Sandblasted cc Beach race!, 5th November 2017

I`m entered for this race down the A1 at Morpeth, should be good fun!, riding the Surly Wednesday,

See you there if going,

Website and details;
https://www.sandblasted.cc

That magic last hour of light...

I`m always waffling on about that magic last hour of Daylight, where you get a superb burst of light before sunset, does not happen every day, but did tonight, easy to miss sitting at home , out in the garden i saw the sky changing so grabbed a bike and across two fields got these pics and some film...

More Geese...

Autumn gold....

Wee film,
Song is `Culture of Fear` by Thievery Corperation...


Harvest Sunset Cycle; The magic last hour... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


More soon...

Mid week Cycle; 1 hour fix; Gullane Point

Another short ride, I was up at Sunrise and down to Aberlady Bay with the van to witness the amazing site of the thousands of Pink Footed Geese that arrive from Greenland every Autumn and graze by day in the surrounding fields, then return to the bay in the evenings...

More about them in the next blog post,
This morning i parked at Quarry corner and rode out to Gullane Point, it was a cool but stunning morning as the sun came up over the rise of Kingston and Drem and lit up the grass dunes like gold...

One of my favourite views looking across Aberlady Bay to Craigielaw, where we grew up
The  old metal road across the hill to the coast was built by the Home Guard in 1940 to build the `Coastal Crust` concrete coastal defences, most are still here today where the increasing height of the dunes have not swallowed them up...

Interestingly the are of dunes does not have an actual name on maps as it has only appeared in the last 80 years or so as the Marram grass has stabilised the dunes that continue to grow.
The area of marsh are inland is marked on older map as today as `Yellow Myres`,

The track down through the encroaching Sea Buckthorn has now narrowed to the width of a footpath, When i worked here as a Greenskeeper when i left school 30 years ago on Gullane Golf Course the road was wide enough for tractors to drive sand from the now disused sand hole for top dressing greens and green side bunkers, and down to the beach for rougher sand that we called `gravel` for fairway bunkers-it was used as did not blow as much in windy weather, it would blunt mowers if knocked up onto the greens if used at greensides,

Anyway back to the track and here is a wee film dropping down through the Seabuckthorn, it passes a flat area once the football pitch for the Home Guard, and through the old sand hole and down to the rock at Gullane Point,
Song is `Before You Go` by The Brian Jonestown Massacre


Surly Pugsley; Descending to Gullane Point, Oct 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

Rather than ride across the Bay and then need to wash the bike once home (i would be out riding again later) i rode along the dunes...

Its about a 5 minute ride so i did a non stop film to show the riders view,  always better when a rider(s) in front but no one else out here this early...

Glad to be wearing thick KUHL jeans so not to feel the tough spiky Marram grass to much...

To the big dune at the end and an amazing 360 degree view point...

Here is the film,
Song is `Post-Modern Sleaze` by Sneaker Pimps...


Surly Pugsley;  Dawn cycle along the Dunes. Oct 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

From the dunes it was back across the Reserve to the van and home as loads to do today but a nice wee ride...

If you have an interest in out here then a must read is `Footbridge to Enchantment` by the late local author Nigel Tranter, a friend of my father, and as a child at primary school he would visit and tell stories of local history, then when i left high school and started my apprenticeship as a Greenskeeper   i  would often see him taking his daily walk across the reserve and would exchange a wave,
Always notebook in hand, stopping every so often to write, most of his novels were written from notes taken out here, the book tells  lot of history about the land out here and how it has grown and how the Bay has filled in and saltwater marshes where once there were beach huts on sandy beaches,  worth finding a copy...

More soon...

Mid week cycle; 1 hour fix at Tyninghame...

I do enjoy this time of year when the nights are growing shorter rapidly and you have to get a move on after work to get out for a daylight ride-esp if you want to do some filming. Motivation to ride is easy as your racing the sunset,
After commuting home i loaded the old Pugsley into the van and within 10 mins i was unloaded and ready to ride.
Not riding to the beach there is no need for specific cycling clothes, work clothes are fine,  just a swap to my Salomon boots, and a Merino base layer under a T shirt.
5pm and no parking charges after 4pm now were on winter hours!...

Down to Ravensheugh and the beach was deserted, perfect...

After the 40mph+ gales yesterday the dunes at Peffersands were rock hard on the top and soft on the slopes, and the beach blasted with logs and grass humps exposed.
I had one plan for this ride, head for the dunes!

Here is a short 2 minute film,
Song is `Talk-Action-Shit` by The Brian Jonestown Massacre`


Surly Pugsley Dune Surfing at Tyninghame, Oct 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


More soon...

Broadsands at sunset...

Into October now and you can feel Autumn in the air now. The seasons all have things i look forward too working out doors, even the shorter evenings as the scenery and light changes, take the coast, with 7pm sunsets you get a totally different light yet are home with he stove on nice and cosy and still have the evening to enjoy by 8pm.

This evening the wind had dropped from a full on gale of 40mph gusts and after a cycling free weekend i enjoyed the days commute then home and put the old Pugsley in the van and headed down to North Berwick for an hours ride before sunset,
The John Muir Way is a good way to make your way out to Yellowcraig and keep out of a strong westerly wind. Crossing the field to Yellowcraig and amazing low light-that magic hour...

Through the woods and onto he coast, near deserted i had the beach to myself soon enough and the last light of the day was fantastic...

The windswept sands of Broadsands were hard and easy going....

Riding down a flat hard sand beach is not boring when you have such amazing views and Autumn sunset light, you just have to soak up the scenery and be thankfull you live somewhere real special...

Into NB and with the light fading it was time to head home and get the stove lit,got a couple of months rides like this after work to look forward to when high pressure weather,

Wee film using the mono pod and Go Pro,
Song is `Owls and Vultures` by Luke Janela...


Surly Pugsley; Sunset beach ride at Broadsands... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.
More soon...

Midweek Evening cycle along the coast...

Thursday evening and a mild day of sunshine and ideal for a beach ride after work, down to the coast below the Estate and west along to Gullane Point...

Gathering rain clouds to the west would rob me of a sunset later but for now there was some nice light on the sea and wet sand...

I played around on the rocks and did some filming all in an area about a 1/4 mile of coastline below Archerfield to Freshwaterhaven, with not a lot of film i have slowed most of it down to fit a favourite
Song; `You Have Been Disconnected` by The Brian Jonestown Massacre...


Midweek Evening  Beachride; Sept 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

Filming done i continued, across Freshwaterhaven`s firm sand where i played some more...

 Gullane sands...

Gullane Point...

Happy, i returned above the coast climbing up above the cliffs and on down to `Bake Bean` trail and through the grassland dunes to Marine Villa, the light now fading...

Soon be at Yellowcraig and the JMW back to the Estate and the Van, dark by 7am...

More soon

Return to Shell Bay...

The woods i grew up in and played as kids, and the beach at Shell Bay where we spent summer days beach combing...

The coast here has never really changed...

With a low tide i cycled out across the wet sands and across Gosford Bay...

Ferney Ness and a deserted car park from a closed coastroad for a running event...

A coast road of runners...

Wee film...
Song is Here It comes` by The Brian Jonestown Massacre...


Surly Pugsley; Cycle across Gosford Bay Sept 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.


More soon...