Retrospect 2012

Ok this is a long post, as having a break until after the New Year...

First off i want to thank all you people who stop in here for a browse,
and there is a lot of you!
This year coastrider blog has had daily views of between an average 455 - 785!
Some pages have had 18,000+  views now from people all around the world.
The stats show popular pages this year are posts on my 2 new bikes built this year and WW2 related stuff. The most popular post to date is those little WW2 Submarine Wrecks out in Aberlady Bay and the known history of them that i have found out locally from people and on line...

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It was 5 years in November since i got my Surly Pugsley and it will be 5 years next March since i started a blog of its journey. It has been a great journey and to some extent been life changing...
I have met some great friends, still to meet many `Internet` friends at future fat bike meets and i have an address book of invites from people all around the world who i have become friends with through them finding my blog...
Can a bicycle be life changing?.
A bicycle can certainly change the path of life you are on and while my career slowly ground to a mere halt my cycling over the last 5 years has inspired me to make the most of your life and coastal cycling has combined many of my hobbies and interests. I feel i am now doing what i really love and enjoy when out and about usually here in East Lothian and sometimes further afield...
Posting on here i have tried to stick to the original blog theme and combine all my interests when i can in threads to try and keep things interesting...

I do not think the grammar and spelling etc will improve much now people,  i still get the odd grumble comment about that but no one makes anyone read it...

I have been asked several times if i wish to advertise on the blog by shops and make some money but it is not what this blog is about, and what people make from you is a lot more...

This blog will always be independent and unsponserd.

I will of course have anything cycling related to test  for free if you want! -:)
but i will write my own opinions be it good or bad...


My cycling is where i like it now and i am totally content cycling locally and my bikes are all set up specific for here in East Lothian.
I only rode fully ridged bikes this year. No need for suspension for where i ride, 29er or fat bike is all i need.
I did not ride at Glentress Trail Centre. I just had no inclination to drive down and ride there. There is still a regular MTB hanging in the man cave just in case but cannot see it out in a hurry..

I am now spending less time in front of a pc in the evenings.
I will continue writing my blog as usual, and will look in and post on our UK FatBike Forum.

But i am not bothering with reading many other cycling related forums anymore and also be on facebook less.
I find it irritating that community forums and facebook group pages inc peoples own page posts about their own bicycles are getting more filled with shops and businesses using (hijacking) these places to advertise on, esp when they already have their own shop pages!
I have recently  `un followed` a few previous likes and pages on facebook and un friended people who i don't ever see on there to talk to/ or who do not talk to me!,  200 odd folk now removed.
Just the good friends old and new, close to home and far away now...


2012
Been a year to be proud to be British...

The British summer weather at its best!  lol...

Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France, first Brit to do so,
drug free too! -:) ...

Our athletes did us proud at the Olympics in London. I liked the opening ceremony...
I found the games lifting to watch in the evenings after a hard day at work in the rain...

The Jubilee, whether your a Royalist or not to see our Heritage of British Military Aircraft flypast was impressive...

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Anyway its been a year of ups and downs but all in all life is good and getting outdoors and enjoying your own company or the company of friends is something you cannot put a price on and i think you appreciate it more as you get older.
This year was tough with the weather - the wettest ever on record.
Yes i know there are always good weather in 99% of pics and film shot here in East Lothian on the blog but that's of course because i am always out if its nice!.
Believe me there was some truly awful wet and miserable and cold days at work during the week and at out cycling at weekends over the summer.

It was the wet summer at work that was to be a real nightmare throughout June and July as the wetness combined with restraints on expenditure on old machinery and no new waterproof clothing (yes really!) meant were all pushed to the limits, near breaking point for us all in the team. At times it made me question often where it was all going.
But you just dig deep and have to get on with it, and i am glad that we did...

Every cloud has a silver lining, and we go into 2013 under new ownership at my place of employment with big changes about to happen which i have to say i am very excited about. It has been a long wait and hopefully now my career will take the path of my old work colleges from Gullane and i too will get to do my job to the best of my ability as we were trained to go on to do, with support for myself and the team and we will all benefit from it, which is how it should be....

