snow all gone

thats the snow nearly disappeared in only 4 days here near the coast...luckily theres been an easterly breeze drying the meltwater but it has been raw cold out in the wind,back to cycling to work on the commuter bike it was a bit iffy on the icy patches after the pugsley,now the roads are covered in wet roadsalt..yeah they pile it on now the snows gone!!,bike will need a really good clean tomorrow night,
bit of a grim week weather wise- overcast,damp and cold...
still plenty snow up on the hills so head up there on pugsley Saturday...
i posted a slideshow of alot of the pics taken out in the snow...

rewind to last week...

now the snow is disappearing fast here near to the coast but i think the deep snow on our local hills will be here for a few weeks..been fun out riding daily to work and on local trails in the snow and watching the news as it all unfolded..its not over yet ..certainly down in england which just got the deep stuff about a week ago..up here we will just have to wait and see...
back last week i went a walk once home from work before sunset to take some pictures..i also took some pictures of the old disused hospital beside where i live,it was a sanatorium..a hospital for soldiers and airmen in WW2 then later for TB patients,my house was built for such purposes which is why it has wheelchair access..wide doors and ramps instead of a step..great for cycling straight into the house!...
heres some pics of the old buildings..it closed in the early 1990s...
when i moved here the wards still had calanders and shift rotas on the walls..cups and saucers on tables,clocks on the walls... like everyone just walked out...wish i had taken photos then...
a photo shoot on flickr and a youtube film put on the net reveling the name and whereabouts which brought the urban explorers and then unfortunately the scum and neds who started to trash the place.
before the police got things under control a ward was set on fire and now an asbestos contamination threat from the damaged building has resulted in closure to access to the area with prosecution by police for entry because of a few idiots..
these were the last wards to be built and last to close...


boiler house...

the church...

modified "fragile roof" sign...

the older wards...


doctors houses...

garage and maintenance building...

old petrol pump...

wartime air raid shelter...

streetlights long turned off...



sunset...

coastal snow thaw...

today (sunday) is alot warmer here with a brisk easterly wind off the sea..i call this an evaporate thaw!..when alot of snow melt evaporates with the wind..if it all thawed like this there would be alot less mess..which there is going to be..wonder where all the water will go?...though the forcast is more snow and cold for another week yet..waiting on the sky tv man then get out a cycle just in case it dosnt snow much here again!

how many of you remember this guy as a kid?...

local woods snowride

a quick post..woke up to falling snow this morning!,didnt expect that..was to be clear and sub zero all day...all the footprints outside were covered so was at least another 3-4",

i went along through the local woods and made a quick film...



im loving getting home from a bikeride and no cleaning needed..

i either airline the snow off or in my out building/lean too use the heat gun and dry the chain then re-wax it if needed then sit the bike in the kitchen on towels to dry/thaw out..great!

frozen britain...

thats the headlines of tonights news... -20C temperatures in the north of scotland are expected to get even lower over the next few days...the record lowest temperature since weather records began is -27C in 1995..it is predicted that will be broken...
on the radio they were explaining how cold -25 in the UK is compared to -25 in north america..where there can be temperature's there of -40 it said if that was here with the moisture levels anything piped would shatter..car engine blocks would crack...nearly everything liquid would freeze...and people would start to suffer...i think -20 here is cold enough...
thank you tommy for mailing me this satellite picture they showed on the news last night...

here we had freezing fog this morning...at work everything was coated in a white rye...


lots of icicles starting to form now,this bubbling water feature in a fish pond is growing each day...

around midday the sun was out as the mist retreated out to sea...

i rode home from work through the woods along the john muir way...the low sun is fantastic..


the snow depth near my house is still around 3-6"..its now getting very dry with the constant freezing and still tough to bike through where deep but trampled snow is very grippy..looks like a couple of days riding local trails this weekend close to home under clear skys then home to get a big fire on...

More cold to come....

