More Moon Wanderings...

At the weekend i was out both days at Gullane Point on the coast with the Moonlander.

It was perfect conditions both days, blowing a gale, clear and cold, very cold in the wind out of the sun in the shadow of a dune. 

The wind had whipped up the sea and the views were great in the winter sun...

With miles of soft sandy trails through the dunes here it is one of Moonies playgrounds -:) ...

With its bigger and softer foot print the Moonlander is much easier to ride here than the Pugsley, it steers better and it is still amazing me at what it is riding over, i can and did ride the same route last Wednesday on my mid week nightride i posted, but there were a few dabs and stalls  in the soft stuff where on the Moonie i just plowed over it...  an amazing bike in the right conditions.

My Go Pro has been returned as not working so hopefully it will be returned/ replaced soon, so i did some film with the Tachyon SD, its in 4:3 ratio, ideal if like myself you have an old TV!,
Quality is not as good and a bit darker, half way through you will see the Moonlander on that real soft sand on top of the dunes...

Song is `Love on a Real train (2008)` by Tangerine Dream

Post Office Security

Next time you are in any of the East Lothian Towns of Haddington, North Berwick or Dunbar have a look at the Victorian era Post Office buildings, The Dunbar and North Berwick ones are just sorting/collection buildings nowadays...

Dunbar Depot, around 1900...


Established in 1861, the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) quickly attracted many customers who were eager to find a safe place for their savings. Backed by the Exchequer, the money deposited in the Post Offices was used by the Chancellor, William Gladstone to offset against public spending. This was a simple way for the government to borrow money and thus the POSB could afford to pay a good rate of interest.
In 1851 the first ever Post Office letter box was installed and fitted with a Chubb lock. Chubb safes would later be used in Post Office Buildings,

On the wall of these buildings, just off the ground you will see below a windowsill a foot hold lined with brass...

Above on the windowsill is a handle,

These were for the Town Policeman when walking the beat at night so he could pull himself up and shine his torch inside and check the safes, from a time when Post Offices held a lot of cash...


Have a look at your own Towns old Post Office building for the same...

Loupin - on - Stane, Aberlady

Outside Aberlady church here in East Lothian is a set of steps in the middle of what is now the pedestrian pavement...


It is one of the best examples in Scotland of a of a Victorian `Loupin on` Stane,


It was used by ladies to mount and dismount there horses arriving and departing at Church in a dignified manner, they wore long skirts and sat side saddle...


Constructed around 1880 when the major re-works were carried out to the church boundary walls, here is a picture from around 1900, notice the iron railings a feature often used to reduce the cost and amount of stone required...


Another pre WW2 postcard of the church...


All railings and unnecessary gates were removed due to the need of steel and iron for the war effort in 1940, like the `pots and pans for Spitfires` campaign...

It was actually a bit of a farce as most of the wrought iron was useless for arms production and thousands of tons were dumped out in the Firth of Forth!

There is a smaller set of steps for the same purpose outside Luffness House,

3 Bikes, all very similar, all quite different...

I think i now have the perfect off road bikes for here on the Scottish East Coast...
All are similar in many ways , not just being made by Surly Bikes, but geometry, quality and spec, oh and fun factor.

Surly Karate Monkey;
This is my trail bike, its a ridged steel 29er with 2 x 9 gears and has 47mm width rims and 2.55 tyres, not your usual xc choice of bike is it?, but for myself and the usually dry sandy/loam base of the trails above the coast it is perfect. No suspension is needed for trails around here and those wider than normal rims with big tyres running at around 20 psi give all the suspension needed, with no suspension servicing fails or costs to worry about. It is ideal when there is some road work to do between trails and also the Pugsley frame bags fit making it ideal for a bivvy bike with a seat post rack fitted...

Surly Pugsley;
The Pugsley is the in between bike of the three, it can do it all, a bit more work on the road than the 29er and not quite as quick on single track trails but it can ride on the beach below the high tide line...it is a lot of fun as a fat bike is compared to a regular bike in the right conditions and it will see the most use out of these three bikes, with racks and frame bag and ability to tow a Fat Bob trailer it is a very versatile bike and is still my most favourite bike i have ever owned. It has changed my life to an extent, true! i tell you!,
"Beware the power of the fat side"...
I wouldn't be writing this blog today if it was not for discovering the fun of this bike...