`Golf is an Art, Greenkeeping a Science`
`Those taught how to do so, should be allowed to do so`

I would like to say thanks to all the reps and people in our industry i know and people locally who have been in touch recently to say how pleased they are and wishing myself and the team all the best for the future...

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My dad going into hospital has been tough on dad and our family, and esp for mum. Now dad is settled in a good local nursing home we are lucky for that and we are still a family and all here for each other...

So a quick monthly highlights of blog posts i will always remember from 2012...
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January;
Once the Xmas lights are all turned off everywhere gets a bit dull and dreary in January.
The New Year always starts for me with the greatest off road motor adventure race - the Dakar Rally.
Every evening during the cold dark evenings of January for 3 weeks we can watch images of motorcycles, cars and trucks race through some of the most scenic desert of South America beamed into our living rooms...

Always amazing desert landscape scenery from the helicopters as they follow the racers leaving rooster tails of dust over those monster dunes, Sandtastic!...

 
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There was no snow this January after the previous two years freak weather.
But there was a bit of a MOON theme going on here on the blog as i was getting excited about a bicycle i had ordered and been waiting 8 months for, i was delighted when Charlie Bikemonger posted this wee film on youtube via Facebook of a bike which would soon be heading to Scotland... -:)



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Out every Saturday cycling on the coast, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends...

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I loved the youtube film for this amazing House for Sale in the USA,
Or more so what is underneath it,  the ultimate man cave?...

                                                                                     
                                     
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30 years ago the classic Spielberg film ET was released, and the BMX craze took off big time here in the UK, Teenagers now had their own wheels and identity...                                                       
I really enjoyed writing the  Old School BMX post which brought back great memories of some of the best years of my life. Skills learned then like wheelies, bunny hops, and track standing serve you well in later years cycling, even if were all older and heavier!...
A special time in cycling history and glad i was there and rode some of the most innovative bicycles ever made at a time of real progression in getting wheels off the ground...

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Meanwhile more beach riding...

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February;

Space week on coastrider blog...

`The Eagle has landed` -:)

click on the cog icon to view in higher quality HD


I freaked when i pulled the wheels out the box of the Moonie!, they are massive! -:) amazing paint job, very nice quality to the 100mm wide rims and massive squidge from the tyres! ...

The Moonie got some alterations to the cosmetics as soon as it was built, then some Hope stuff was added later. It is not better than a pugsley because it is fatter, it is different and in the right places it is simply amazing where this bike can go with its massive footprint. i term it `Mission Specific` and you can read what i have changed, why, and what i love about this bike on the Surly Moonlander Review i posted...

It has been put through its paces and is amazing riding across slippery rocks an the coast... and its got a sweet balance point too on the back wheel which just brings out the big kid in ones self -:) ..


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Its been fun riding the big beastie but i still love the Pugsley too!,
February had some lovely days at weekends to cycle on the coast as i enjoyed the new bike...

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One overcast day was great riding through the Salt Marshes and around the Kilspindie coastline with friend Jason , the beach where i grew up below Craigielaw...

click on the cog icon to view in higher quality HD


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Did some great Urban Exploration (URBEX) with a  WW2 German POW Camp Cooler Explore which still has writing on the walls written 70 years ago by some of those naughty boys...

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Also an update post and film of Gin head WW2 Radar Testing and Research Facility ...

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A post on my 3 Surly Bikes as i have set them up for coastal cycling here in East Lothian...

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And mid week night riding on the coast...

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March;
                                                                 
March is the lowest tides of the year and i always get out on that weekend when you can visit stuff usually under water...

A visit to the wreck of  the SS Poderosa ...

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Post 481 was a post on 4 years of the blog and has had a lot of reads and comments...

