Cycle to the Lake with friends...

 

 Friends Phil and Anne are back on a holiday with their camper van so G and I met them for a short cycle and catch up. we only cycled 10 miles off-road but it was entertaining taking in the John Muir Way (JMW) trails then around Balgone Lake - before you correct me there are indeed lakes in Scotland as well as Lochs, along with this one we also have Pressminnon Lake herein East Lothian, better known is the much larger Lake of Mentieth in Stirlingshire...

Not got any photos today as we were cycling, chatting, stopped eating and chatting!... I did do some film though so a bit longer again to make up,  Song is `Uncertain Smile (12" Remix)` by THE THE

More soon...

High Pressure Spring Weather ...SUP and bike ride...

 

It has been a dry clear sky week with morning frosts, typical spring weather here on the Scottish se coast and been good to get out doing stuff in ideal conditions, I got home from work on Thursday and was straight out on a bike to catch up with G who was out paddle boarding in the ideal calm conditions, along with friend Lucy that paddled around from Belhaven to the Harbour, I soon spied them and followed on the coast to meet them at the Harbour...

It was so calm today, the sea looked inviting but bet it is still real cold!....

After a breather they headed back out along the coast and I got peddling with plenty time to stop and soak up the sea views on such a lovely evening...

The sun decided to come back out to add to the evening...

What a superb evening and start to the long weekend. I love this time of year when we get this weather and things are starting to warm up and plants opening up etc, you get that feeling were finally getting out of winter and its long dark evenings. The clocks change tonight - going forward an hour at 2am (March 27th) so there will be light evenings until 8pm on clear skies and will start to stretch out a few minutes daily, bring it on!

Wee film, Song is `Whiskers (Mixed)` by Audioglider

More soon...

Willys Jeep update; replacement seat covers...

 

Since I got my Jeep i wanted to get canvas seat covers as the original Jeeps were kitted out with, while the French military copied the Willis MB spec identicaly they used PVC seat covers and roofing. While great to wipe down if muddy they are horrible on a hot day when your T shirt blows up in the wind and your back burns on the hot PVC!, 

I managed to buy a used but perfect roof tarp made by UK company Worthing Canvas - which are said to be the best in the business, so I really now wanted the canvas seats to match. A quick call and chat with John himself who was friendly and very helpful and £290 payment later everything was on its way and 3 days later a big box arrived and opening it I was greeted with that amazing smell of new canvas!

I soon had the old PVC covers unscrewed and the main seats all mounted easily enough..

I took my time and checked and re checked position before punching holes for the supplied self tapper screws and countersunk washers...

Only the hip pads which on the Hotchkiss M201 have plywood inside instead of metal like the Willys MB and Ford GPW - I will hopefully pick up a pair of these back plates but for the meantime used the plywood with the thinner M201 foam and stapled them on...

The drivers seat has a zip underneath and this was originally for maps I believe, but also good to store a folded wool blanket - giving you a bit more padding, I added the Tartan rug which previously was under the rear seat...

Family heirloom this rug!

I first tried to neatly fold the blanket..

Not managing to fold it to the right size I managed to fit it better by just pushing it in to get a flatter seat, loads of cushioning now!

A short drive with the sun out and all good and these seats are so well made - I`m really impressed...

Give John and Mary`s website a look and check out their well made products link here; Worthing Canvas

More soon...

Spring Equinox; Berwickshire gravel tracks cycle...

 The Spring Equinox - a time to celebrate the ending of winter and spring, bringing longer daylight hours as summer approaches, and this year a dry couple of weeks has seen a slow start to many plants and trees opening, but the dry conditions fall into our favour for cycling away from the coast on farm tracks connecting the all weather Windfarm maintenance gravel roads...

This year being on a Sunday and the expected busy numbers of day visitors we resorted to the quiet county where hardly anyone visits inland on the hills and as we both know is full of gravel roads interconnected with Windfarms  and today we enjoyed an ace loop from near the coast in Berwickshire, only 8 miles down the coast inland but feels like a world away...

Unlike cycling on the coast it does include some climbing!...

Which results in some well earned carbs replacement...

It was a Big Sky Day here...

Miles of tracks here....

A fantastic days cycling, here is some film, Song is `Halcyon And On And On` by Orbital

More soon...