Planet Gary

It’s not often that a strawberry gets you out of a nice warn comfy bed at 11.30 pm, that’s almost silly o’clock, to go out turf scooting on a Swifty kick scooter. But in this instance, it was a special strawberry, a strawberry moon, so called as it marks the start of summer and the beginning of the strawberry picking season. It’s a very rare event, and the lowest full moon in the sky for the next 20-years or so. There was also the chance of some noctilucent clouds* appearing and even some aurora, though I wasn’t very hopeful on either. I was also on the lookout for wildlife, hopefully a few badgers, roe deer and even something exotic such as a wild lowland haggis in breeding colours. Well, you never know!

So, my route took be across Bonnyrigg to Broomieknowe golf course, where all was still and quiet, other than a few bats flying around and zooming in to check me out. One zone taken here, still at neutral. Next, down to another golf course, Melville this time. Got a bit excited as I crossed the wee pitch and putt course. Saw some low dark shapes slowly crossing below me and thought they might be badgers at first. However, these badgers were actually robot lawnmowers cutting the grass. Okay, anyone could make that mistake, at night! I decided to call them Turf-bots.

After taking the zone, the main golf course was very quiet, no visible wildlife I could see or hear, other than the usual rustlings in the bushes and undergrowth. Most likely rabbits, knowing the location as I do. Found a golf ball beside one of the tees so had a wee game of nocturnal hand-golf. I could just make out to flag in the darkness so rolled the ball from the furthest away point on the green but the ball veered off to the right, rolling down a slight slope. Next attempt saw the ball veering off to the left. So, for my next try, I aimed for the middle and much to my delight the ball popped into the hole. Free golf, no need for clubs, just some balls (golf), and good fun as well. I left the golf ball in the hole for someone to find next day.

The path I followed next used to be little more than a game trail when I came to Bonnyrigg 20-years ago – a game trail’s a natural path formed by animals such as fox, badger and the like. It is shown on ye olde maps as a footpath but has now long been neglected. However, a new housing development changed all that, then along comes another, and we now have a busy path gradually increasing in width and eroding at the same rate. New footpath links and bridge to Melville Castle have also increased foot traffic. But not so busy at 12.00 midnight, the witching hour, and I could scoot along nae bother. No walkers, no dogs. no children and no bugger moaning that I shouldn’t be riding that here. Bliss.

Next, down through Eskbank, picking off a few zones along the way and into Dalkeith. Taking the zone at the cemetery, the place was dead quiet, as was the town centre, just the odd private hire car playing their trade, ignoring red traffic lights and parking on double yellows. Mind you, on the Swifty kick scooter at this time of night, I did pretty much the same. Surprised to see dogs out walking their pet humans at Kings Park. After taking the zone, scooted off down to Newbattle golf course, noticing a dog waiting patiently while its pet human piddled into the bushes. I guess dogs need to take their pet humans out for a pee before bedtime.

I must mention the weather. The forecast suggested overnight temps to be around 16 degrees C., but I thought it felt cooler than that, though had no means to check. The skies were clear in parts, hazy in others, so not good viewing should aurora alerts pop up. In any case none did while I was out, only afterwards between 2.00 am and 3.00 am when I was tucked back in bed asleep did aurora alerts pop up. No sign of any rare noctilucent clouds either but this is a good time of year for them, so need to do more night turfs.

As I dropped down towards the river, scooting across Newbattle golf course, so too did the air temp. In fact, it was getting rather on the chilly side. However, some energetic kick scooting soon got the body temp up to toasty level. Kirk Bank Wood offers four zones, owls calling in the tree tops, suicidal rabbits scurrying here there and everywhere. Some unknown rustling in the undergrown was ignored lest the imagination run riot. Probably just a pack of hunting goblins in any case.

Final zone of the evening was PeacocksBeard and an encounter with some strange weather. As I climbed the hill from Hardengreen, it was right chilly, enough to persuade me to don another layer. But as I approached the zone, a considerable draught of warm air hit me suddenly and didn’t stop flowing. Out of interest I scooted back a few meters, encountering chilly air again. Then back uphill and into the warm air. It was like crossing between two different worlds, from the chilly colds of Narnia to the hot deserts air of Tatooine or Dune. Very strange.