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Early Spring and i did a ride and film through Woodland Trails where i grew up and made a film that i enjoyed making, using a mono pod with the Go Pro mounted on it for some of the film gave a nice view on things...
This is one of my most favourite films i have made.
I think it is because i was kind of touching base with stuff that i have always tried to blog and film but also while trying to do the usual style film i also realised afterwards when friend Jason mentioned it that the lyrics of the song (which is `WASH`   by Phontaine) touched a few nerves from my recent illness scare and that it is something i would not wish on anyone...
Filmed in the woods where i grew up and first cycled offroad...

click on the cog icon to view in higher quality HD...



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Operation Bigfoot was a ride that took place back in January but i did not post as it was for an article on beach riding for UK Singletrack Magazine...

I finally met on line friend  Steve Makin who would write a great article and along with Steve and  STW  Deputy Editor Jenn Hopkins pictures really captured our coastline and it was interesting riding and working with professional journos - a bit different than taking a few snaps with a cheap compact and writing a blog!.
We were joined for the weekend by friends Andy and Jane and it was a great weekend showing them some our our coastline. the article featured in Issue 72

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One of my favourite blog posts;
25th March and clocks change and signal the start of British Summer time and i did a post on the Victorian British Summer Holiday at the seaside, you may be surprised where the idea came from...

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A fun day riding the rocks at Barnes Ness on the Moonlander rounded up another fun month of fat biking...

Click on the cog icon to view in HD quality...


               
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April;
April started with one of the highlights of the year when i finally got airborne for my 40th birthday present from friends. Cancelled last year several times due to high winds then a month of illness and i got up for my hour and a half flight with East Lothian Microlights at East Fortune.
We flew east to the coast at Tyninghame then west around the coast with a loop around the Bass Rock and Fidra Island, up to Edinburgh, over the City, then inland and back over the Garleton Hills with some touch and go landings then an engine off corkscrew landing... it was amazing!,
i loved it and it was stunning to sea our coast from the air...

The unedited flight is on Youtube and on the blog post with all the pics i took, here is the wee taster film i made from Tyninghame to Aberlady Bay, with the corkscrew landing...
Big views need a big tune!, so a re edited `Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada`

click on the cog icon to view in HD quality...



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Continuing on the Flight scene i found this amazing RC plane film on Vimeo, one of many fantastic made films...

Dream of flight from Crazy Horst on Vimeo.

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And more cycling...

One day was a solo ride around the hardest part of coast to ride, below Tantallon Castle

Wrong slippy shoes on and should have took the Moonlander, and a bit silly riding around here alone  where the coast is cut off at high tide with no escape and the rocks you are riding will be under 6 feet of water at high tide leaving you in real trouble if injured in a fall but as Victorians would say;

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I went to Rothsay on the Isle of Bute with Tom in his Pembleton 3 wheeler kit car to visit our friend John.

Roadtrip Report here, and film from a fun weekend away...

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A class Visit Scotland parody on Youtube...


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Meanwhile more coast riding...

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FatBike Tours;
Dave at local bike shop Law Cycles in my home town of North Berwick had got the fat bike bug and offered me to do guiding on a fleet of pugsleys here on the East Lothian coast...
The Bikes on the NB Surly tree -:) ...

By the time we were ready to take bookings  i was realising that i could not do this in out of work hours as well as my job which as we moved into June was looking like it was going to be a real struggle with what would be the wettest weather, and also have time to enjoy my own cycling, hobbies and interests, and had to pull out.  It was not a nice decision and i did not like doing it, and felt i let Dave (and Alasdair) down...
Dave was cool about it and i still try to give him/get him any local Surly business as he still is selling fat bikes (or any other Surly stuff) so give Dave a visit or a call if you want to order anything or are aware you are being drawn to `the Fat Side`...  beware the power of the Fat Side...

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Talking of which it was time for the 2nd UK Fat Bike Gathering!

Grizedale in the Lake District

A great weekend in the Lakes, home of Wordsworth and Betrix Potter, and a giant metal ant, you need to check the pics in the post...
And met more fellow fat biking friends, and put faces to friends from the Internet...