The big freeze is on now!
The average temperatures are now only 2 degrees celcius warmer than the south pole it said on the news!
The river Clyde at Glasgow is beginning to freeze over.
Down south in England has had a big dumping of snow so now the weather makes national news cause London gets deep snow!, Been cars abandoned on roads and schools etc closed. Theres been 2 feet up in Inverness since before new year.

We havent got the snow that was forcasted and i hoped for. It missed us but the borders got it big time with blocked roads yesterday morning.
I left for work and rode up to work through 4-6" rutted semi slush roads, not great stuff to cycle through and quite hard work but least i wasnt cold!. It was -4-5C, the UK had a big freeze last night -18-20 in many places. We got -6C being near the coast the slushy mainroads were back to being flat snowpacked and once again fast rolling.
At work the day started as per usual melting the ice in the main door runners with a propane torch to get them opened to get the gators out!...


The day dawned clear and despite the sun out the temperature was only -3C at midday with a freezing cold wind but superb views up on the hill...





And of course we had a carry on in the gators...



My attempt at a snow angel...



Heading home the temperature has again plummeted, roads are really good again for pugsley...


We have a forcast for some light snow showers but below -5C so be another cold crisp day tommorrow...

The day of reckoning....

Well tomorrow may be the day i think as i write this at 10pm tues 5th,
Theres a blizzard outside after one of the coldest days i remember.
The UK as a whole looks like it may grind to a halt in the next 48hours.
It was -5-6C at my front door 7am out of the wind as i rode off up to work.
Never thought i would wear a face mask cycling to work here in East Lothian a mere 1-2 miles from the sea.
Sorry for blurred photo...


I rode up to work on solid frozen snowed roads that have been untouched since they were ploughed on Sunday. There is no roadsalt now. It hasn`t been admitted on the radio/news yet, why not?
I find it hilarious and lovin it but lots of folk arn`t like the elderly and people who rely on carers etc.
The Surly Pugsley just ate up the road conditions to work which still amaze`s me about this bike in these conditions, while i peddeled madly in a low gear to keep warm.
The cold air was unreal around my eyes exposed skin around my cycling glasses felt like it was burning.
I also felt very nervous when cars came towards me at what i thought was way too fast a speed for the conditions.
I went to the shops yesterday in my car for shopping, dropping the tyre pressures to 16-18 psi the grip was superb and made it there and back without drama so im stocked up for a big freeze/whiteout/armageddon with over a weeks milk (then onto powder milk), bread frozen too, loads of tins and most important plenty cider!
Seriously are you prepared if delivery's grind to a halt?, if we get powercuts-overhead lines here so possible i have an open fire for heat/hot water for baths, loads of logs, gas stoves, kellie kettle to boil water, and loads of bags of Ikea tea candles so no worries, bring it on!

The day dawned clear with an amazing colour blue sky once again...


Over a frozen snow landscape...


But the forcasted storm was offshore and already on the coast down in Northumberland, NE England...


Spending the day chainsawing logs to keep warm the sky above was full of geese landing in a nearby field.


Back at the shed we headed home as the first snow started...


Think we missed most of it as we only got 2-3" over the hour it fell, 6" fell down the road at my friends.
Still a nice if cold cycle home on now re-whited roads!...




The pugsley is in the kitchen full time this now where it thaws out on top of some old towels then gets its chain wiped and some more chain wax. It dosn`t know its living!


Be intresting to see what the next few days weather brings...

jan 3rd `serious` snowride

sunday i got up looked out and it was very white indeed..!
a look over the back fence at the mainroad and i knew my day was going to be fun again on pugsley...
an hour later this was my view along the main road...no grit!!..

the roads were ploughed but no grit spread? had they run out?(hope so..)
i decided to ride on the hardpack roads up to garvald at the foot of the lammermuirs,along to gifford then trail down to haddington and return again along the garlton ridgeroad once the roads thawed to slush...as things turned out i wouldnt have to worry about slush..or lack of snow...
along above the tyne from east linton as the sun got higher the views of the county were superb...





from whitingame to garvald there was little tracks on the ploughed roads,i still hadnt passed a car since east linton...





