Friday Night Coast Bivvy...

So how to cram loads into a weekend off?, beach ride, sunset pics, bivvy, and getting on with some landscaping in the garden - a result of a project planned for winter brought forward due to 2 weekends off riding bikes with an injured toe and a chest virus cough that has been slow to shift, not to mention poor weather for July. Also i have been wanting to get some early morning photos of my old home village of Aberlady for a future `Now and Then` blog post...

I decided to do a bivvy on the coast Friday after work and packed the pugsley frame bag and added water bottles on the forks and the bivvy on the home made bar mount and 1 season sleeping bag on the rear rack for a back pack free set up.
Delayed by a bit of faffing and this week a growing interest in watching the Tour de France on TV as history being made with Britain's Bradley Wiggins the first British winner of the worlds hardest bicycle race - now i am not a Lycra road rider but you have to don your hat to the riders of this event, and it could not have been won more impressively than Wiggos team supported ride and his time trial stage wins...

Finally i got rolling after 8pm, an overcast sky was forecast to clear and towards the coast a sunset looked promising..

`Think i will take a short cut` i thought to avoid the main road down to the former WW2 RAF Drem airfield...

Bad idea as after all the rain of Wednesday a border around a potato field started off dry then turned to swamp, the sticky clay soil stuck to the pugs tyres to the extent that i had to push the bike out and even the front wheel started to jam, the weight was unreal!...

Not to worry as i knew of a nearby hose at the stables around the old airfield and hosed the bike down as well as my boots. Onto Gullane and up to the top of the hill, golfers enjoyed the warm calm evening...

Looking good for a sunset...

Then it started to happen, the sky started to change colour and that red glow appeared...

Down to the rock at Jophies Neuk and the setting sun slipped down below the cloud line...

Onto the beach...

I rode along the tide line towards the sub wrecks. As you will know i do take and upload pictures on my cheap Canon compact on Auto setting and do not use photo shop etc...
The light was amazing...

With the sun set in around 10 minutes the glow moved from the water onto the clouds...

1 minute film which captures the amazing light...

The Remains of a Ford Model T is raised out of the sand this now showing the engine...

One careful owner... just needs a little TLC... -:)

Doing a loop i returned to the rock at Jophies Neuk above the sea and rolled out the Bivvy kit, an Alpkit Hunka XL bag and Karrimor 1 season travel bag, no need for a thermorest with the soft grass for comfort...

Sat for ages wave watching, love this, you become emerged in the rhythm of the sea...

With a cool wind getting up i grabbed the bivvy kit and bike and walked over to the next cove to get out the wind, set up i got in the bivvy with a rock on my back and sat up for another hour to midnight sipping on Glenmorangie and listened to Boards of Canada on the I pod as the waves rolled in...
Around 3 hours sleep and i was up at 3.30am pre sunrise...

I had to forget something and it was the windshield for the stove, still attached to the larger canister i use for car camping, no matter, i boiled some water for an instant porridge, these are ace, wrapped in some cling film it can be used when finished to keep your frame bag clean, more water boiled for a cup of hot chocolate as i packed up...

 Packed up i rode across the Reserve as it got light...

Light was very flat but that would soon change...

Along at Sea Green at Aberlady again the light soon changed to a red glow as the sun started to rise, it was now after 5am...

With the street lights off and it light at 6am i took some pics of a deserted village for a future post,will post this soon...

Leaving the village to ride home, long shadows in the rising sun...

Through Drem ride and the view south over the Garlton Hills, it was as forecast going to be a lovely day...

Around the Peri track (perimeter) at the former WW2 RAF Drem airfield...

Click on the link for a film i made of this airfield that is quiet today but played an important part in WW2; RAF Drem Now and Then ...

Quiet today, this airfield was 71 years ago at the front line of defence on the Firth of Forth, as Spitfire and Hurricane Squadrons stationed here were scrambled daily to intercept the bombing raids on Roysth Docks and the Clyde by German bombers from occupied Norway...

For only one evening away from home i had soaked up a lot of scenery and in only 20 miles round trip as i headed for home the world slowly woke up to the day as traffic appeared on the roads, home for 7am for coffee and pancakes and then some work in the garden...

Midweek Cycle - Back on the coast...

Gullane Village...

After 3 1/2 weeks of no cycling it is good to get out on the coast again. The chest virus i had still flares up with hay fever but a few days cycling into work  have been ok. Not missed the weather though - bleak to say the least for July. Tonight was overcast and the light was flat. Gullane village was quiet for mid July and the Beach car park only had half a dozen cars.
Got in a wee beach ride along the coast with friends Jason and Mike. Missed being out on the pugsley, plenty more evening and weekend riding to do despite the weather...

Dark Side of the Lens

Sometimes a film pops up on Youtube or Vimeo that for myself catches something special,
`Dark Side of the Lens` by Astray Films captures on film and words someones passion for filming and surfing and the sea...
Open up the film on Vimeo and see the awards this film has won...

The cinematography (shot with a DSLR) captures the power of the ocean and the narrative the passion, esp the last few words...

One day i would love to do a film something like this and capture my passion for cycling on the Scottish east coast, its scenery, light, and diversity of shoreline...