I also enjoyed a visit to the Dock Museum on Sunday at Barrow in Furnace, The Home of Vickers Armstrong, who made our wee WW2 midget submarines that are out in Aberlady Bay. Many of Britain's most famous war ships and submarines including Dreadnought were built here, a fascinating museum.
We got a great industrial history tour from Mike (Doc Feelygood) who is from the area is very proud of his area and its Industry heritage...

Riding film from the Sunday Beach ride, happy days...
click on the cog icon to select HD...



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May;
Lighter nights starting to draw out now and back on the coast mid week after work...

These pics were on a dry evening, during a fortnight of wet, cold, miserable weather...

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Posted many cycling films i find on line....


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A popular post that is still getting a lot of views was the Surly Moonlander review as already mentioned...

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I got free tickets to a Scottish Chamber Orchestra performance in Edinburgh from a friend and being single i did the proper Scottish Bachelor thing and invited my big sis along as she already is a Opera fan...

I was blown away by the sheer amplified noise from wooden and brass instruments and as i get older i appreciate classical music more and more...

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A Sunday morning was spent riding across the Tyninghame coast exposed at low tide sand and rocks Moon wandering... riding stuff that really should not be possible to ride easily on a bicycle...

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As you know i am a massive fan of the WW2 Supermarine Spitfire, always on about them...
This film i posted is probably one of the best films i have come across of one still flown today.
This Mk IX Supermarine Spitfire is based at Biggin Hill and flown here by pilot Dan Griffiths,
Considered one of the finest Spitfires this film shows this planes amazing tight turning ability which made it such a feared weapon.
Watch it loop from near ground level.
By 1945  the  P51 Mustang became the main Allied fighter as the war ended, but it is documented that German pilots would if given the option not engage in a one on one dog fight with Spitfires due to its deadly manoeuvrability and by then the experience of the pilots who were still flying them...

So  a 70 year old iconic plane still capable of being pushed to its limits...
Enjoy the supercharger whine and roar of that famous V12 Merlin engine on full song!



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Meanwhile more mid week evening beach riding...

And at weekends with friends...

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Another cycling film i posted. Everyone with a passion in Bicycles likes  films on hand built bikes...



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And i posted my favourite song from High School seeing as it was 25 years ago i left school this year,
i bought the single on vinyl (for those under 30 years of age vinyl is a black plastic type disc) -:)



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Saturday 26th May was a warm day!, summer or so we thought, had arrived at least for that weekend...

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June;
25 years ago this month i left High School and stepped put into the real world and started an apprenticeship
I really enjoyed writing this thread on the last 25 Years as you kind of touch base with yourself when you write about your own life...

It was cycling as usual on the coast...

I really enjoyed a ride west of Aberlady Bay early one morning at a very low tide...
click on the cog icon to view in HD



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The yearly weekend Roadtrip to the Fort William UCI World Cup to see some of the most skilled cyclists riding the hardest Down Hill track on the World Cup Circuit is always a thrill, what ever the weather...

And also as usual go visit places up there that make you proud and to value what we have today in our country...

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It was `the lull before the storm` that 2 weeks in June before what would be a monsoon July! when i was on holiday. After Fort William i spent the rest of my holidays at home, would have been nice to have went away but i enjoyed a week at home and ride my bikes daily here on the East Lothian coast...
One nice evening beach ride was with friend Mike across Aberlady Bay after we managed to ford the Peffer Burn at a shallow point - the depth changes here all the time so it is often hit or miss, then a few beers at coastkid HQ with the Chimera roaring...

I did a film, click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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I did a Dusk to Dawn Summer Solstice Ride a week before the longest day, the 21st as i was on holiday and also the forecast was not good for the coming weekend....

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With the Royal Jubilee some films popped up on Youtube of the fly by aircraft...
British history that should always be remembered... The Queens face was a joy with the roar of those Merlin engines!...


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Our midget WW2 submarine wrecks were featured on BBC Coast ...

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Meanwhile it was still plenty of evenings spent beach riding...

