Head East...

Which i did for a beachride on Sunday....down to John Muir Bay at Belhaven on the west side of Dunbar...a 7 mile tarmac roadride-something i dont usually do on the pugsley but the trails through the local "as the crow flys" woods are mostly frozen footprints in frozen snow,kind of hard to explain but not much fun to cycle.
So down to Belhaven Bay and to the "Bridge to nowhere" over the Biel Burn which was in spate with the thaw...

But i wasnt heading across the sands yet as was going to meet with my friend Ped in dunbar who was taking his collie dog Fly for a walk.
First i headed over the rocks below Winterfield Golf course...here you can see WW2 Coastal Defence anti-tank blocks used to stop coastal erosion...

The rocks here are covered in barnacles and great to ride over on the pugsley in a low gear..the noise of the turning tide (it was just past low tide) was unreal,and there was some big surf...



Heres a wee film of the surf...

Around the point and the coastline is full of WW2 anti tank blocks.looks like there losing the fight against the Sea...

You can see the base here of what must of been a Look-out post or a machine gun pill box...

The round concrete castings in the sea wall are base`s from WW2 Coastal Invasion Anti Glider Poles which would have covered all the wide flat sand beaches of the County in 1940 as the Country braced themselves for a likely Invasion...dark days...


You can see how storms have slowly pulled the man made sea wall apart, only thing to stop mother nature is mother nature itself,as the Cliffs here have done so for thousands of years, The original Town and Castle of Dunbar is built on this rock...
Whilst sandstone the surrounding fields inland are often a heavy clay of the same terracotta colour...



I havent seen Ped for a while and it was good to catch up.
Like me he moved here around 11 years ago due to the house prices,i moved 4 years ago from here and have to admit i miss the sea views esp the summer sunrises but Ped has made full use of the Towns Harbour and got himself a wee yacht,out of the Harbour for the winter so we went down for a look.On the way he pointed out these gate hinges on the way-have a close look, yep its a grease nipple!...

As Ped pointed out who ever made them you want to see in his workshop!....
The Harbour was quiet..



Ped has agreed to take me sailing in the spring east of the county and with the dingy in tow we will land on some beaches unreachable by land-oh and i will have the pugsley with me,
1st person to cycle them?...
Heading for home it was back around the clifftop trail to Belhaven and over the bridge onto the sands, Wasnt long to sunset now and it was an amazing evening...
just a few folk on the beach and some surfers enjoying the waves...

Film or pics never quite capture it...

Along the flat sands and i short cutted the point and through the dunes where the sand was still frozen,it was cold esp now the sun was setting...

onto the beach on the west side of John Muir Park known as Hedderwick Sands which is the river Tyne Estuary and there out in the Bay was a round straw bale!,
washed down the river during the recent thaw i wonder where it came from...

I rode home all offroad via the John Muir Way and trails as the sun set, there was still alot of ice and frozen snow to keep things interesting...

Todays ride showed that with a fatbike theres alot of stuff to see and do whatever the weather conditions and it opens up a different kind of scenery to look at than just established trails...Happy days...

Head for the coast....

If you wanna go cycling without a snorkel...
Flooding everywhere from the thaw and road riding doesn't look very inviting as alot of big puddles about unable to drain away from snow on the verges.
But it was Saturday and sunny...

You wouldn't have known all this was going on if you lived right on the coast where the snow has all but gone already...so i found myself out on Aberlady Bay for low tide...

Out here in the middle of the Bay at low tide is one of my favourite places to ride to on the pugsley,unless someone has walked out to look at the WW2 midget submarine wrecks theres no one around for several miles...

There has been alot of stuff washed up on the previous tide,
On the west coast finding a coconut could be viable,just like finding a piece of Caribbean wood, but never found a coconut here on the east coast!

Alot of the debris must be from a river as alot of fruit,apples mostly..and tennis balls,yep! lots of tennis balls...


I was trying to ride along carrying all these when someone came walking along the tideline,friend and fellow pugsley owner Gary...

Not riding as got a sore hip he too was out enjoying the lovely clear weather and deserted beach,we had a good blether about pugsley`s and he raised an interesting point how its so hard to explain to people how much fun it is riding these bikes,something i struggle to put into words...i can only show where they can go compared to regular bikes. We both decided to get together and do some filming on the pugs soon.leaving Gary i rode east for Gullane and onto Yellowcraigs and into North Berwick...

I never get tired of the views across to Fidra Island and its lighthouse...

near North Berwick just off of Point Gary some new creels have been washed in...there anchor ripped off during yesterdays swell...


There catch was still inside shows they just came in on the last tide as the gulls hadnt got to them, not very nice to see this happen to lobsters, such a waste...

Down to North Berwick and it was quiet at the harbour for a Saturday. Temperature was forcasted to be 5C max and it was a cold wind so i wasnt hanging about...


