Saturday 20 December 2014

2014 Winter Solstice; 7th Annual Fatbike Beachride


Happy Winter Solstice!, well i`m a day early!, but busy tomorrow on Sunday the 21st, shortest day of the year.
7 years now i have been fatbiking and riding the coast on the Winter Solstice, this years fell on the weekend so no night ride on a Pugsley after work. Today i just rode down to my local nearest part of our coast at Tyninghame,
I had planned to go on to John Muir Park after here but with the afternoon high tide i decided to wrap up the day around 1pm to get home and do other stuff...

20th December sunrise 8.40am,  i headed out around 9am...


Through the local woods all was quiet, today is the last Saturday before Christmas.  Folk will be running around the shops like loonies today. Rather have some `Me time` down on a quiet coast with a fatbike...




Onto the beach at Peffersands...






Amazing light today in the low mid winter sun...




Looks a warm glow?, don`t be fooled!, it was only 4 degrees Celsius, with the wind chill probably near freezing...









Along a deserted beach, only one dog walker i met later...




This was the place i first rode onto deep sand on my Pugsley the day after i picked it up brand new, i still remember the laughing as the bike just kept going over the soft stuff...

And i came here on the first winter solstice beach ride and made a film-the first Pugsley film i did, though i did not publish it for a month or so and had published another first on snow, i was still learning how to edit them!,
And here is that first winter Solstice film on the same bike i am riding today...
Shot with an original 50mm lens Tachyon SD camera the footage is a bit shoddy!




Hee hee good times!, and still as good fun today.  6 years later and back again, same old frame set,  and most of my cycling apparel i was wearing today!



Time for a coffee out of the cold wind, cheers folks! ;)



Need to get this frame set back to original `Thunderbird Grey` soon...


Along the secret trail...





Now vegetation has died back you can see remains of two WW2 home guard slit trenches either side of the only remaining machine gun pill box here at Tyninghame Links...





This is one of my favourite parts of our coast, pine trees and blue skies and sandstone rocks glowing in the low midwinter sun...



Along the trail through the blocks...






And out around Duck Island...


And now things have died back a bit a look at the WW2 machine gun pill box out here in amongst the encroaching Sea Buckthorn...




There is a trench west to another concrete shelter-probably an ammunition store, but too jaggy to push through the Buckthorn in paclite gear i was wearing today!.
On around the point and into the baltic cold wind...




And across the salt marsh to Mosshouse point...


This salt marsh is a fragile habitat,  my fatbike leaves less of a footprint than walkers tracks...


I started riding/bush whacking a trail following the tank blocks here a few months ago. No cutting branches or anything, just following the blocks through the wood...




Should be ride able by Forth Fat next May...

It pops out onto the coast a couple of times...


Before reaching Mosshouse Point...





Down through the woods...

And across Tyninghame Estate...





And head for home...

Just gone midday and loads of riding time left to sunset but got other things to do...



It`s good having another Alfine hub gear on a Pugsley again, after a muddy ride there is no debris to clean out the cassette and the bike just needs a re lube of Squirt on the chain. No need to wash it today, it will be back out on Christmas Eve for an afternoon/sunset cycle...


More soon...

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