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There was a hive of activity on FatBike Forums when Surly showed a prototype semi fabike, as you can imagine us geeks all got excited!,

I blogged on my Surly Collection and wondered if i need anymore bikes.
Since the released new Surly Krampus i now know i just want the fat 29er rims and Knard tyres and  have my own idea for their use. Waiting on them to arrive in January -:)...

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More midweek evening riding on the coast, its a hard life....

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A thread on this Amazing discovery on a remote beach in Wales, hidden in the sands since WW2...

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Mike made a film on my Birthday beach ride, thanks Mike!...
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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And at the end of June the men of Bomber Command have finally been recognised with a National Memorial in there honour.
1 in 10 Servicemen killed in WW2 flew in Bomber Command.
The human loss rate was so great during 1942 that it has been said that a WW1 soldier had more chance of surviving 4 years in the trenches...that puts it into prespective...
55,573 Commonwealth Servicemen did not return from bombing missions over Nazi Occupied Europe during WW2...

I posted a moving film that was made before the memorial unveiling this year...
I do not think we today can imagine what those young men had to go through.
It must have been terrifying for those very young men...

Massive Respect...
                                                                   
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July;

Here Comes the rain... Here it Comes again... (The Cult, 1989)

The wettest Summer in UK history since records began. It certainly was!.
 The first Week of July  was just crazy!. Work esp was a bit of a laugh to try and keep grass growing like crazy with the warm & wet condition mowed, and we had a few mishaps...

We have all types of ways to deal with wet weather at work that you can read about in the blog post link above but one thing that was at least a fun job was hose piping Fairways to break up grass cuttings, so not all miserable days out in the rain...

Wet Summer mowing... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

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With a chest infection of some sort probably brought on by constant soakings at work i was not out doing much cycling anyway at weekends and only cycling to work as usual which kept the legs spinning.
So instead of weekend riding i ripped the back garden up and removed all the raised beds, dug out about 15 tons of soil, levelled and paved it. Plenty room now for sitting around the chiminea...

Rebuilding part of the garden after work then later watching the Olympics got me through that wet and miserable couple of weeks at work...

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While on a watery theme i posted this lovely film i came across on Vimeo.
If i could make any film i could this is what i would love to be able to film like. with narrative in places i could in one film describe the love and passion of coastal cycling...
Anyway less about my ideas and enjoy this great short film...

`Dark Side of the Lens`...

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

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After 3 1/2 weeks of only commuting we got out on a mid week evening beach ride on a rare lovely evening.
It can rain all week but the sandy loam soil around Gullane is never wet for long...

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I had a great  Friday Night Coast Bivvy down at Gullane Point and got a great sunset. I then got up early to watch the sunrise over Aberlady Bay, probably the best sunrise i saw of the summer and fantastic weather after a miserable month which really lifted my spirits...

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Critical Foundations was a post on the many concrete and brick WW2 Airfields and defences that can be found all over the UK. I found an interesting film on Vimeo about the people who built those miles of concrete airfields... It is still to this day the biggest ever construction project in the UK...

Where did they get all that concrete from? ...

Critical Foundations from LCDoering on Vimeo.
i
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Word was out on the new Surly Krampus ... -:)

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Coast cake and Aeroplanes...  3 great things when combined with friends and bicycles...

A great day out...
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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August;

A New Bike Build project was hatched when i realised it would not cost that much with selling the old Dawes galaxy, already having a pair of wheels and some unused parts lying about.
Money saved from no summer holiday away was spent in June ordering a frame that by August i had everything to build up.
My new commuter, local tourer, `soft trails` bike and maybe one day `The Big Trip` Bike... -:)
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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East Lothian always looks great as it nears harvest time with golden brown fields.
A nice warm evening and another midweek coast ride, good to see other people out enjoying the coast in better weather at last!...

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A Saturday out on the pugsley but for a change riding around the North East side of our local Garleton Hills
quite a lot of riding here if you go looking for it...

Using the tri pod i did some static and chest cam filming with the Go Pro...
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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Fat BOB Trailer Update been a while since i posted up my modified trailer...
A few evenings midweek were spent hauling hard wood logs washed into John Muir Bay from the river Tyne Estuary, so one evening i did some film...
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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An Evening in Edinburgh during the Festival and went to see Mark Thomas`s new show with big bro and O, enjoyed the fireworks before getting the train home...

