like my ramblings...
    good blog you have there too,look forward to having a read through later, thanks

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  13. Treasure Island!!
    Have seen a BBC documentary about Scottish Pirates!!

    http://youtu.be/g4fRPMN1kCY

    Any family of you?? LOL

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