for a bit film riding down to appin bridge click on the thumbnail as usual below...



the trail through the three bridges woods to garvald village was rideable despite the snow depth as already it had been walked by several folk and dogs packing it down a bit...



the temperture down in here had plummeted,everything including branches,grasses etc.. was frozen solid..




cars in garvald village were`nt going anywhere today...

riding on west to danskine...

and the views over the lammermuirs opened up and the depth of the snow up on the top looks real deep..thats going to be there for weeks..


meanwhile under foot-tyre the road hadnt been ploughed past tanderlane farm...i pushed on down to 2nd gear... in coverd ruts from yesterday,now we were snowbiking!..


then the farmers sons came through in a hilux pickup with a round silage bale in the back (great smell)going out feeding and ploughed a convienent rut for me to get up the climb after the hairpin and descent to the crossroads at danskine..good timing!..


heres a great shot of why hedges are cut wider at the bottom narrowing to the top..so snow dosnt break them over under wieght...

lunchbreak at danskine crossroads..under the old cast iron roadsign..east lothian is one of the few countys in the UK with lots of these..they were made pre WW2 but removed during the war incase `ze germans` invaded and would use them for navigation...many like this have been restored and note the milage given to within an 8th of a mile!...

view east...

and west,lammerlaw in foreground...

lunch was a big cheese peace (scottish word for sandwich!),flask of tea-hip flask top-up with wiskey and toblerone chocolate...a rangerover heading to garvald stopped for a chat.. the 2 guys intrested in the pugsley,3 guys out xc running waved and yelled hellos...a car with sledges on top slithering up the road... its occupents big grins and waves..all out enjoying this very rare weather for east lothian..
down the hill the trail through the woods down to gifford was too deep to ride so i had to ride by road to gifford,hoped i would get offroad and not have to ride on road down to haddington,even though they were snowpacked,the views above gifford was superb..look at the colour of the sky..fantastic!..


although the snow was deep i found the trail to bolton had lots of footprints and a sledge track?.., so was a bit packed down and rideable, the further on i rode the more scenic it became in the trees...






at the start of the trail i thought there were 2 sets of fresh mtb tracks...then i thought no.. its an old style sledge with runners..then i thought its one with steering front runners but they sometimes vary in width...then i saw the ski pole marks...ah..its a xc skier!...

and i soon caught up with him so stopped for a drink and food,happy to let him keep blazing the trail for me..i then passed 2 walkers who indeed said he was just in front of me,he had headed up a hill then skied down infront then pulled over for me,i was nearly at bolton and at the bridge took a pic back up the trail,here he is!...
some film of the trail...




the main road down to haddington was still snowpacked...



some film of the road condition to haddington...



pugsley had alot of frozen snow/slush on its wheels and frame now and i hate to think how heavy it was now..,through slushy roads of haddington i had to cycle up the plantains road as the trail in the wood was too deep and not trampled by anyone to be able to ride up..it was a slog as my legs were now tierd... after 2 weeks cycling daily and over 40 miles today..,the reward of the climb though is always the view...

you could hardly see my tyre tracks from last night along the trail to blacktoll...

again as last night a push up barney hill,my tracks hardly visable in the fresh snow but if you got the tyres on top of the old tracks it was alot easier to push up..in the last 3 weeks ive found out theres a lot to learn about snow riding..as is sand riding...downhill...jumping...xc riding... all require experiance and skill learned that make them easier and then more rewarding...

at the top i filmed a 360 view of the county in snow as i have alot of pics now...



then headed down and for home...i was..and knew i was shatterd...daily cycling now catching up on me in this amazing weather we have had the last 3 weeks here,who knows if we will get a winter like this again for a longtime ....if we got this every winter it would be sweet...i took this last pic along the road near my house...

my friend just texted to say edinburgh council has run out of road salt!..so that means east lothian council will run out too..fun and games for commuters back to work in edinburgh tomorrow (monday 4th jan) looks like i will be riding pugsley up to work tomorrow...dont think i will forget the scenery of todays ride for a longtime...