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I was back into Edinburgh and cycling in from the Park and ride Park to get some bike parts the following week. All this is only 25 miles from our wee county of East Lothian where as you have seen often the coastline is so quiet...

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Meanwhile more coastal cycling mid week evenings and weekends as the weather returned to cool and wet like in July, it was going to be a wet harvest like 2 years ago...

One evening was wetter than usual when i went over the bars riding down a burn. lucky to not break my wrists as i fell hard, water was freezing too!
click on the cog icon to view in HD...



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September;

I put a great all round tyre on my 29er semi fat bike. The GEAX GATO is a do it all tyre and is indeed great in mud as well as ok on the road, even when at 20 psi on 47mm wide rims...

Also good on sandy trails like here along the river Tyne trail to East Linton...
click on the cog icon to select HD to view...



Thing is i just do not use the Karate Monkey enough, and with 2 fat bikes and the new Salsa Fargo i have decided to down size the bike collection as something dawned on me i can do.
So by the time you read this i will have sold the Karate Monkey as a complete bike to a new home,
Colin in Gullane, and i am going to run the pugsley with 2 sets of wheels.
With the soon to arrive Surly Rabbit Hole rims and some Hope hubs i will have a 50mm wide offset 29er wheelset which will also be swappable front and rear like pugsley wheels and allow the new Surly Knard 29x3" tyres i have on order or the Geax Gato tyres for xc riding on my Pugsley...
2 bikes in one, less running costs. One bike to take on holiday in the car...

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My favourite time in East Lothian - Harvest though it was a wet harvest and some mud was dragged onto country roads!... i enjoyed a push up North Berwick Law one evening to soak up the golden brown landscape...

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I have written a lot more this year in posts, including this Half Day Ride post...

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 Easy on a Sunday Morning cycle around trails at Drem was a post where i added more info and old pictures of the former WW2 fighter Station, imagine the noise of 12 Mosquito`s taking off? ...

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September 15th is Battle of Britain Day.

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Midweek beach riding as usual and getting some night riding in now that the nights are starting to draw in...

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RAF Leuchars Air Show a great day out with friend Dave and son Jamie. highlight for me was the Typhoon display, seeing the shadow of the spitfire as it flew overhead as we walked in was cool, also the static display of the mighty B52 (another B52 flew over the show), and chatting with a crew member i got through the surrounding perimeter fence for some pics underneath -:), truly is a beast of a plane...

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The first Big swell of Autumn came into the Forth from out at sea, it was wild!

I have posted more `Flickr Films` this year, ltd to a minute long they are ideal for a wee panoramic view of somewhere...

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After that storm i did some Beach combing on the Moonlander at Belhaven Bay and there was loads of Sea Urchins, crabs and other wildlife washed up at the high tide...

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More beach riding at the weekend again. More sand  then food, then trails...

A film made with the SD Tachyon XC camera...

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October;

Bicycles up Kilimanjaro has been a popular post and it was nice to write some nostalgia again...

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The third UK Fat Bike meet was at the North Yorkshire Moors.  We 3 Fat was a great weekend.... 

Met some new friends and good to see some now old faces...

Amazing clear cold weather made for chilly camping but superb scenery on Saturdays ride on the Moors and Sundays beach ride at Whitby, click on the link for pics, here is some film...

click on the cog icon to select HD to view...

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Home on the Coast was a post about what i love about riding here on our coastline, Gullane is just a small part of our coastline...

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Salsa Fargo Update and the spec...

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Red Bull Stratos  jump by Felix Baumgartner was amazing and i watched it live on youtube...


             
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Another Fargo Ride... around some of our county reminded me to always carry waterproofs...

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And Midweek Coast Rides now usually finish in the dark...

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Now there is a UK FatBike Forum for all us guys here to share our fun of fatbikng.
It is growing strenght by strenght with a growing interest of FatBikes here in the UK...

