Mid Week Cycle 20th June

It was a lovely sunny evening yesterday but I got caught up with other things, although I stopped to take a quick picture of the LHT looking out over the castle and the sea on the way home.

This evening the weather was not so good with rain threatening. I needed to get out on the bike and work some things through in my head, so I took the route to Cockburnspath I know pretty well. It is easy to get into a rhythm, cycling along, and letting my mind wander when I know the destination.
 

Beside the track to Torness is fresh expanse of new wheat with waves of green as the breeze blew gently across.

I stopped at the Cockburnspath post office and shop. It was closed, no great surprise, but the cards in the windows provide an interesting insight into village life.

The lane behind the shop leads to the church. Its a fine old building that I don't really know much about other than it quite obviously has an unusual round bell tower. This was built in the 1650s and I've heard stories that it was this design to support a light as a beacon towards the sea. I doubt this.

It looks good though. The little slit windows in the tower are stained glass, as are the larger side windows illuminating the main aisle of the kirk.

The rain had started and the light was poor for getting any pictures but I find churchyards all the more atmospheric in dank weather. Time was getting on, so I headed back.  A couple of hundred yards short of twenty miles tonight and I have to get back into having more little outings like this.

Sunny Sunday just being busy doing nothing

It's been a strange old weekend. Saturday was spent travelling to Fife, laying carpet, receiving abuse, and generally wondering about families and why I feel I must support an uncle that I have no feelings for. As a child, my sister and I dreaded his visits. He never did anything inappropriate, but he has always been a belligerent character.

As an adult I look at him and see an unfortunate personality and probably a low grade paranoid psychosis. Since my fathers passing I have found myself taking on family roles that I don't want but feel obliged to accept. I suppose it's just part of growing older....and that Scottish Presbyterian work ethic. ...Aye...

Any hoo, Sunday was warm and bright.  Stuart has had problems with his outboard missing on one cylinder. Off I went on the Surly LHT, multimeter in hand and a lot of faith in my diagnostic abilities.

Parked up in the sailing club. The dog at the door is Bouncer. A regular face around Dunbar harbour.

Yamaha 6hp, lower plug doesn't have a spark. The impedance over the secondary winding's seems way off target, so swap coils and we have a spark at lower cylinder but not top. Time to find a new coil! 30 euros on Ebay but anyone who has owned a  2 stroke motor bike will tell you that you can pick up a Nippon coil like that for pennies.

So with Stuart and Scott considering how to source a new coil, I sat back and watched the the local Scottish Coastal Rowing cometition in the company of assorted lifeboat crew and various passers by. We somehow also got convinced to help lift the boats back out of the water onto their trailers.

 That's my foot after wading into the water to lift a boat! I have a similar one on the other side.

The skiff crews had traveled from all over the east coast of Scotland for a hard day of rowing and enjoyed a good days racing in perfect conditions.

Some folk just enjoyed a beer in the sun.

On the way home I spotted Alan Kelly with his very orange Brompton. I'm not wholly convinced about small tyre bikes but I freely admit that the way a Brompton can fold up is well impressive. 

Not a lot of cycling, not any sailing, but a day in the sun just doing what I wanted, which may seem frivolous to some, but is very important to me.

Mid Week Cycle 12th June

I was away visiting in Glasgow at the weekend and didn't manage to fit in any cycling, so by Wednesday evening I was keen to get out and about. I took the old Falcon this week, no particular reason, I just fancied a change. 

It's an old lugged steel frame with 700x35 tyres and steel bars, so it's no lightweight, but it is noticeably lighter than the LHT. It also feels sharper in the corners with steeper geometry and a more aggressive riding position. I prefer the LHT but the Falcon has it's place.

The sun managed to disappear behind cloud for the couple of hours I was out and about so the pictures are either a little dark, or over-exposed to try and show some detail. The route started out along the 'dump' road with it's new cycle path and crossed over the Biel Burn into John Muir Country Park.

The tracks here are bone dry despite today's rain. Although they are a bit bumpy with the occasional patch of deep sand, I was able to keep going. I just kept the front end light and mashed away on the pedals. 

There were Skylarks soaring over the salt marshes as I picked my way around the rabbit scrapes.

I don't know what these tree carvings are about. They stand guard around the children's play park and probably give the wee ones nightmares.

After the new bridge I pedaled out over the sands past the WWII defences. It would be easier on a fat bike but I just took my time and picked a route over the firmer sand.

It's not what you ride.........

