Anstruther and a distinct lack of cycling.

On Saturday I made the long journey around the Firth of Forth to deliver Stuart's outboard motor to the Yacht Seline in Anstruther. Stuart was already there, having travelled over by train on Friday. The Seline won't be moving for a few weeks yet, but it was a good excuse for a night away

 I took the On One Fatty in the hope of a cycle along the East Neuk; Fly came too. I was able to park on the pier and went down to the boat to catch up with a few other friends who were also visiting.

This was Fly's first experience of being on floating pontoons and she was absolutely terrified. I tried carrying her aboard but she was shaking with fear.

I put her back in the car and as I headed back down the pontoons the rest of them were coming up. It seemed that a few others weren't too keen on being aboard in the blustery winds. There was no other option but to retire to The Ship, honest.

Now visiting the Ship is always a pleasant experience with Dave, mein host, laying on free pies, but pies, pints and good company are not the best motivation for cycling.

The late afternoon and early evening was spent between the Seline and wandering around the waterfront.

The Katie L is still sitting quietly awaiting a summer of different adventures during her hiatus from turning left.

Fly found lots to inspect, then, inevitably the sun set and we did what sailors do when in a "foreign" port and stopped looking at the views and started looking at the pubs.

Sunday dawned bright and clear, unlike my head.  I didn't manage a cycle but did have some nice coffee in the morning sun.

A fine wee break and I may have to make up for the lack of cycling this week as the car has just failed its MOT test this morning. Time to dig out the panniers for the commute.

Long Haul Trucker and the first hints of Spring

I've just edited this post following a comment that I won't publish. I was up early on Sunday morning, before sunrise, but there's not a lot of point in taking pictures in the dark so off I went home for a Sunday breakfast and to get the energy and motivation for a pedal on the Long Haul Trucker.

Once the sun had been so decent as to get high enough above the horizon to provide some pictures I headed  west with the morning light to catch the Winterfield Golf Club whilst the first dark banks of heavy cloud started to gather to the west.

The LHT with sun picking out Belhaven Bay. This photo has come out noisy and over saturated but that's kind of what the light looked like this morning so I've left it in for you to make your own judgment.

Down to West Barns with the most minimal of effort on the pedals and I was so lucky to catch this pick of a Little Egret. These bird are normally only seen on in the south of England during the winter and are rare in these climes. I had heard it was about over the last year and MTB Stravaiger Barry had caught a pic in his blog recently. I was still well chuffed to get this pic as it hunted little fish.

Then on by East Links and there was the first real signs of spring, Knock kneed lambs making their pathetic Meh.mumm calls.

You can still see this little ones withered umbilicus. He's only seen a couple of days and was full of the excitement being young.

Ginger ears, stiff legs and wrinkly skin. Ahh...

Then as the sky grew more overcast, I pedaled on and found some shelter from the wind. Although I've been experimenting with cold brew during the week, It was a simple hot flask of  freshly pressed coffee for breakfast.

Sitting the long grass, sheltered, happy.

Along the coast from Edinburgh on the Long Haul Trucker

I finally managed to get some time for myself today. So off to Edinburgh for a nose around and a leisurely cycle home along the coast.

The weather was fantastic for February. The day started with a sharp frost but this soon cleared and the sun shone in crisp clear skies.

The memorial is to Sir Walter Scott. I can remember most of the sandstone in Edinburgh being dark and stained before there was a big effort to blast it all clean. I think this started in the late 1980s. I don't know why the Scott Monument was left, although the dark towering spires are quite iconic and would look odd now if it was back to clean stone.

Aye, tram tracks, but no trams, although I read in the paper a couple of days ago that Edinburgh Council are looking for guinea pig passengers to finally try out the new trams. We'll see.

From Princes Street I flew through the traffic and headed down Leith walk, then off into the docks. The Port of Leith pub was still closed as I passed, probably just as well.

These cranes are silent now. It's all container transport and cruise ships.

Portobello beach was a typical seaside in winter. Just dog walkers and a few hardy pensioners sitting with their wee tartan rugs, staring out to sea.

I stopped too, had a coffee, and stared out to sea as well. I don't know what we were all expecting, maybe something will sail over the horizon one day and the perishing pensioners will rejoice.

The pillars were rescued from the nearby Argyle house and now stand in the community garden. Really intricate stone carving, and the restoration team have done a great job restoring them.