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More beach riding here and a visit to Tonka land... was a fun day out...

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I did a Coast pic thread for my dad who cannot walk on the coast now, but he can now see the coast he spent his working life on as County Ranger through my blog...

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A Weekend Visit by friends was a fun weekend spent beach riding with Jane and Andy from Yorkshire and Richie from Newcastle who along with Jason had a right laugh and two great days riding on the coast...

Some SD film shot on the compact...



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Last post of October was as always Halloween ...

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November;
A weeks winter hols at home and plenty of beach riding... and some of this in front of a roaring fire every evening... this is always a weeks hols now where every day is a Saturday...

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A day trip to Tentsmuir and St Andrews was another post with a lot of writing as i kind of touched base with a few things, like where my career is going with a visit to the most historic Golf Course in the World.
I wrote why i like my job, oh also it was 5 years that week i have been riding a fatbike...
It was a long day out but rewarding...
Tentsmuir...

St Andrews...

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A fun Fargo Day Out riding local trails with Jason in lovely weather...

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An amazing  wild n windy day on the coast...

All that sand has to stop somewhere, which is how we get sand dunes -:) ...
Short SD Flickr film...

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err more beach riding... 

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This years Remembrance Sunday was on Sunday 11th November...

I wrote about my Grandad and his War grave near Arnhem in Holland which i hope to visit in 2014 on the 70th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden

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A post on Beach Art,  some of the stuff i have seen on the coast...

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And even more coast riding. A day on the coast with Eddie...

 A lot of coastal riding going on your saying?, well i posted why i like riding sand and loam based trails above the coast here on a post and why i hate MUD  -:)

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December;

1st of December was Global fat Bike day

during the 24 hour period of the 1st all around the globe in different time zones there was people riding their FatBikes and posted a pic on there own blog/website or one of the big FatBike Forums...

We had a wee ride here and a great day out on the coast...
Same date next year everyone!...

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Now the country roads to my work are often caked in mud or road salt i am back on my Dirty Bike, the old Muddy Fox Courier, so a wee post about cycling on the cheap, which in its own way is as much fun and satisfying...

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I have not been making many HD films lately, partly because of the time it takes but also because a month ago a codex installed on on my PC stopped working or something and i could not upload HD film onto Movie Maker. I finally have got around to uploading and trying out Serif Movie Plus X6 editing software.
Unlike the Pinnacle software i had to uninstall because it froze my computer this works fine and i can also now edit MOV movie files from my newer Canon Power Shot A 3200 IS compact.
Takes a little longer to edit but will get the hang of it,

At this time of year there is under an hour daylight left after work so i often ride to work on the pugsley then ride straight to one of 3 parts of the coast near work.
This Midweek Cycle is typical of what i do at this time of year, esp if the forecast is frost and the trails home will be dry and fun to ride in the dark...

So a wee film, click on the cog icon to select  to view in HD
Song is `In The Key Of Blue` by Quantic

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The shortest day is on the 21st, I hope to get a night ride in if weather is ok, there has been snow in some areas of Scotland but none on the coast here in East Lothian, only a sprinkling on our local Hills...

As long as it is cold and relatively dry i will be cycling to work daily and hope to enjoy more winter sunsets like this...

2013;
Next year looks good with big changes at my work and i can`t wait, been a while coming!...
Bicycle wise i am doing a reshuffle and making 4 bikes in to 3, and sorting out all the old bikes to probably make one beater (dirty) bike... 4 bikes including the run around, everything else is going...
Minimalistic is how i want to go and have less clutter in my house and life...

It is 10 years since i used to go running on the beach when i lived at Dunbar. Gonna lose a stone or two in weight and do a bit running again as your feet can take you places you cannot get on a bicycle.
The blog will not be turning into `coast runner` -:) might be the odd post though.

A return to the dunes at Faraid Head is deft on and more exploring the NE coast of Scotland during next Summers Holidays...

There will be plenty more coastal stuff going on to blog and more films again when out and about.

Enjoy your festive season and see you next year... -:)