And there I must end, mainly because I was back home again. But one final delight for the evening, that strawberry moon was now visible. It had been up since I ventured out at 11.30 pm but was out of my sight line. Now it was visible from the back garden, one very reddish/pinkish moon low in the sky towards the south and the fact that it would not rise very high partially explained why I couldn’t see it earlier on, the view blocked by buildings and trees. Must remember to go out again on the 12th July for the buck moon. Back soon.

*Image above shows noctilucent clouds taken around this time last year from Broomieknowe golf course. See Turf Blog 09-07-24.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – ArthursSeat

Following yesterday’s bike and foot events in the Turf Bonanza 2025, though mostly the foot event for some reason, another fresh collection of turfer unique zones had appeared during the day. Thankfully, mostly located in and around the city centre. There are also a few isolated ones spread across the city outskirts but just a little too far away. A 4-mile roundtrip on a bicycle for one zone is a zone too far.

I had a cunning plan this morning, well, sort of a cunning plan as not all actually went to plan. I guess due to a slight lack of forethought or planning on my part. My cunning plan was to head into Edinburgh early, at least getting the pedals turning before 5.00 am while all sensible turfers are still tucked up in bed. It would also be very quiet with only a few delivery vehicles, taxi cabs and private hire vehicle out on the streets.

The only issue I hadn’t considered with my cunning plan was that some locations would be closed. The first was Edinburgh castle esplanade. The security guard would not let me in before 9.30am when it opened officially, stating it was actually a construction site at the moment for erecting the staging for events. Okay, fine, but it would still be a construction site at 9.30 am so what’s the problem? Anyway, turfer unique Tweety lost for the moment.

The other was in the turfer unique Florence at zone OldCollege. It’s closed on Sundays.
However, despite missing out on two turfer uniques – and another I missed altogether due to operator error – I still managed to collect another 12 this morning the collection bringing my total up to 536. Of that 536, I’ve added 51 this week, almost all due to the Turf Bonanza 2025 bringing turfers to the area.

One problem that has plagued me these past few days was an issue with my bike phone mount. On four separate occasions I’d hit a rough patch of road and the phone flew off the handlebars, landing in the road, once just narrowly avoiding being run over by a car. The mounts I use are from Mous and are generally okay. I’m not sure what to issue actually is as I cannot manually make the phone come loose without pressing the release buttons. Hopefully the problem is down to operator error.

Now, back to the Turf Bonanza 2025 bike event I took part in the other day. I think I said it was fun, but now, thinking back, was it fun, did I enjoy myself? I’m not so sure now. I’ve never been very competitive and wasn’t expecting to be during this event. I enjoyed cycling the Brompton about the place, taking zones and so on but I cannot help think that I was just going through the motions and showing my support for the event. Strange how when you look back and think about things they seem different from the feelings you had at the time. Oh well, there’s always next year and Sconanza Glasgow 2025.

Right, perhaps I should strive to be more competitive and start thinking that way for the next event? So, what does it take to be more competitive, get a higher finishing placement and perhaps even win! Ah, probably over thinking a little there.

I would think the first thing is fitness. The fitter you are the quicker you can pedal, walk or run and not forgetting stamina as well, so get some mile sin before the event. A 2-hour event is a fair trek when in competition. The next is know the event area. Local knowledge is very useful. Get out there beforehand and plod those streets, check out the back alleyways, cycle paths and anything that might be a potential shortcut. Anything that avoids you having to wait at pedestrian crossing or traffic lights is a good thing. Of course, I would never council ignoring such things, if you know what I mean.

Something else that is useful in these competitions is to study your opponents, what are their strengths and weaknesses. Do they tend to follow the same strategy or do the just see what happens at the time and plan from there? And that brings us to strategy. There is much talk about strategy, you should do this and you should do that. However, in my humble opinion there are too many variables to have any fixed plan of action. The placing of the zones, the competitors themselves, other non-event turfers, even the weather can play a part as well as many others factors, particularly what is occurring at any given point of time and place during the event.

