Showing posts with label rock riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock riding. Show all posts

Friday, 10 November 2017

Return to the Lighthouse...


Weeks holiday;
Friday and a weeks holiday nearly up,
I always enjoy my early winter weeks holiday and enjoy spending it at home with days out and about along with doing stuff at home, and evenings in front of the stove listening to music and enjoying a couple of Ciders...

Winter;
Winter you get people moaning about the dark nights and cold etc..
Well you see this week with the high pressure and clear blue skies just how lovely it can be in winter, and with days out in such a stunning place here on the east coast, you look forward to the early sunsets and temperatures dropping as you get the stove on and enjoy being snug and warm at home...

That`s the beauty of living in Scotland, the seasons and their changes and how every season i look forward to for it`s own special thing...

Me;
It`s funny when you become single again, i always find myself go to my default setting;
To go doing what i do week in week out season to season...
Like this week on holiday going cycling in the mornings, getting firewood and prepping it for the following months ahead, then around the man cave and garden in the afternoons before getting the stove on in the evenings...

A friend said a funny thing the other evening when i posted some pics on line and i commented; `another day out keeping the dream alive`..
What he commented has made me realise something...
`Your having far too much fun this now, Don`t ruin your life pal, you got it so good,  but if you do... make sure she is worth it...

And i now understand this week what he wrote, try to not make some things happen, don`t be lonely being single-make the most of it!, and keep enjoying your own life doing what makes you happy,  and wait things will come good...


Friday;
Today i drove down to Whitesands - i really enjoying having the van now and the easy option of quickly sticking the bike in the back and going somewhere for a couple of hours,
The sun had been up an hour or so as i rode east to the Light House at Barnes Ness...



The Geology here is world famous, but sadly the old Geology Trail and it`s signs have all but gone and ELDC are missing a trick on not re signing and showing people the history here,
Like this rock formation once a forest, the trees long gone and soil fossilised...


Soon the lighthouse came into view..




Barnes Ness and it`s Lighthouse has fond childhood memories for myself, having spent may days here with my Father when  he was The County Ranger, back then the car parks had wardens, BBQ sites, litter bins and drinking fountains and a geology trail with information signs about the rock formations here...
ELDC may have lost the plot on displaying what there is to offer to visitor`s to our coast but what`s important is still there to be seen is there to see by the visitor...


The Lighthouse was built by the Stevenson family between 1899 and 1901, it still stands as proud today despite the harsh east coast weather, and being straffed by a German Bomber from Norway in WW2. It was electrified in 1966, and fully automated in 1986., and then deactivated in 2005 and now owned by La Farge Cement who operate the nearby works...



Riding east along the coast and a play on the flat rocks exposed here at low tide...




Some filming done on the rocks and up above the shore line and return to the lighthouse on the grassy paths...



The remains of what looks like a ship wreck nearby is believed to be the remains of a firing range target towed at sea for live fire practise by young training crews flying Coastal Command aircraft during WW2...




Always impressed by the lighthouse every time i visit...


Back home and all this to chop and store that i have collected this week... a few months heating through the dark evenings....




A wee film at Barnes Ness,
Song is ` KOMPROMAT`  by The Barr Brothers...


Return to the Lighthouse; Beachride at Barnes Ness Nov 17 from coastkid71 on Vimeo.



More soon...

Sunday, 8 May 2016

Surly Wednesday rock crawling; Gin Head Point to Seacliff...


Saturday dawned overcast and a cold easterly - its` either this or cracking weather with big blue skies of big flat bottom fluffy clouds drifting across and out to sea here!,
With the new Sram X5 cranks fitted to the Surly Wednesday on Friday evening when i got home from work i am happy with the chain clearance now in the lowest gear- i will post how i set it all up to work next week,
8.45am was a 0.4 meter low spring tide so i decided to head down to Canty Bay and ride the hardest section of coast here in East Lothian from Canty Bay eastwards across the exposed rocks below Gin Head and Tantallon to Seacliff Harbour. It`s a seriously techie rock crawling cycle and a certain level of danger and you could be cut off below the cliffs at high tide if you ran into trouble here, so i did post on Facebook i was riding here and at what time, so if i did not post up any pics later in the day then maybe, maybe someone would come along to see if there was a free Fatbike for grabs... :D




Within the first section of rocks through to Canty Bay i knew i would be walking a lot of sections  with the amount of seaweed, of course afterwards it was mentioned to me about all the Spring high tides of late being reason for the greasy surface - infact in places it was like ice, and i was on my backside and elbows a few times on the ride when walking, i always seemed to manage to stop riding before i hit the greasy bits! ....



The dreaded green slime...


Big crankshaft still in the rocks...




Gin head...


The site will make the ultimate dream location coastal house on day...

GIN HEAD from Claire Lloyd on Vimeo.


But seems a shame it will be forgotten for its crucial Radar development of `Windows` during WW2 that would save thousands of Allied lives during the Normandy landings in June 1944...



Onwards around Gin Head...





Tantallon Castle in the distance...


Gin Head...






On to the next bay and around the point below Tantallon...







Sea of rock...



The delicate fragile flowers are a stark contrast to the harshness of the coast here...






One of Jack Dales creels washed up,  i lifted it up away from the high tide line along with another creel...



More slippery seaweed , take it easy and it`s rideable, i backed off the Avid BB& brakes so they would not lock up to easy...





More grip here from the barnacles...




Nearly at Seacliff...


Short hike - a -bike across this lot first...


And made it!...




The Surly Wednesday is proving to be a great fatback...
Will post an update next week...

Here is some film i shot it`s a bit dull with the overcast grey sky,
Song is `Captain Coull`s Parrot` by Scottish band  Peat Bog Faries...

Surly Wednesday; Rock crawling; Gin Head rocks to Seacliff from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

More soon...