Sunday 15 May 2011

Saturday,Seacliff, sea and sand...

Good to get riding on the beach again after a frenzy of spannering in the man cave lately.
Jason came along to my house and we did my local beachride loop which i take for granted but Jason commented on is a very varied riding of mixed terrain which you would not want to ride on any other bike but a fatbike.
It was blowing a hooly with clear skys and clouds flying by with the odd shower once we rode the John Muir Way and some grassy field boundrys to Seacliff- this area has to be the most scenic part of coast in East Lothian with the views over to Tantallon Castle, The bass Rock Island and further out the May Isle and across tthe firth of Forth to Fife,
looking across this view from work daily i feel very lucky...






And the Harbour below,
claimed to be the smallest commercial harbour in the world,
Seacliff Estate is owned by the Dale family, Jack Dale was sleeping in his pick up awaiting the retreating high tide to allow him to drive out with his mornings catch of lobsters from the creels...


Already i had noticed how much lighter (if you can say that about a pugsley) my bike was with the mech gears back on, well balanced and we had already noted that Jasons 1st gear on the 32t -24t Alfine 8 speed was the same as my 3rd gear, which was what i was looking forward to again for real soft sand riding, picking our way through the rock pools and carrying the bikes over large rocks in the retreating tide we got to the harbour...


Thrift...




You can see the wind whipping up the sea in the rock pools as Jack drove back to the beach...


Around the sea side of the rock there was a bit of a swell with that wind...


With the tide lower after just a half hour here we headed east along the beach...




No filming today,just enjoying the ride with a few pics, we were looking though for ideal spots to film in the future to try and show just what these bikes can ride over and as well as around the harbour and very soft sand on the beach below the car park are the rocks along the coast to the East, there are some excellent tricky sections which are rewarding to `clean` feet up...


Steeper than it looks...




Using a tripod does not seem to capture the terrain so hand held camera filming by a 2nd person should be better, and quicker!.
Hard spotting the rocks under water though...




Pick your way through this lot!...




Onto the sand again at Peffersands, it was like a sandstorm in the wind,whipped up sand pinging on the frames...




A lot of sand has moved with the past few weeks windy weather and the washed out base of the dunes are filled in again...




Yee haa!...


Up above the coastline and around the singletrack trails of Tyninghame woods...


Then along the secret trail and through Tyninghame woods to Tyninghame village cafe,Yum...


Then more variety as we rode along the River Tyne path to Smeaton Mill and from there fieldside trails home...


Maybe i did not get all the variety of terrain on camera but maybe the whole route could be put on film shooting over a number of days and edited into a longer 15 minute film...good to be out on the pugsley again...

9 comments:

  1. This week on TOP GEAR!!
    "The escape of devils island by pick up" LOL

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  2. Great photo's~again! You can also tell how hard and consistent the wind is blowing in video #1 by watching the dandelions in the foreground.

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  3. avoid that car if you see it for sale!

    In Scotland we call a strong gale a `hooly`,
    another expression is:
    `it wid blaw the heed off yi`

    and if a cold wind its a `lazy wind`,
    as it goes through you instead of around you!

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  4. Hehee, nice sayings. :)

    Another great post. That's one cool island. Is that cut it harbour made just for civilian use?

    That Pugsley sand dune surfing shot is amzing!

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  5. As always....great pictures and an interesting post.... Nice to see the cafe stop- coffee and cake- a man after my own heart..!

    -Trevor

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  6. //harri, the harbour has a natural entrance,
    The harbour itself was made in 1890 using a steam engine and compressed air to cut the stone, it has always been used for fishing by the Estate.

    trevor; coffee and cake is a must on a good ride!

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  7. //harri; my friends dad Jack has a website here, scroll to the bottom page! something i never see when out on the coast!

    http://www.seacliff.co.uk/Jack%20Dale%20Fishing%20at%20Seacliff.pdf

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  8. Haha!! Thats one sweet.... Lobster! ;)

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