Though I have only limited experience of turf events, it seems that you can never plan more than a few zones ahead, often you are lucky to even achieve that. You try to think three zones ahead but up pops a ghosting event turfer at the second zone and you’re plan is up creek and you need to plan again, quickly as things move quickly in a turf event. More than once, I wondered where the heck do you come from? Anyway, just a few thoughts. And to finish, a single speed Brompton is not the best bike to be competitive on. Back soon.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

With the Turf Bonanza 2025 running full swing in Edinburgh, starting with the Welcome Foot Turf Event on the Friday evening, I was keen to keep adding turfer uniques to the collection and with the influx of visitors for the event, I was almost spoilt for choice. My first session gave me 16, the second session added another 10 and last evenings foot event allowed me to add another 9, though it was again frustrating at times.

Hunting ghost turfers is the term I’ve come up with to describe the situation when you are heading for a turfer unique zone, believing the information on Warded’s TvT page is up to date, yet when you arrive at the zone, you find it’s just been taken and your turfer unique has vanished. Happened to me on three occasions during the Welcome Foot Turf Event but that’s all part of the game.

I find it very annoying, and I’d definitely say it’s very bad turfing sport, when turfers switch off their GPS between zones, particularly when the area around the zone appears clear to you on the turf app, so you head that way. Then, minutes, or even seconds before you arrive at the zone, some bloody turfer switches on the GPS, appearing as if they have just beamed down from a space ship, takes the zone, then switches the GPS off again and vanishes (or beams back to their space ship). Grrr! Leave your bloody GPS on you son-of-an-alien-slime-blob! I curse you! May all your hair fall out/may you drop your phone down a drain/may you be snatched by passing aliens for medical experiments. Rant over.

Anyway, one benefit of the event was that all the participants were busy taking event zones meaning I was free to take any of the normal zones at my leisure. One thing I did find strange was watching turfers on the app taking zones where there were no zones, at least as far as I was concerned. As I was not taking part in the event, I would not see the event zones, only those taking part would see them.

So, on to today’s event, the Bonanza 2025 Bike Championship, this one taking place to the west of Edinburgh city centre, stretching out from the Bruntsfield area to the Saughton area, an area I know well having worked in the area for a few years. I used to walk this area every morning before work, so hoping my local knowledge will help, though knowing who I’m up against, I suspect not.

Now, imagine time has passed and its now “sometime later” and the event has finished. Well, that was fun. Also, hard work, challenging, frustrating and annoying, all at various time. Oh, a wet as well, at least during the final 15-minutes when the heavens decided to pump their load on us.

A Bonanza 2025 Bike Championship is quite different to normal turfing, most, if not all the usual parameters are changed. Takeover time is 30 seconds, block time is 3-minutes, zones are worth 10 points for a take and 60 points per hour if you hold them. No bonuses, no assists and wearing a bicycle helmet is compulsory. Oh, and e-bikes are not permitted unless you have a really good excuse and can convince/bribe/blackmail the turf event organisers to allow you to ride one.

There were 46 participants and 169 relatively close-together zones in the event area, which covered an area of very roughly 3 square miles and that means is a lot of turfers aiming for the same zones, and often getting there before you. But then you are doing the same to other turfers. It’s all rather hectic and you sometimes wonder where am I, what am I going to do now and so on. As far as the results go, I managed 32nd place out of 46 participants with 1066 points, The winner was MaXi who had 1803 points. Full results can be viewed here.

The forecast heavy showers held off for much of the event with only a few spots of rain occasionally having you reaching for the waterproofs. It was only in the last 15-minutes or so, that the heavens opened and even with waterproofs, well, I certainly got very wet but so close to the end of the event, it really wasn’t an issue. I’d also had the good foresight to bring a change of clothing, just in case. All in all, a good day turfing.

So, that’s all for now, I’m away to enjoy the edible contents of my welcome pack, the Irn-Bru (made from girders!) and some of Mrs Tilly’s famous Scottish tablet. Mind you, I was actually hoping for a fruit scone! Bye for now.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – GeorgeSquare

This page lists my TvT or Turfer verses Turfer collection, all the turfers I’ve taken at least one zone from, known as turfer uniques. There are no medals but it can be quite an interesting challenge when out turfing. Note that turf names may change over time.