Through Fisherrow and I spotted this black headed gull in it's summer breeding plumage. It's companions were all in winter guise, he must feel a little overdressed, the wee poseur.

By chance, I met coastkid and we bleathered for a while. Then I headed inland a bit at Aberlady and had to take a photo of the wall of potato boxes at Lufness.

I began to regret not eating enough, but with no shops around, I just carried on enjoying the winter sun and empty roads.

Fenton Tower standing proud on the hill. If you click the link you can read about it's history. It was only restored recently, and if you really want, you can get married there.

On and on, feeling a bit tired but  still comfy on the trucker. I stopped at Whitekirk for a couple of photos and the last of the coffee from my flask.

  Some more stone carving in the vestibule ceiling.

Home in sight and the sound of the wading birds ringing across the bay.

I somehow managed to be out on the bike for six hours, a great day and good to have some time off just to spend pedaling along in the sunshine.

Craigmillar.. the castle, not the scheme.

There's no cycling or sailing in this post, sorry, but yet again family, work, and life in general is just taking up all my time; and rightly so. 

However, there's always a spare moment if you are prepared to take it. So if you are stuck in the south of Edinburgh, on a very windy Sunday, with a bored looking Border Collie in the back of the car, why not visit Craigmillar Castle. The view above is Arthurs Seat, the extinct volcanoe that dominates the east of Edinburgh. The tower blocks are Craigmillar Castle Gardens. I wouldn't leave the car there. The easiest way to explain the neighbourhood is the tourist scene in the film Trainspotting. I can't find a link to it but if you don't know it, have a search on YouTube or take my word that it's full of gratuitous violence.

Fly shows her Collie instinct and is naturally wary.

On the subject of violence, the castle has seen its fair share. It dates back the 13th Century, although what you see today is mostly medieval. It's worth a visit, although you have to pay to get in despite funding it's upkeep through your taxes..pah! Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed here for a while after the birth of her son James VI, or I, depending on which side of the border you are from. She left around 1566 and unbeknownst to her, political shenanigans had taken place which would ultimately lead to the death of her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. I've mentioned him before.

As I was only having a quick visit, I wasn't too keen on paying the entry fee, so resorted to my usual tactic of sneeking around the outside and taking a couple of photos. Seriously though, if you want to see a what a 500 year old castle looks like, it's worth the visit. Just don't leave any valuables on view in your car.

Just a quick escape, brisk walk for Fly, flask of coffee and bran scone looking over the view of Edinburgh. Hopefully I'll get a bit of time off for a proper post later this week.

Finally I get back out on the LHT

It was a strange old sort of a ride today. The rain had been replaced with some very welcome sunshine but the brisk westerly winds continued. I haven't been for a decent ride on the Long Haul Trucker for a month and I wasn't sure how I would manage, the muscle strain in my back is a lot better but there is still a niggling pain in my left shoulder blade. Before any medically minded folk start to catastrophise, I've had it checked and it's most likely a compensatory injury from the original strain. I took a while to get motivated but eventually I headed out around lunchtime.

The road along to East Linton was a real slog into the wind. The effort seemed compounded by a steady stream of road bikes powering past in the opposite direction with the wind behind them. My cheery hellos were met with blank stares at best. I haven't bothered to look it up but there must have been a club outing or some sort of sportive.

Fighting the wind was becoming trying so I turned off at East Linton and headed to the hills figuring that if I wasn't going far today I would at least get a couple of good climbs under my belt.

Much puffing later and came back through Pitcox with the woods full of snowdrops, then on past the old farm cottages where a clutch of hens were muttering to themselves as they scraped and scratched. 

 From Pitcox I  pushed hard on the climb up by Little Spott and then there was bitterly cold descent as I started back down towards Dunbar.

I stopped in the shelter of a wall as another group of roadies flew past, still no acknowledgement, and poured a coffee from my latest flask.

Out of the cold wind and I soon warmed up in the sunshine. The views were tremendous today. You can't really see it in the photo but there was a faint glimmer of snow on the mountains away to the north.

As I sat having my coffee a couple of roadies asked if I was ok? but again the majority just blasted past. I still didn't give up saying hello.

Back into Dunbar and past the parish church with beautiful blues skies. Like I said, it was a strange old ride. I was a little disconcerted by the plethora of cyclists with so little acknowledgement. It didn't spoil the ride, I still relaxed, pedaled, looked at all sorts of things. I suppose their priorities were all about getting through the countryside as quickly as they could. I don't think I'm suited for racing.