Borders Cycle -Eyemouth -Paxton

It's been a long week at work but today dawned with crisp blue skies and low winter sunshine. Just the sort of day to forget the routine, breathe deeply and pedal. I packed the LHT with coffee and cake, then loaded it all into the car and took a drive down to Eyemouth. Free parking at Gunsgreen and I started cycling from the harbour, which of course is sea level...I never learn.

The pull up out of Eyemouth along Victoria road was memorable! I shifted down too quickly and my cadence was too high. Just relax and push little circles. I soon got to the village of Ayton and took a pic at the gate to the castle.

The little break to take a pic was all I needed to slow down and pace myself. Just as well as the next three miles were all climbing including a few granny gear corners. If anyone wonders why I fitted cyclocross tyres to the trucker the next pic is a perfect example of my reasoning.

Quick stop to look back. The darker blue on the far right horizon is the sea, where I started this fun.

The climbing continued up on to Lamberton moor. As I passed a farm this noisy lady came out to greet me. I stopped to chat but she had to protect the farmyard and bark as noisily as she could. In the usual Border Collie way she avoided eye contact. Always deferring to the human.

Further on I spotted this bunker. At first I thought it was a water reservoir but the door in kind of changed my mind. Pretty bleak spot for a bunker.

It was cold on the moor but I love the openness and the big skies. The wind was pushing against me so I was glad to start the descent deep into Border territory with the Cheviots in the distance.

At the wonderfully named Clappers I spotted this old Ferguson. The gearbox seemed a bit dodgy but otherwise it was looking good.

Oh no!  A quick turn around and I headed back into the safety of Scotland.

 I also headed back onto some very poor roads but still a great place to be.

Then the track really did get poor. Single track to a bridge over the Whiteadder Water.

All the effort was worth it. A beautiful stretch of meandering river, water cut rock and glorious Autumn colours.

After the bridge I pushed the LHT up the muddy track on the other side to the village of Paxton and then on to Paxton House. It's a fine example of a Georgian country house. Commissioned by Patrick Home and designed by James Adam with interiors by Robert Adam and furnishings by Thomas Chippendale. In 1760s Scotland you really couldn't get much better than that and some would argue you still can't. The romantic part of the story is that it was built to impress a Prussian Heiress. She wasn't impressed, so no luck Patrick. It also advertises itself as having a tea shop. Time for a break.

Unfortunately there was a sign asking for £2 for parking and £8 for entry to the house and grounds. Anyone who knows me can imagine my reaction to this. I hopped over the fence, took a picture of the house and made a tactical retreat. £10 indeed! You missed out on that one Prussian heiress.

On I cycled feeling a bit tired after missing out on a bun. I began to question my frugal ways as I climbed back up from another crossing of the Whiteadder Water. Fortunately at the next junction there was a wee shelter that looked like one of the local bus stops.

Feet up, bran scone and coffee in a little wooden shed... great eh?

Back on the road and on to Foulden and it's Tithe Barn. It was used to store grain that was made in payment to the church.  There's another at Whitekirk near to home.

After the barn I turned left and started to climb again. A slow couple of miles and I finally caught sight of the sea again. Time to put the Buff on under the helmet as I planned a fast descent and it wasn't getting any warmer.

I eventually got back to Eyemouth harbour and cycled along the pier between the harbour and the Eye Water, and crossed it for the final time by the little foot bridge.

Back to Gunsgreen. This house is another Adam building but this one was built for John Nisbet a local 'merchant'. That's a euphemism for Smuggler. The house is supposed to be full of secret hiding places and tunnels. I'll have to get around to visiting one day...depending on the price. 

A great day out. The climbing was harder than I expected but that's the way with the Borders. I lived there for a while and I still have a great fondness for the hidden valleys and open moors but I'm going to have to get the fitness up if I want to enjoy more of it.

Home time. I've missed out a few miles and pics of a diversion I took. I'll try to post that little interlude during the week.

Being judged with the LHT

It was a cold start this morning. When I took Fly for her walk along the cliffs the sun was rising but the temperature was struggling to get above freezing. Fortunately as the day went on it got a little warmer and the sky cleared. After lunch I headed east on the Trucker. 

I have fitted a rear rack, as befits a touring frame, and threw on some old panniers I used to use on the Kona. They are boxy looking but have loads of heel clearance. They also allowed me to pack a flask, waterproofs and a warm top for wearing whilst enjoying the coffee. Oh the decadence!
The track in the above pic is a couple of fields up from the lighthouse which appears in the next pic.

Can you spot the lighthouse just to the right of the stem? After a quick run down by Cockburnspath and Bilsdean, I started the climb up to Innerwick which was a lot longer than I remembered but the mtb gearing worked for me. I just spun away and enjoyed the view.

At the back of Innerwick the old road curves down towards Thurston through trees that are slowly losing their leaves as the days get shorter. It's a difficult place to visit in a car as there is no room for parking but when this memorial was built cars were still in the future. Horses were the power source of the field and the steam engine was just starting to puff its way onto the farm.