Total turfer uniques taken to date – 542

2025
skautomatik, Király, Maggis43, BosseW, Munin, TriggerHappy, Blackbird, Movemania, Medicus, Blockbusterz, stefanx46, mrAce, northstar, Kygni, JonasfromHell, rabbit_rail, perkeles.fru, PPHP4, LapWingz, MaXi, ramblerboy, Annie9jobs, DrWes, Stillyrunners, busesarebest, TantCykel, clofen, ami68, JJ67, Nemesus, greenlander, Gölin, CattisB, peterspirea, HLN, Promethus,  Svensings, sumo, Grock, Turfmamma, Heureka, ellgesr, lönnen, Podde, mrcoolwhat, Moliso, BunnaB, Tempest, Pumac, Mani, Mr_Gixxer, Ribston, BonneLouise, MrJokerit, cr419b, recycling, CuriousCrow, codavex, TheSnail, CptShazbat, Esjbe, JarvisB, Apalos, Fashven, Peragorn, planetanna, HAL9000, toemas, EdinAust, LULU21, Dannyk60, Pokeman, 5hak3y, Jackieg, Rhapsodylegend, Harey, Skinnysawman, SaraExplore, ScottishBoy12, Stripes, ChillBurn, Harubaru, Cambla, Aumlette, Greensward, Crazygoat, Sparke, TigerN7, Fenz, Fergie, AaronTheArrow, MozzaR, Benedict.fun, Candlestickmkr, KLARUNIA, ViolaPlayer, Dazzler, Bigguy48, SlipperyShanny, Alcibiades, sjami44, Boats2, Gazon, Tunahunter, MGS-SfL, Alfordlass, Nachoz, ohshoot!, VicentESOC, 77, Hannah.R, Tortoise33, Duality, Stevo280197, Concrete!, Addybads, MightyQ, IronSparrow, EMuir125, Planeteer.

2024
Dustmallow, Corbielinn, Zoomer, Jak_Deth, KLT, Mocochinchi, SarahApple, Granitemike, spacemanspif3, biff83, Gordonspocky55, Bikestuff, Dubby, Sskaff, TheOGE, MyZone2007, Bear99, Forestgrump, Tweedweir, Geoffh, Orde02, LilywhiteT, Ravinous TamSham, Mrsmous, Emjbee, AliceKnight, TurfedOot, sparky63, EdinKTB135, teacup2.0, Walking4steps, BroonDandTina, Placid_Casual, XIII, Lightinkorean, Mikep, HissingSid, Brows, Smurfn, Luneside, wfb59, Pootle, KellysHero, MichTorr, Kampff, Peculiarbear, Skellum, Peda, SushiCat, Srocmikej, Thearlaich, ForthPirate, Haliax, Ecosse_QoS, Lilsismika, SlainteJimmy, Dangerouslizzy, RoloAdventure, EatSleepTurf, Trainz, Shoosh, EdMedic23, Pigbot, Fitz, MrHybris, Ita, Macspiggles, Jcop, Biddies, Deej, Bernie27, Pinepod, Otyr, Baggisman, ZwiftTurfer, Havering, AJHB, DavidRSROC, MiriamSROC, urfanatorSROC, FlamingoPars, EdiExp, Artificial, shanks’s-pony, Ramble, bobvic67, わかラ, BuckBeak, TheBish, Enhjuling, Learose, Jackdaw85, MaggieT, Rubyroo, Luro, Lauraloll, Newcomer, Cialar, Cloisters, BirgittaS, Pathlete, cake?, JIL, HappyF, 0beroff, Gusi, AnnSch, Proscoe, Lib.dib, MrPeO, LaRoo, Redsnake, Scorpio73, Qm, whit1001, WarrenRabbit, Talla1, NewTownIsBlue, mikey44, TheDude71, MTBNoob, Horseyj, Cyclecamping, Allinug, MarkusAke, Meleys, Lakespilgrim, Skylarker, bookish.jogger, Siodach, BigBoomer, Danemark, RNS, dannyb91020, LanndenFox, stretchMTB, allycatz, McFlyAway, Jimmysalad, Bigfatsawman, Teep, Catsfather, CollieB, MrBelpit, RabdeBruce, gob5hite, sailajd, Marrob, GooseEater, EvilPegg, Topsyturfy, FeGran, 1daninscotland, Kcal, lenlen360, HedwigOwls, Trumpetdude, MitchRapp, Goygoy, Regalia, Welchie, Toot, JamRo, RedDoor, STAGStevie, Bellerina12, North_Wing, Ciney, Ambrose, BarneyBoo, RosyPosy, sur-G, ESOC_Rocks, JiminyCrikit, Mathsboy, MagicShrew, DianaVilliers, mx5man, Skylark, Barbsie, GMturf, Lillolil, RE101, Rnics.

