Thursday 22 May 2014

A Pre Work Pedal.

Wednesday was a scorching sunny day & too good to waste tinkering around in the garden before backshift at work, so it was out with the bike & a wee workout up to Blackcastle Tower where on sunny days the views are great, so off I went...
Up through the graveyard on my way out the village, an amazing graveyard this as the church is built on top of a small hill & the graveyard is on it's steep sides & with graves as old as the 1500's through time some bones, teeth etc have worked their way up to the surface exposing themselves to the daylight where through time they are bleached white, a bit morbid but none the less I have came across some interesting bits of bone/teeth.
Every time I cycle past this substation I always end up having the song 'Electric Avenue' by Eddy Grant stuck in my head !..

...'Oh no, we gonna rock down to electric avenue and then we'll take it higher'...

Passing by the old railway box van at Blackcastle farm which through the farm will be my exit on the return loop, but first it's up the hill past the farm through the trees where the birdsong coming from the woods was very vocal in this quiet sunny day.



Forever heading upwards passing through Cocklaw farm where I spotted this Roe deer which was kind enough to stand long enough for me to take a couple of photos.


Up & up I go & evidence of cows in this field, cow pats & flies everywhere but where are the coo's hiding !


And there they are, after a bit 'YAH-YAH' the cows took off but then they must of thought 'No we've got this wrong' & about turned to come back my way but by that time I was safely over the cattle grid in another field.

Now at the top of Blackcastle hill with...
...beautiful views over the rolling hills & sea.
Barns Ness lighthouse way down there.


Blackcastle tower, I have no idea how tall it is but when I look at the ladder to the top it makes my palms sweat, I don't know how those free climber guys like Mustang Wanted & James Kingston can do what they do, brave or nuts I'm not sure !
LaFarge Tarmac cement plant, above that the crude oil tanker 'Bravo' flying the flag of Malta 249m long X 44m wide.
Dunbar town by the sea.


And now the fun part bombing down the hill to Blackcastle farm taking big swooshing slalom turns.
Torness power station, and above in the sea is the container ship 'Nor Feeder' from Gibraltar with a length & breadth of 101m X 18.5m.

And back to the Blackcastle farm, a little bit of downhill by road back to Innerwick.



Not keen on cycling along the roads but at this time of the year the roadside hedgerows are some of the best places for all the flora & fauna that nature has to offer, anyway back to my base in Innerwick with just enough time to get my stuff together & then it's off to work, oh the joys !

Bye for now.

Sunday 18 May 2014

Moorlands & Woodlands

Been a while since the last blog or since I was out on the bike for that matter due to one bike with a knackered seat post & typically a different size to my other bike so I couldn't swap it over, and my other bike needed new brake pads which I replaced only to find that the front brake needed bled as I discovered that fluid had been leaking from the handlebar reservoir.
Anyway with a new seat post on the Giant & new pads & bled brakes on the Kona it was time to hit the trails to freedom.


    A little bit of road work required for the route I had planned today, passing by Elmscleugh farm & then up the massive relentless hill that the farm sits at the bottom off, I only stopped twice today to take in fluids, catch my breath & of coarse a couple of photos.


Up through the White Cleugh woods where I could hear Jay's chattering up in front warning each other of my presence before I emerge from the trees onto the Crystal Rig wind farm site.


Crystal Rig wind farm & the bottom picture you can see the pylon maintenance road where I'm heading for.



Leaving the wind turbine farm behind & continuing along the pylon road where I came across this .223 casing.




Following along side the Whiteadder burn to the start of the Whiteadder reservoir. Another one of those stoat/weasel traps just one of many that I came across on my travels today.




Spotted loads of Greylag geese along the shores of the reservoir & even saw a fly fisherman fishing from a kayak which looked a bit iffy with his casting motion rocking the open top kayak from side to side.











'Doon the plughole' 
I love the amazing engineering in the construction of dams, the Whiteadder reservoir was established in the late 1960's, with the flooding ceremony in May 1968, Millknowe farm & Kingside school were both flooded & in the hot summer months when the reservoir levels are very low you can see parts of these buildings. The dam itself is 89 feet high & 600 feet thick at the base.

The ruins of Gamelshiel castle & a sheepfold in front of it, the castle was a tower house from the 14th century, it is reputed that the Lady of Gamelshiel castle was killed by wolves.



From the castle I thought I'd follow along a Land Rover track as it was in the direction where I wanted to head for going around Spartleton hill where in no time at all I joined up with the surfaced track to the hills summit, a nice little detour. While cycling along this track I could hear two cuckoo's communicating with one another but unfortunately I never saw either of them :-/



Sheep rustling on the way back home if only they had the sense to just move to the side ! 
Moorland Cotton Grass blowing in the breeze & there's always time for a selfie photo while I decide which way I want to head back, so many options from here.



Making my mind up where I was going to go I bombed down the hill of Boonslie Shank heading towards Woodhall Dean with a wee gorge to cross before I get there.

Now after a bit of bike over the shoulders traipsing up & down a gorge wading through thick Tick infested vegetation, crossing the Woodhall burn & into the Woodhall Dean nature reserve.


Crossing over the Woodhall burn at Tinkers Leap the wild garlic was really kicking off it's pungent oniony smell, love it.





Cycling along through the oak wood & the forest floor is awash with Bluebells then something strange happened ? How come when I pedal through a cow field they all chase me & yet on this occasion where I'm behind a fence they take off like the clappers away from me !





This section of the woods was like riding through a scene of the Avatar movie, the forest floor was almost neon blue with all the bluebells & the aromas were amazing in the warm afternoon sun.







Very colourful flora & fauna through the Woodhall Dean at the moment, but now the belly's starting to rumble so it's time to head back home.

About a mile to go & the kettle will soon be on.
A few more hill runs needed to get the legs in tip top condition for my Rob Roy Way adventure in June, starting from the village of Drymen & cycling all the way to Pitlochry, I can't wait really looking forward to doing a blog about this adventure.

Thanks for looking & do come back soon for another tour of the East Lothian country side.