Back on Two wheels!

Friend Dave joined me for a beachride from Gullane to North Berwick,
A cold sunny winters day, blowing a gale but perfect for beach riding...

Back on the pugsley... -:)


We rode down from Gullane out onto the Nature Reserve, to show Dave some WW2 stuff he has seen on my blog, large 360 excavators have been clearing Sea Buckthorn, the jaggy invasive bush that has the orange berries,
the diggers twin tracks through the grass covered dunes make good paths to cycle on the pugsleys...


lying in the exposed sand on the track was an old Dunbar & Edinburgh lemonade bottle that would have once had a screw in lid, we left it for someone else to find...


The track took us near to what i was looking for, some WW2 coastal defence anti tank blocks which have writing on them from when they were made over 70 years ago...




NO 11
Wednesday
1940 21st August


EDIT; friend Ped noticed Wednesday is spelt wrong!, did you?, glad to see i am not the only one not great at spelling -:)

Most blocks were made by British Engineers, also some Polish regiments who escaped through France in 1939, and also by German POWs, here is a picture of a POW working under armed guard on the Gullane Road east of Aberlady as you drive out today along the coast...



My Dad gave me a German spoon he found in the sand during the 1970s/80s when he was County Ranger at a row of blocks near here...




Probably lost by a POW, you can read a bit more about it here on the
No Through Road Blog...

We rode up over the dunes on the narrow sandy paths through the jaggy matt grass, hard going with the strong side winds until down behind the dunes out of the cold wind...






I was now looking for something else which has near disappeared with encroaching sand dunes, hard to see at ground level but easy from the air, here it is on Google Earth in the centre of the picture...


Then i found the right path up to it, a light anti aircraft battery/machine gun pill box combined, nearly engulfed by the moving dunes...


It has 2 entrances, one outside and one in the centre, 8 sides and the remains of the wooden post which would of supported a light anti aircraft gun...


As kids we could walk around inside and see out the slots, now only about 3 feet of height, so there is at least 3 foot of sand inside...






Yes that roof base is nasty asbestos...


Hardly visable until you are nearly on top of the Pill Box, it also shows just how much higher the surrounding dunes are since 1940...




Time to get cycling again and out to Gullane point and into a cold wind,
enjoying the windy weather was a kite surfer, he must have come all the way from Longniddry, about 3-4 miles to the west...


No one was on the beach, it was stunning in the winter sun and great to freewheel along the hard sand, pushed by the strong wind...


A half moon this now means neap tides, despite it now low tide it was still at 2.4 meters, so a bit of walking over the rocks to get onto Gullane sands, amazing patterns here in the sandstone...




Bombing down Gullane sands alongside blowing sand...




The classic `pug on beach` shot, it has been a while...


Then the techy singletrack paths at Black Rocks along to Freshwater Haven bay...




It was quite wild out to sea...






Like i say quite wild!, again colour settings all wrong, i fixed it once home!...







Freshwater Haven...


Very happy to be back on the coast -:) ...


Further on there was some amount of new driftwood washed in here as we rode towards Yellowcraig since i was last here over a month ago...












Lots of techy rock riding here...


Just past Marine Villa is a bay of shiney black pebbles, above the shoreline all the Sea Buckthorn has been topped and shredded, at the bays east end behind was a visable bull dozed sand bank...




I clambered over the cut bushes for a look up on the sand bank to see if there was a rideable trail each way but it just seems to be a clearance job...




We flew along the hard sand at Broadsands at Yellowcraig, tailwind assisted,
Fidra Island with its white lighthouse glowed in the amazing afternoon light...




Shadow rider is back!, i am so happy to be cycling again on the coast...






Happy...


Dave and myself were ready for the promised coffee and cake at North Berwick...


It may have been a bitter cold day, but the light as we cruised into NB was amazing, It seems the colder it is, the better the light in Scotland...










Reckon we have found the perfect cafe for a winter stop...



Cake Cafe is really nice, lots of room inside, not too hot, so ideal if a sweaty cyclist, it has tables as well as big comfy leather easy chairs, and lovely big cups of Latte and good cake.
We got stuck into this lot...


Refulled we headed back to Gullane, riding inland a bit out of the headwind and along the John Muir Way trail, racing the sunset through Yellowcraig woods and Archiefield estate...



Back to Gullane just as the sun dissapeared behind a big dirty storm cloud that brought cold drops of rain, perfect timing...
Just another weekend riding on the beach, but made real special after recent health scares for both of us, Daves knee problem and my eyesight,
we both said just how lucky we are to be able to do this, what an amazing day...
Back home after a hot bath and then sitting in front of a roaring open fire i feel a great contentment and satisfaction, which i always get from days like this on the coast, i guess that is what coastal cycling does for me,
i love it, and its good to be back...life is good -:) ...