2023
Taysidefrog, ScubaPuffin, mustang1234, NornIronSQ, Kenica, TheTortoise, bob.bbd, Tuuunes!, Spotoc, WhatBog?, Magnusn, Stellamarita, ScottyDog, cmdopenguin7, KingdomReiver, Bobsuruncle, Luthien, Corsicana, ChemiesR, Turfingthrough, HappyHaggis, BaldiePete, MrPugsley, Hib71, AndyP, Spads, Chrisfl, Thisisewan, Pest, Arnsturf#, Kronvrak, Tobythedog, LindaGC, Gman93, Turbosmith, CoolEsocAds, Slowasstop, Aodhan, MoMac, stc89, richard13, SparkyMarky, Chemiesf, Borelord, Barking, Boneshaker, Rummbaabaa.

2022
steventon_gang, JammyDognut, Pekijala, AROS-KS, NorthofIapetus, Strac, DaHunter, Dangermous, BawZoneFire, 12sixC, Alsterspross, jtweedie, Neillyposse, Coaster, Fuzilier52, L712, OchilWomble, AndyMac, Lindhardt, Leopard99, BraidAl, Veld, Blockhead, Flangela, Ferry, Slaw, RebelRebel, RebEyy12, Saur, SHW_Goodbell, Arkki, Caminante, Jeffhodg, ZulaTheAlien:), Christmas2, Godders, Greenkeeper, Rossco, Andypatqos, saintchris13, pinkgirl, HappyHibby, steddie4life, MANOSTEEL, Sheenbeen, MuttsCycles, BeccyOz, NancyDrew, ELORoss.

2021
ESOCHi, van_andermaet, TimmyM, Callumb, ChoccyMuffin, ESOCKisaKat, KoveshEzorim, Pyramid, Cremebrulee, EsocNora, Tekuteku, Gaelgirl, Shoegazer, Orinoko, Psychygranma, FVO-Q, K.N.L., Katlesoc, SeaTurtle, Fezjivebunny, Ephemeral, Sparkleblue, Ktmcnl, pPilot, stoker, Furryback, Elojw, Carrybagman, TheMockbeggar, ELO_PY, Drylaw13, GopherTea60, Buk13y, DoodleDad, Wintergreen, Siman, JaxJaunts, MJCFife, Greasedweasel, SeaCat, ELOG, Pyewacket, Applepip, Quidkid, LangTouner, M&M’s, Lustysue, BlazedL0ve, PancakeMike, Elkaytoo, Edgygrl, MsJ, Suilven, MrBourbon, Elpth, Edinfolks, SnickerDoodle, TheToad, Bleschu, JingsCrivens, Chesterton, DrG, Squirrelnutkin, Tandem, FiFVO, Saylamoon, RosieBode, TopFlat, Knoydart, PoshWhippet, Kjtindall, Bodby, Dowasaurus, FeTaTo, ESOCJanet, Noxidc, CardiffSoulCru, Jarvmobile, Gavtav, willrun4cake, snowpilot, soosoo, stuperman, TTVmruseeks, BigGav, Ramesses, Furseal, CabinFeather, Baloo!, ELOsheila, Dnostrebor, SpookyWood-y, HigsyWigsy, Artful, Heretofore, Rocky&Fed, Eggie_boi, FenderJazz, CSL, Beanjo, Octo, Porridge68, ElsieSpanner, AlphaDonkey02, ccmartin:), DaffyDuck, grm3xy, ET, Bythesea, Jenh, TSTopper, F1patrick, BigShinyBalls, Vikingb, SazlDazl, NuclearPasta, ArthurDaley483, Edinburger, Daffodil, Letsdoit, QuirkESOCs, TheLovely, TheInquisitor, Finreir, Emack, Cruachan, ESOCWalter, Joly.