Open the film up on Vimeo full size and enjoy... i think this film is magic and inspiring...

The Week that was...

No cycling for myself for at least another week with a recovering chest virus and a sensitive sore toe. Protected in a steel toe cap work boot its no probs going to work, but do not fancy stubbing a toe while out cycling. So here is a post on the last week at work, during a crazy week of weather.

June was the wettest since records began in the UK in 1910. twice the average rain fell on already saturated ground. Despite living in the driest county in Scotland the water levels in East Lothian are now very high and after the first week of July it has not improved with heavy rain every day and Sea Harr, and more rain is forecast!.
Makes no difference to most people as they go to work, for myself it has been the longest wettest mowing season i have ever seen in 25 years of Greenkeeping, usually the growth dies back a bit by July and we get a touch of drought, ha ha not a chance so far...

I have NEVER seen so much water and also grass growing , plenty pumping to do... a rare spot of sunshine between the Sea Harr and rain today!..

Great weather for ducks, this one happy to swim in the puddles at our yard...

And these guys. only one chick this year from our resident swans...

And this wee fella i rescued out a hole cup...

It has been a crazy week getting everything mowed and tidied up and reps that have popped by have said of many other Head greenkeepers of parkland Golf Courses are pulling their hair out not managing to keep mowing through the deluge and mowers simply unable to maintain forward movement and keep up with the growth of grass.
Taking the choice last year to swap from a ride on cylinder fairway mower and a ride on semi rough rotary mower to two more powerful than usual (for a Golf Course) 62 HP tractors and tow behind mowers has this year paid off and mowing has been no problem at all.
These are Loydds trailing gangs. 40 year technology  that still works today. You do not get quite the same quality of cut as ride on mowers but at around £15,000 are a third the price. Check out the amount of cuttings!... jungle warfare!...

 Unchanged in design for over 40 years they are British made, wheel driven, low maintenance, and solid in build, you could drive through a stone wall with these things and they would still keep mowing, come to water lying and a ride on mower would spin to a halt, stall, jam cutting cylinders or worst blow a drive motor seal or possibly a hydraulic hose eventually. These just power through...

Some film shot with the Go Pro click on 720p for HD!...



Semi rough mower is a Canadian built Pro Flex 120...

These two machines keep on top of the mowing in all weathers with the guys dry and comfortable in all weather, leaving the summer staff greenkeeper and myself to look after the rest of the mowing. Yep i am out in it too. I do not have much time for Headgreenkeepers/Course Managers who send their guys out in horrendous weather and do not go out themselves, lead from the top...
So how to keep on top of the mowing in horrendous weather?, well 3 pairs of waterproofs a day, Anyone who works out doors and sits on machinery will tell you no waterproof clothing is totally waterproof  except when worn the first few times from new. Even PVC stretch oil skins eventually leak through stitching or they get wet with condensation if it is warm. A change every 2-3 hours is needed, and a cup of tea!.
Viking rubber boots/wellingtons on your feet and  using those disposable blue latex gloves stop your hands drying out emptying grass boxes - wet grass cuttings play havoc with your skin and makes your nails brittle like cement dust does.
25 years ago we had Dutch made cabs on Toro mowers at Gullane and with roll up sides you were cool in summer heat and dry in wet weather. Nowadays cabs are still not made as a standard fitment on 3 wheel ride on mowers*. how backwards is that?!. Considering how many machines are sold it should be a standard extra.
*(German made Mauser cabs are available but make the machines top heavy and have glass doors that are awkward to remove/replace green pins when mowing)

Like most golf courses built in the last 30 years the greens are constructed to US green spec - so they are raised with a sand based rootzone with a gravel drainage layer underneath so usually they do not flood, but getting to them in very wet weather on a slick tyre three wheel ride on mower can be interesting!...

This morning i put the greens mower on its side when it took off down a slope. Collage tells you to hold onto a machine and never jump off. True if in a Tractor cab, i would always jump off a ride on mower with no seat belt if i know its going over, imagine being pinned down by that?... machine was undamaged. dunno how many times this has happened over the years...

Greens are shaved to 4mm or lower in these wet climates, also spiked and rolled, here with a Greens Iron...

Despite the constant downpours, constant change of waterproofs, stench of rotten grass clippings in stagnant pools of water, machines covered in clippings etc.. this weather does has its rewards. For one the days fly in as there is so much to do. Also i love being up on the hill in thick Sea Harr, kinda eerie but i like it...

So how do we get rid of all the grass cuttings left all over the fairways?,

Easy, with two John Deere Gators, about 150 meters lenght of old Triflex hoses tied together and then tied to the back of each buggy and towed flat out up and down each fairway a dozen times. Just got to watch out for bunkers through the Sea Harr, and pre check for no golfers first... -:)

After this busy week a few ciders are well in order over the weekend...

Some film shot on the Go Pro...
Bloomin Youtube blocked my film because of the song choice!, so here it is uploaded on Vimeo - Vimeo also has no stupid pop up adverts -:)

Song is `I Don`t Know` by The Beastie Boys

Bicycle Samba

-:)

Reveal Your Path Three Stories

-:)

11 Months, 3000 pictures and a lot of coffee.

Friends are sharing this film on Facebook... -:)