No-one around, just me, my bike and the distant calls of the wading birds. I could happily have sat for hours watching the evening tide creep in across the sand.

But I needed to get home, so off I went winding along the single track in the woods.

The Falcon has it's place and it should really be on the road but it managed fine this evening. I've been thinking again about putting a single speed cog and crankset on it. We'll see.

Not many miles this evening but a good pedal with some hard intervals and some relaxing moments.

Mid week wandering

I've been working late, and when I did get home this evening I had to wait around for someone from the Office of National statistics. He was half an hour late and implied that as a Government employee he had the right to enter my home and ask me all about my life. He didn't get past the front door.

It was getting late and heavy clouds were threatening rain, so I gave up on the idea of a cycle and took Fly out for a good wander through the woods.

A happy dog scenting the air.

Coastkid was up around these woods recently and when I read his post I was impressed with how dry the wood was this year. Normally taking Fly up there ends in a very muddy wee dog. This doesn't bother me, or Fly either, but El often has something to say about it.

The trails were bone dry underfoot and starting to get overgrown with the thick green vegetation of the long awaited summer. The woods here are carefully farmed to encourage native plants and wildlife by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (I'm a member).

In the glades between the felled trees the sun reaches the woodland floor and ground plants abound. The air was full of the smell of wild garlic, or ransoms, and pheasants were picking through the wood piles along the hedges. 

The mix of trees and open spaces is also ideal for birdlife. Throughout the canopy was full of the sound of the  birds singing, the occasional alarm call and the clatter of wood pigeons.

Along the old dam road I could see a buzzard gliding slowly over the dry reservoir before it disappeared into the oak trees on the hillside.

The crumbling dam walls leading down to the burn. There were deer tracks criss-crossing the mud alongside the water where they stop to drink.
No cycling tonight but it was a good walk in a beautiful place.

Saturday Sailing on Film!

Two days of warm weather. It must be summer! The conditions on Saturday were perfect for finally getting the mighty Heron out for a sail.

There were lots of comings and goings at the harbour as folk headed out fishing and the local RNLI were exercising.

The little outboard fired up, I dropped the moorings and off I went.

The best bit is always when I switch off the engine and everything goes silent. Just the breeze in the sails and the swoosh of the hull cutting through the water.

A happy me relaxing in the sun.

 The peace was shattered by the helicopter that was training with the lifeboat. The little lens on the pentax gives no idea of how close that thing got. I could quite clearly see the crew at the side door.

I'm not sure how long I was out but eventually the wind began to shift and cloud rolled in. I headed back to the harbour along with Stuart and Scott who had appeared on their yacht Selene.

That's Stuart at the helm in case you hadn't guessed.

Back in the harbour and Bob's wee fifie  is in the water and getting used. He's made a great job of the restoration, with authentic rigging and fittings.

I also tried making a film of sailing out of Dunbar on the Heron. I take my hat off to the likes of Coastkid and other bloggers who post wee films regularly. It's a lot of work!

The music is Solo Acoustic Guitar from Audionautix album by Jason Shaw.

Mid Week Cycle 29th May

It's raining again!  El decided that she would like some cheese, so being a helpful husband I nipped out to the shops to get her some. It could have taken a couple of minutes but I took the LHT and it turned into an hour and a half of pedaling around avoiding the showers.

It was high tide down at Belhaven with the 'bridge to nowhere' living up to its name. It was also getting very dark as the rain clouds gathered. The little Pentax compact struggles in low light.

The camera also struggled to focus on the bike and it's reflection without including me in the image! This old car showroom is up for rent. I hope someone finds a use for it before it falls into further disrepair.

I turned down through Phantassie farm with its crumbling old steading. These solid old barns and workshops date back to the 18th century. This must be one of the very last steadings in East Lothian that is still used for farming and not converted into housing.

 

Big log!

Everything is really beginning to bloom and the hedgerows are lush green again. In the tight lanes the air was close with the moisture from all the rain and was thick with that heady fragrance of flowers that open after a storm.

These farm tracks were built for horses and carts. I wouldn't want to use anything much narrower than 700x42 tyres on the LHT.  Crunching through the gravel and splashing through the puddles.

The rain was getting heavy again and dripping through the trees. I headed back to Dunbar before I got too wet. I even remembered to stop at the local supermarket and bought some smoked applewood cheese which helped offset the inevitable "Where have you been?" 

14.5 wet miles, 15 degrees and some tasty cheese.