Surly Moonlander;
The new kid on the coast, and proving it`s worth in the right conditions.
It is an amazing bike with its extra floatation and grip on soft sand, slimy rocks and loose pebbles and rocks, and wet salt marshes.
But it is not a replacement for the Pugsley, it does not lend to riding on tarmac as well, where its softer tyres are too squidgy and it requires more effort from the larger contact area.
Riding the pugsley you can stand out the saddle to sprint up climbs while the Moonlander prefers you sit and spin, that's the pay off for massive float and grip.
I am still discovering its limits which are way past the pugsley in places, and not so good in other riding,

All my bikes have a similar build - stem lenght, handlebar width, crank lenght, bar height to saddle height, And  specs,
Shimano XT/SLX/Deore gears,
Superstar nano flat pedals,
Shimano XTR chains,
Full lenght control cables,
Tartan seats -:),
Hope components on the 29er and Pugsley, and a lot of Hope stuff will be going on the Moonlander when stuff wears out.
First job is Hope hubs, more about Surly`s choice of hubs soon.
And a wee post on choices of UK available `off the shelf` fat bikes for beach riding here in the UK, based on findings by myself and friends...

Simple Minds; Waterfront

With some pics of the East Lothian coast in 2010...still to do a 2011 film -:)

Mid Week Coast Night Ride...

 The nights are drawing out now it is mid February, home from work at 3pm there is a couple of hours until dark. I rode up Gullane Hill just before sunset...

Good to get out on the pugsley again, it feels quite sprinty! after riding the Moonlander, being able to stand up and power up small climbs is nice, the moonie has too much `squish` in the big floaty tyres to do so.
Sunset was going to take longer than i expected so i had a play about before dropping onto the coast.
The round concrete circle was a base for an Anti Aircraft battery during WW2...

Nice lichen on the rocks here...

Down to `Maggies Loup`, scene of recent Lunar Activity -:) ...

Pictures are now a bit grainy as was using the low light setting, it was actually darker than it looks...

The WW2 Coastal Defence Anti Tank blocks stop at the edge of the 12th Fairway of Gullane No1 Golf course...

But they are still there... under the ground, you can just make out the darker squares in front of the left bunker ahead. After WW2 holes were dug and the blocks toppled in. before fairway pop up irrigation sprinklers were fitted white squares would appear along the fairway during dry spells...

Here on the Google Earth image you can see the marks along the fairway, follow the line where the cliff top blocks stop along to the two bunkers where they cross the fairway to pass at the south side of the 12th Green...

Another row of blocks appear behind the 13th Tee...

Then join the row from the cliffs.
Here where they join is 4 rows of blocks wide, i noticed this is done where there is a narrow looking vally - or possible weak spot in the defence. Along with mines they were desgined to force Enemy landing vehicles into cross fire areas to increase fire power...

They have become a scenery feature ...oh i did not cycle over the Golf Course before you ask -:)...

Here a shelter made using the blocks...

Street lights on across the bay but still not dark...

Recent buck thorn clearing, worth a look here with the metal detector, your not aloud to dig here but with the ground turned over you can rummage  in the loose sand...

An old Dunlop Golf Ball lying in the disturbed sand, 1960/70s...

I spun out across the bay to the submarine wrecks, Edinburgh all lit up......

Last light of the day across the Forth in Fife...

Back to the coastline and dark by the time i got to Gullane Point...

Now 6pm, i rode for about an hour through the many paths through the dunes here, tried to take some pics using the gorilla pod...

These Magicshine lights are ace! that is two 872 lamps on full power 3200 lumen...

Still love the pugsley despite getting the new Moonlander, one is as good as the other in different ways..
Be a mistake to sell a pugsley for a Moonlander if you want to ride twisty quick trails and get out the saddle doing so,  but the Moonie is king on the real soft stuff -:)...