Bike Packing...

For non cycling readers you may wonder what `Bike Packing` is,
Well it is a type of off road touring where soft luggage is used mounted close to the bicycles centre of gravity with the heaviest items like stove and food usually in a central frame bag, while a sleeping bag is often bar mounted in a compression strap bar mounted carrier, and a choice for sleeping - a tent, bivvy, tarp, or hammock is usually stored in an under seat bag which is designed to compress around the luggage
and hold it stable.
The whole set up allows for a reasonable ride able bike off road...
This film by UK based outdoor company Alpkit is a good example of bike packing...





Add a pack raft and in the right country a real adventure can be had...




And this 2 years ago...



My choice for my next wee trip backpacking  is my Mk1 Pugsley 29+ KramPug with it`s higher top tube giving a bigger bag.
The Pugsley fits me like a glove , it all combines to a bike i can ride for hours and not get sore or stiff,

Sorting my Surly KramPug 29+  last night this week for a future solo coast to coast ride soon...

I am riding the 29+ KramPug for the sheer reason of so much fun to ride off road,
fun to ride indeed, and as it is real comfortable. It rolls like mad and does not stall and stutter on rough hardcore tracks,
While the 29+  set up of 3" tyres on 50mm rims will provide a happy medium of `float` on peat moors and comfort on the rough tracks my C2C route follows...
Frame bag is the 6 year old frame bag manufactured by Eric Parson, of  the original frame bag by `Epic Designs`  which was -renamed `Revelate` after a threatened law sue by Specialised.. You want to know why many cycling folks don`t like the big `S` name in cycling? this is one of mine...

The frame bag has been well used for local day rides carrying a jacket food and food. It was used to good effect back in 2010 when i cycled the Kyntyre Way which had then recently opened. I was the first to publish cycling the route on line on Here on a blog post.  Then i used a home made handlebar harness and seat bag for the ride, but it worked as in the blog post you can watch this film...



Seat bag and bar bag are by UK based Alpkit

Got to swap out the flat pedals for SPD TIME and fit the orange leather Brooks B17  and it is near as ready to go...

Tinkering in the kitchen tonight as the rain bounced off the window i listened to favourite music, and cannot believe this album is now 10 years old , loved the video back then, so i looked it up on youtube along with 2 other tracks from the first album by Kasabian. Used these on bike films a  while back..

Club Foot;





Reason Is Treason;





Processed beats;

Northumberland Coastride, Buden Bay to Dunstburgh Castle...

After last weekends Friday bivvy at Holy Island i decided to go have a ride along the Northumberland coast across from the Island and again bivvy then return next morning,
High tide times were all wrong with a 8.15pm high tide but it was a weekend off for me and i have the bivvy bug again and wanted to get away,
Being August it is now the English holidays and i knew the beaches would be packed with folk so i made a plan to ride mid evening to sunset, bivvy from dark to pre-sunrise, pack up and ride out back to the car, this way i should have quiet(er) beaches and solve the problem of a small section of coastal path between the last beach and planned camp site that is marked on the OS map as a footpath,

In England it is of course verboten to cycle on them, so it would have to be a beach blitzrieg/viking raid (minus the rape and pillage) and only my tracks would be left, As it would turn out there were lots of cycle tracks on that 2 short footpath so i don't know why i was worrying...

Everywhere down here on the coast is pay and display but i parked west of Bamburgh where there were no signs and rode down onto the coast at Budle Bay,
with the tide in the sand was soft in places and slow going down on low gears...






Onto the big beach at Bamburgh and there is the most dominating feature of the skyline, Northumberland is famous for its coastline of big beaches and castles, and Bamburgh is one of the most impressive, here i also saw these WW2 coastal defence anti tank blocks painted as dice!...








Further along and some good beach art...


Up on the dunes are two WW2 machine gun pill boxes, two of many i would see...




Another half mile or so of beach to the small seaside harbour and holiday town of Seahouses...


looking out to the Farne Isles...


Seahouses is a busy holiday small town, it has loads of fish and chip shops and there was the roar of a fairground, i pressed on and dropped onto another beach to a lovely wee place with a nice harbour, Beadnell Bay...












Where i was treated to an amazing sunset...




Another shot from along Beadnell beach on top of the dunes...






Then it was a race against the light along Beadnell beach and down to Low Newton-by-the-Sea...








Planned bivvy stop was ahead at the ruins at Dunstanburgh Castle...




Along a path past a complete WW2 machine Gun Pill Box and up below the ruins...




Looks like no ones at home... -:)




Stove on, unpack and have some pancakes and honey with a mug of tea, yum,
It got dark quite quick and being up since 5.30am for work i was asleep in no time...


Up at 4am and packed up pre-sunrise...


As i rode along below the beach holiday chalets to Low-Newton-by-Sea there was the sun coming up between a cloud bank...


It was real quiet and not a soul about...



Onto Beadnell beach and only a friendly dog walker on the whole beach,
there was a nice sky looking across the bay towards the harbour...


And then the sky erupted in a gold glow as the sun popped out from behind the cloud...


Beadnell Harbour...


From Beadnell i took the road the few miles to ride through a deserted and peacefull Seahouses and dropping down onto the beach i enjoyed firmer sand on a now wider beach with the 3/4 incoming tide...






A dead baby Porpoise lay on the high tideline,washed in last night...sad to see...


Offshore the Farne isles glowed in the morning sun...


I only met a few early rise dog walkers from here all the way along the shoreline passing below Bamburgh Castle, and you know what?, everyone said morning and was friendly and All of them put there dogs on leads when i neared,
something a lot of dog walkers don't do here in East Lothian...

Eider Ducks, The UK's heaviest and fastest flying ducks...








Nearing Bundle Bay i caught a glimpse of something i missed riding out, a big WW2 Gun emplacement up above the dunes...








The construction below it i have not seen one before and unsure what it is ...




And that was a great ride, there is another short overnighter bivvy ride to do near here out to Ross Point sometime...


I was back at car for 7.30am and away before the world had a awoken!...
The Dusk/bivvy/dawn ride out Beach Blitzrieg idea worked great and i was back home and unpacked, all cleaned up for 10am!, and by midday it was raining sideways as was forecasted,

Northumberland has a nice scenic coast, though quite soft going at high tide for cycling, the views make up for the effort, also friendly folk, and i have been told much better fish & chip shops!,

The access laws In England of where to cycle are frustrating compared to Scotland`s Open access (with responsibility) and there seems to be `Private` signs everywhere esp around houses and free parking (or overnight parking) is hard to find anywhere near its coast,
Small grumbles for the stunning coastal scenery,
But there is a lack of stuff to see on the big open beaches that we find at home like shells and driftwood and odd things etc washed in on the tides...
I think were maybe a bit spoiled for the variety and often empty coastlines north of the border in Scotland...