Leaving the busy High Street i cut across the closed West Links and rode above the beach on the nice sandy singletrack trail...

After looking for the WW2 Anti Aircraft Battery with Gary on the Nature Reserve dunes i remembered the pill box along here which i dont think i have posted pics of on here before..
Near to the the burn at the eastern end of Broad sands it is a WW2 coastal defence machine gun pill box...

Well preserved you can walk inside...

This Pill box is i think a type 22, but dosnt have a Y or T shape anti-ricochet wall inside.which would also strenghten the roof from a bomb,morter or shell,
There were several versions and shapes built by the Army and local contractors to set plans,
Walls were 12" thick and bulletproof, they would have to be 40" thick to be tank/bomb proof.
steel shutters would have once covered the firing holes-called `embrasures` same as Castles have,
Must have been a cold shift on gaurd in winter!

Down onto Broad Sands, the name of the beach referred to as Yellowcraig...
The Eel burn in spate with the snow melt...

And the beach was deserted!, why Saturdays are better than Sundays for beachriding...

From Marine Villa i kept above the coastline riding the sandy singletrack all the way back to Gullane,gets you out the cold headwind and makes for different riding, i really enjoy this type of trail as you have to focus alot due to the high sides which can catch your pedals and makes an alternative return.There is miles of trails here above Freshwater Haven, a secluded sandy bay...

Tomorrow will be more beachriding to the East this time around John Muir Bay...
Tonight im listing all the bikes and parts and spares im selling in the new year to fund a build on fatbike No2...can never have enough of a good thing...

Thawing as forcast...

Good old Scottish weather ...
You can predict it but it does what it wants and you cant stop it...
And Friday (today) has seen a big thaw (as forcasted) set in and the snow has been melting like crazy here on the coast,
Down at North Berwick a foot of snow has dissapeared in 24 hours,
Its the weekend and there really isnt anywhere to go mountainbiking unless your lucky enough to own a bike for riding on the beach...
Clear twice a day to ride whatever the weather...its where im heading...
With a weekend off im spending each day on the coast cycling...
after a sunset like this who knows whats next from mother nature...

forcast for end of next week is more snow -:)

Coldest Commute yet....

It was -10C at 6.45am out front of the house Tuesday as i left for work,
Roads frozen solid, again the surly Pugsley was in its element,
Could really feel the cold on exposed skin around my eye`s and cheeks,
It was -12 -14 up at work...everything was covered in frost,
Had to use the blow torch to get the shed door open at work,
Got the John Deere Gator stuck not using the usual packed track through the course,
the snow has got deeper to get through as it is now powdery with the cold air,
Gritting done then the sun came up and it was glorious,


Rode home midday and it was only -3C,
The views were amazing,no wind,everything frozen...



Only the sound of Geese overhead...



A slight thaw during the day is forecast for the weekend but cant see the snow shifting in a hurry...
So a few more days spent like this...

Here we go again....

Sunday i was back up Gullane Hill with 2 friends, Andrew and Trav who answered the call to arms for some biking while everywhere is bar the beach 99% unrideable due to the depth of the snow....we had a `braw` couple of hours riding...

Again a drop in temperature would again swing things and the soft snow of Saturday firmed up though the Hard pack tracks on the Golf courses would be a `bit slick` in places...didn't take many pictures but some filming, clear skys gave fantastic views from the top of the hill...

wish i had taken some pics of the snow at the Nature reserve bridge as it looked amazing in the low afternoon sun, never seen so much snow on the coast for so long ever...here`s the film...



So up for work Monday and forcast was for snow shower`s here but i though `yeah it will be sleet and slushy roads` so rode the hybrid to work,then the light snow shower er... kept falling and it went wild!, 3 hours later sat on a compact tractor digging snow then gritting and i was getting wet so time to change and split...
riding home on the snow covered roads with compressed tracks from occasional cars was like riding a bike with a flat front tyre...it was awful...

Around 8 inches had fallen by midday..here a raving report on the way home...

Indeed it will be the Pugsley tomorrow for the commute!
anyway we did some shovelling until dark out in the street, weve given up finding the tarmac and instead levelled the snow and tonight it should freeze and be ok for those who have to drive tomorrow...

After we had a nip of my neighbours Damson Vodka which went down a treat...
After that i decided to fire up the Chiminea in the back garden and sat nice and warm having a large Whisky...

as the temperature dropped...

The chiminea kicks out some heat...


So its a proper winter and everyone is freaking out about it, im just gonna accept it and deal with it and make the most of it...sitting there with the fire roaring away lighting up the snow,with the pugsley still outside and looking up into a clear night sky with no moon and a sea of stars this weather is all coming together for me and i feel far from apologising for enjoying it as i know alot of folk are not...
In fact im loving it and would love `proper` winters every year to dull grey overcast weather like normally at this time of year... mother nature is indeed in control if we like it or not...wonder how long its going to last?...