In 1887, at the time of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, Richard Hunter of Thurston, a local land owner, had this horse trough erected in the philanthropic way of the late Victorians.

I think this is a wonderful piece. Mr Hunter didn't erect some sycophantic piece of art to commemorate the diminutive queen. No, he had a horse trough built to provide the beasts a well earned rest and provide a little reminder to the farmhands to look after their charges. If you read Queen Victoria's diaries you'll understand that she may have liked the sentiment.

After Innerwick I nipped across the A1 and rejoined an unused road back to the coast. Coffee time in the low winter sun. As I sat at the verge I watched a small flock of Curlews feeding in the stubble and listened to their plaintive calls.

Back on the move and this puddle was a bit deeper than I expected. Wet feet.

The sun was getting low so it was time to push the pedals and get home. This horse looked quite happy and well cared for in his winter coat.

The Trucker did me well too, and was never a drudge, so I gave it a wipe down and a wee squirt of oil when I got home.

LHT not going very far

My plan was to use Saturday to fix the brakes on the LHT and then out for a ride on Sunday. Unfortunately I awoke this morning to a cold rain hammering on the windows so Saturday's short ride will have to suffice this weekend.

After last weekends juddering I ordered a fork canti-hanger which looks ideal but didn't clear the lower headset. So for the meantime I've fitted a cheap and cheerful mini-v brake. It works perfectly but prevents the fitting of mudguards/fenders. It will do for now but I have ideas for spacers to get the cantis back on.

To avoid having to mess around changing levers and re-taping cables and bars I fitted a Middleburn cable oiler. These are fantastic little fix if you need to split a cable outer.

A slow cycle around town. The gears needed a bit of adjusting but otherwise thing seem pretty good.

The netting in the lobster creel just calls out for a photograph.

As does the cut stone at the base of the castle.

Not much this weekend. 6-9 degrees, N backing W, SW. Clocks went back to GMT.

Cycling around fences

The weather today was lovely, crisp blue skies, cool in the shade but warm in the autumn sunshine. I was sorely tempted to take the Long Haul Trucker for a ride but I didn't want to risk damage to the headset from the brake judder problem. I can wait another few days. So saddle back on the Falcon and a cycle up by Stenton.

Pondero had wondered if too many of his pics feature barbed wire fences. Not at all. Here's one on the road to Pitcox.

And here's a plain wire fence to keep this old lady from wandering.

 Some fields have no fences at all.

 And a very few have relics from WW2 costal defences.

There you go. A peaceful cycle in beautiful weather and an unhealthy amount of fence photography.

Long Haul Trucker

The Trucker finally rolled out on Saturday morning! 

First impressions are that this is an armchair of a bike. Big comfy frame sitting a lot more upright than I'm used to. The geometry all feels natural and the gears are spot on. The Schwalbe cyclo cross 700x40 tyres roll well whilst giving enough grip to climb grassy slopes. The saddle from the Falcon is temporary until I make a final decision on the Brooks question.

But there is terrible, and possibly terminal, brake judder. I've tried adjusting the back of the pads to touch the rim first ( I know this is 'wrong' but sometimes it is the only way to stop a harmonic) but the problem is still there. Basically it looks to me as if the exposed inner cable from hanger to canti is too long. As the forks flex the cable tightens and slackens causing judder. V brakes would cure it but that means new levers, cables and re-taping the bars. A simpler option would be to fit a fork crown hanger. I could avoid having to re-tape the bars by joining the cable outer with a cable oiler.

Its these little tweaks and modifications that make the bike mine. Setting it up just how I want it and sorting out problems with my own solutions. Great stuff!

Very short Sunday cycle

I had great plans for this weekend. Crane-out for the big boats was on Friday and I had hoped to use a half day from work for a daylight cycle but instead got involved in harbour shenanigans.  I also managed to get another stinking cold, number 5 this year? Saturday was spent inside taking plenty of fluids, paracetamol, and rest.

Sunday morning and El continued her caring, wife-type advice, to rest. I still didn't feel up to any great adventures, but I needed to get out so I went for a cycle of probably two miles!

Yeah, those sea views are just two minutes from my door. Being choked with the cold doesn't make for great adventures but it can help me appreciate how fortunate I am to watch an easterly blowing in from the North Sea. Those clouds are months of cold air accelerating from the Americas, the Gulf stream, bouncing off Biscay into the North Sea then crossing from mainland Europe, hitting Scotland and forming cumulonimbus....and rain....on me!

   Miserable weather but a happy soul.

Not much happening here.

After the excitement of aliens, giant toads and whistling sheep earlier this year, I was looking out over the frosty roof this morning when a gull crapped on the neighbour's sky-light. It looked like Freddie Mercury during the Queen 'Kind of Magic' tour. I finished my coffee and headed off to work pondering the significance of this.

The weather has been beautiful over the last week, but unfortunately there's not enough daylight to get out for a cycle after work. I'm hoping to get off early on Friday. Whats the bets on the weather remaining settled?