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...

jan 2nd snowride

after fridays beachride i rode along to my parents on the Saturday morning via the local ridgeroad on the pugsley to get a bit more snowriding in while there was still some snow,it was nearly all gone at my house but just 2 miles and a few hundred feet elevation and theres still a covering on the garltons..,
it was a lovely clear day after a dismal overcast dawn with sleet/drizzle showers,views were great up on barney hill the highest part of the ridgeroad where the transmitter masts are...



there was an approaching cloud from the east..which i thought would be rain or sleet..i was wearing my paclite jacket so was overheating alot at the top of the climb so stopped to remove one of two baselayers,then i turned round and the darkening cloud was nearly on top of us..oh-oh..that looks quite threatening...

next thing the wind got up and it was a blizzard!,i rode down along to the next section of trail and was glad to have the wind behind me...onto the road down to turn off onto the old railwayline walk and it was starting to lie on the road,yes...

i chuckled to myself,riding through a whiteout,flat-out with a strong taiwind and slipknot had just come on on my ipod...,heres the road within a few minutes/half a mile...hell have no fury indeed!...

it had passed by the time i was down the railwaywalk but there was more on the way..

at my folks there was another big dusting...i headed for home at dusk riding up the railwayline into the dark and boom...total whiteout...onto the road up to the garlton hills and it was around 3-4" on the tarmac..quite hard to see into the snow..,once it went off i took some pics...only a couple of car tracks...


at blacktoll crossroads the ridgeroad continues east as a trail..,this was the main road looking downhill to the town of haddington...cars were crawling along!..

my tracks from 4 hours ago were now gone..


the stars were visable above but you could see the storm ahead reflected off the streetlights to the south down at haddington...


then everything went very white..and cold..i was warm working quite hard in the deep snow though so not too worried...up the tarmac hill to the style at the top where taking a picture into the snow produced this!...

i had to push uphill on the trail onto the level so switched off my lights and pushed on through deep snow nearly knee deep..it was hard work and had to stop a few times...its funny how sometimes your in a position where there is the potential for something serious going wrong runs through your head and it speeds up your pulse a bit..this was here...only a few hundred yards from a public road and 4 miles from home but up there in the dark in that weather it could of been anywhere...
i took 2 pics as i had a breather,one with flash,one without...


i didnt hang around riding down the eastside of the trail,it was a bit slow with the snow depth so i just kept riding,could really feel the cold through my now damp buff under my helmet,2 miles hardpack roads and home..straight in the house into the kitchen with pugsley!,it thawes out there with a big towel underneath,then a quick dry of the chain and a re-wax...

what a great snowride..,however.. as i slept mother nature was at work through the night..wait till you see what i woke to next morning...

jan 1st beachride

as last year i didnt go out partying on hogmany and woke up feeling glad for it on new years day...and ready for a ride along the beach,
the south of the county and hills still have snow while from my house to the coast it is disappearing but there was a light fall on hogmany which froze then another covering which gave a grippy surface riding to north berwick along the john muir way,first tracks of the day too..

i saw no-one or even heard any cars until i rode into north berwick and loads of folk were all heading to the beach..i had forgot it was the annual new years day swim..in the sea!,it was at least -3C with the damp windchill...

i filmed the loonys going for the quick swim...



further along the coast it was a bit quieter with just a few couples out walking,a strong N-NW wind made it quite hard work as well as the incoming high tide softening up the sand in places...

1st rugby ball ive seen washed up!...

with the high tide i headed up through and along the dunes after gullane...



stopping in a sheltered dune i had a hot cup of tea with a dash of whisky and some toblerone chocolate..
then it was time to ride home using that strong tailwind and back onto thin snow and taking advantage of the hard frost used alot of field boundrys and horse trails usually a bit soft-near unrideable on a normal bike and avoided tarmac nearly the whole 6 miles...a great day out...