Ride out on the Royal enfield after Storm Babet!

A wild storm that ravaged the east coast....

Wee film...

More soon...

Post Storm Arwen; cycle at Tyninghame Woods...

 

A cycle across the Tyne in Tyninghame to see how much damage has been caused from the storm, and again quite a few trees down but nothing like at JMCP...

Quite a few down at Willowbrae Point...

Secret trail was only blocked requiring a detour here so there is still accessible trails to cycle...

Not along this path though...

Wee film, Song is `In The House - In A Heartbeat` by John Murphy

More soon...

Post Storm Arwen; Cycle around Hedderwick Plantation, JMCP

 

Photo credit Rob McDougal Photography....

It is a week today We woke up to the devestaion of Storm Arwen and some people in remote areas still do not have electricity reconnected...

 

My Dad always talked about a big storm in the 1960`s when he was a Telephone engineer after he came out of the Army. Trees were flattened and electric power and telephones were down for weeks...

I think Storm Arwen is the big storm in my lifetime as I have never seen anything like this...

The above picture was taken by local photographer Rob McDougal who filmed G and I  cycling near the coast for part of a couple of visit Scotland promotional films that are on YouTube. Look him up on Facebook and you can watch a short Drone film he has made flying over the devastation of flattened trees in the Hedderwick Plantation at John Muir Country Park, Dunbar, East Lothian, and being our local backyard we and many others have been blown away by the damage done...

Cycling around and seeing the devastation was mind blowing... We have both never seen anything like this... was pretty speechless and dry mouthed as we looked at the damage....

It is like something out an apocalypse film...

There is so much history to this area in John Muir Country Park... 

 

The Hedderwick Plantation of Scots Pine trees was planted in the 1950s and the clearing area to the west of the wood having been a sand quarry after WW2 until the 1960s- the sand being exported to Fife to a glass works...,  

Previously to this in WW2 The area was the West Barnes Ranges, with a rifle range and mortar/grenade range and coastal anti invasion defences were built as it was a prime invasion area, with anti glider poles, machine gun pill boxes, and mined beaches.  

Previously to this during WW1 there was a rifle  range and what is still today traces of what are now regarded as the longest remains of WW1 trenches in Western Europe where men were trained in trench warfare before then went off to the carage of the western trenches... 

Army cavalry stationed in Dunbar Barracks also exercised horses on a race coarse where East Links Family Park is now located going back to the Napoleonic Wars...And before that a golf course was here... 

All this history is documented and on maps and fascinating... more changes of use has probably happened in this area of East Lothian than anywhere else in the County...

And now it seems the area is about to undergo another unforeseen change...

Wonder what awaits the next development of the area?...

Here is a film I shot cycling around the outside of the fallen woods...

Song is `An Ending (Ascent)` by Brian Eno

More soon...

Post Storm Arwen Pt 1; beachride around JMCP...

 

After a bit of a sleepless Friday evening as the world out side was wild as the storm raged we woke to thankfully no damage to property or cars, no power cut and even still had internet connection...                As the day went on local social media was full of reports of others less unfortunate with property damaged and trees blown down...

The winds had resumed to usual 15 mph gusts so with G working I had a quick solo cycle to JMCP and was greeted to a low tide beach covered in an inch of water and sea foam, never seen this before here and along the side of the Biel burn the sand was wet and soft to a depth of 5 or 6 inches and I had to use all my power in 1st gear to get through the soft sections, definitely would have been near impossible on a 4" tyre Fatbike, again I have never seen conditions like this here....

Out across east side of the saltmarsh I headed for Spike Island point,  I could see some trees blown over across the salt marsh on my left at Hedderwick plantation, but until I got home and was online i saw photos of the devastation with reports of around 80%  of the trees blown over, will go over on Monday for a look...

Today was a stunning day with low winter sun, despite the soft wet sand which was more of than usual before the point at Spike Island...

Around the point where most of the logs here were covered by blown sand i made my way down Belhaven beach taking care to watch out for any Seals that could be washed up exhausted from the storm and can be covered in blown sand, thankfully i never came across any but saw a few seabirds sitting, I leave all birdlife alone as they would be back in the water if they could, and obviously needed to rest...

 The sea was a cauldron of foaming tumbling surf and was loud...

Return of shadow man after a few grey days....

Will go look around Hedderwick plantation next cycle and see the damage caused...

Wee film from around the Point, Song is `More` by The Crystal Method...

More soon...

Pre Storm Arwen tailwind assisted cycle...

 

Theres a storm coming...

Not often we get a Red Warning but Friday evening was more like Armageddon Friday than Black Friday...

So we thought better get out a cycle before it arrived and be time to lockdown, and driving to NB we kept out the increasing NW Gale cycling west out through town then into the woods at Yellowcraig...

Across the beach and we flew down Broadsands! as the sand blew under our pedals...

22 mph! that's freewheeling standing up to catch the wind!...

At NB Harbour there was a fair amount of noise from rigging flapping in the Gale,  we rode round onto the east beach and again rode though the dancing swirls of sand back to the car park and the van...

Bikes back in van we headed home before things got dangerous and locked down for the windy night ahead...

Wee film of the cycle down through the sand....

Song is `Bad Stone` by The Crystal Method

More soon...