SHORT BUT SWEET

Time was something i didn't have in abundance on friday morning as my younger sister was getting married at two o clock at the Rocks hotel in Dunbar, however i surfaced early and managed to squeeze in an hours beach ride around john muir country park and Belhaven beach, it was a glorious morning a little overcast but not a breath of wind.

 I wasn't the only one taking advantage of the weather, There was a small surf running and this lone sup rider was catching a few waves on to the beach.

As was this guy on his longboard.

I continued my ride to the tyne estuary, and as you can see the sand here is very soft indeed, see how the tires of the pugsley float compared to my footprint, quite amazing really.

I pushed on through the soft sand and stopped for the occasional photo and enjoyed the still morning not a sound apart from the surf on the beach and the birds song, i hope to get out on the pugsley during the weekend as my week off work is almost over.

Once off the beach i sought out the single track that cuts through the woods and peddled as fast as i could to work up a little sweat ducking to miss branches and swerving to avoid tree stumps, the little paths that cut through these woods are great fun if a little short and at this time of the morning not another soul about.

Once i caught my breath i stopped for a quick picture of the pine trees and then it was home to sort out wedding clothes for my sisters big day.

QUICK AUTUMN CYCLE

Autumn in East lothian is probably my favorite time of the year, the cooler temperatures make cycling a little more comfortable, the autumn swells are more frequent and combined with the shorter daylight hours it means that its dark to quickly for the Edinburgh and glasgow surfers to get waves after work,
which is fine by me as i have spent many an Autumn evening surfing Belhaven bay in glassy 3-4 ft perfection with just the local wildlife to keep me company,
Tuesday late afternoon i decided on a quick hour or so ride on the pugsley so i  cycled down to Belhaven and out across the beach, where i bumped into this young gannet above. and managed to maneuver myself into position and get a decent picture before he squawked loudly in disapproval and paddled off into the surf.

I continued along the soft sand until i eventually run out of beach stopping for the occasional photo. and decided to head along the john muir way to east linton

The river tyne

Hard to spot, but a nice sea trout waiting for the cover of darkness to head up the river to spawn.

 Preston mill

Prestonkirk manse

I continued my cycle to the village of East linton and stopped to take in the views of the linn rocks.

I have not fished this far up the river this year, and as the sea trrout and brown trout season will shortly be coming to a close i promised myself i would come back with my fly rod,

An enjoyable ride on the bike but now it was time to head for home.

SUNSET, WIND AND BEACH RIDING.

The wind tonight was really strong from the west but i decided to head out on the pugsly and catch the last hour and a half of daylight.

I cycled out towards john muir country park and around spikey island and was relieved to turn around at the point and head along the sandy sweep of belhaven bay with the wind finally at my back, you can just make out the WW2 anti glider poles sticking out of the sand, these have recently been exposed thanks to the recent large tides and swell that we had last week.

During WW2 the british fear of an airborne assault stemmed from the coup de main attack of german glider borne troops capturing the Belgian fort of eden Emael, with east lothian having some large hard sandy beaches such as Aberlady bay with east fortune airfield near by which was used extensively in WW2, Burntisland and also Belhaven bay would if not for the anti glider poles  made excellent landing grounds.

As i continued my cycle along the beach with the strong wind at my back i noticed a large number of gannets feeding out in the bay, i tried my best to capture this event but my small compact camera was not up to the task, The biggest single gannet colony in the world is the bass rock which is home to an estimate 150,000 gannets during the summer months, the gannets spend most of the year on the bass rock until the end of october then fly south some as far as the west coast of africa.

With the wind gaining in strength and the sun slowly slipping below the horizon it was i decided time to head for home to wash down the pugsly, a quick ride tonight but very enjoyable indeed.

 Belhaven bay at dusk.