Saturday 6 March 2010

springtide beachride...


theres still snow on the local lammermuir hills but springtime is more evident here when out and about...from being daylight from 6.30am to 6.30pm to the birdsong in the mornings and today a really low tide (following a very hightide..)
rode an out and back beachride from north berwick to aberlady point...
into the westerly breeze above the coast then returned mostly along the tideline for a bit of beachcombing...
lots of roe deer about today..they didnt bother about me as i passed by...

a quick loop around yellowcraig woods before riding through to the dunes of west links above freshwaterhaven and the many criss cross paths through the grassy dunes...


young roe deer...

new brooks saddle not too uncomfy...though gary had done an approx 200 miles on it...
think i have a brooks ass now so not to bad!...first one you break in is always the worst...

the woods here at jamies neuk have been half felled, pity as there was some lovely sandy trails through pines, you can still see the trails...

further down is still woods with a few trails to ride...

from here along to gullane and the climb up onto the hill to check the bay..as i thought after the recent big swell theres lots of water sitting on the sandbank where the WW2 midgit subs lie so will be rippled sand and not much point riding...

a concrete circle where there was a WW2 anti aircraft gun... there is another one now nearly covered in a large area of sea buckthorn below the 9th hole of gullane No3 golf course...

down the cliff top trail to `maggies loup` cliffs and onto the reserve...

from the old golf course sand pit on the reserve above gullane point a metalled road runs due south alongside the WW2 coastal defence anti tank blocks here which are 3 across...

half way down a path leads to the reserve point high tide line..today it was covered in stuff washed up...

the point is the best place for shells...after each big swell rolls in different shells turn up...today was alot of larger shells like these types of mussels and also cockles of all sizes and small scallops...

and these i think a type of urchin...

brought them home aswell as this...looks like a vertibrae (from what?) looks a bit like an animal!...

along a bit from the point was mostly wood,seaweed and plastic rubbish...

and a dead seal pup...poor wee fellow...

you find all things washed up..look at this chair!...sitting upright...there are no footprints around it!...you can see where the tide has moved it back and forward...

after here its along gullane sands 2 miles past freshwaterhaven where there was an adult seal washed up...you could smell it before you saw it...

along to the rocks at weaklaw for the next good bit for beachcombing...but the high tides had ripped everything out below the dunes...hardly a shell or bit of wood...the opposite of aberlady point...oh well thats nature...i didnt take many pics until broadsands and pointgary as i did a bit filming while cycling which you can watch below...



a nice day out though i hoped to find more interesting stuff washed up though its been a week since the big swell came in...still every ride on the pugsley is fun...and i really love riding on the coast...


click on the thumbnail below for some film...

4 comments:

  1. awh.. the pup. :( Otherwise, good stuff. :)Thanks for sharing... and how about that concrete circle thing? Creepy cool.

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  2. the concrete circle...wierd how it hasnt growen over with grass after 60 years..army stuff seems built to last!

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  3. Great film, fantastic ride, lucky barsteward! ;-)

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  4. thanks clive...i ride this lenght of coast at least once every 2 weeks and never find it boring...the change in weather,sand movement,wildlife and the beachcombing keep it interesting...

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