2020
Rossewan, ESOC-HR, ESOCJeneral, Teviot, llama176, zegalia, Aibo, Hodgejrjr, Hodge, MarkkuEsoc, Pedro_delb, PognHog, Féarglas.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – SelfStruggle

It’s been a while since my last turf blog, that was back in Turf Blog 14-05-25, when I took the new Trek Farley fat bike turfing along the East Lothian coast, collecting a few ticks along the way and to be honest I’ve not done much turfing since then, only a few sessions locally, more for the exercise that anything turf-wise. However, I did manage to add a few zones to the Edinburgh Roon mission while on trips into Edinburgh as well as a few turfer uniques but pretty poor show overall. Yet, when looking at my performance in those past few days, I have actually added another 15 turfer uniques to the collection, not bad going for this local and with the Edinburgh Roon mission, 10 zones added as well.

Oh dear, looks like I’ve lost my turf mojo again. What am I going to do? Cheer myself up with another bike? Hmm, better not buy another bike, might just equal a divorce. Maybe buy that 300bhp MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 I saw the other day? Hmm, perhaps not.

Anyway, I do enjoy riding the bike and from all the bikes I own, the fat bike, the chunky Brompton G Line, the standard 6-speed Brompton C line, the Sonder Broken Road off-road bike and the Ribble CGR SL gravel bike, the one I enjoy the most of actually Mr Bumble, the bumblebee yellow Brompton C Line I converted to single speed. Strange that, the smallest, quirkiest and least expensive bike I own is the most fun to ride.

However, sometimes things come along that rekindle that lost turf spirit. I’m referring to the first ever Scottish Turf Bonanza 2025, held in Edinburgh this coming weekend. And what got me interested again was the influx of foreign visitors arriving early for the Bonanza and each and every one of them is a turfer unique to me. So, off into Edinburgh this morning with Mr Bumble, the single speed Brompton.

Started at my usual parking area, Charterhall Road in the Blackford area, offering easy access to the south and the town centre. Yes, we do tend to call Edinburgh a town even though it’s the Scottish capital city. Managed to take a decent 16 different turfer uniques bringing my tally to a delightful 504. Also very pleased to have passed 500. Today’s collection included the following:

Grock, Turfmamma, Heureka, ellgesr, lönnen, Podde, mrcoolwhat, Moliso, BunnaB, Tempest, Pumac, Mani, Mr_Gixxer, Ribston, BonneLouise and MrJokerit.

But of course, hunting turfer uniques in not all plain sailing. Not only is there a fair distance to cover between them but there is always the risk of them being taken by Mr or Mrs A. N. Other before you reach them. I lost out on turfer unique Tanån at zone StookieGreek, which was taken by turfer JingsCrivens a few minutes before I arrived. The pesky TvT stats in Warded are sometimes slow to update and you think the zone is still a turfer unique but in reality, has already been taken. Perhaps I should pay more attention to the actual zone on the turf app rather than the delayed TvT map?

At Edinburgh castle esplanade I had to persuade the security to allow me access to the moat wall in order to take the zone. He was reluctant at first but eventually allowed me in, keeping a beady eye on me all the time. I explained all about turf and the Bonanza but I don’t think he will be a convert. Also lost out on another turfer unique on the Royal Mile, by the name of Grock. However, came across this one again down in Holyrood Park so another one off the list.

So, a good morning session in Edinburgh hunting turfer uniques. The TvT map was still showing other turfer uniques out to the west of the town but I’m hoping they will be in the city centre on Friday and over the weekend. Hope to bag a few more before the Bonanza finishes. More soon.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – DuneWithAView

There is an art to turfing on the beach with a fat bike. Okay, it can roll over almost anything and it’s as comfortable as your favourite comfy arm chair in front of the gogglebox but riding on sand is an art you need to learn. In fact, the approach to zone ItWorks0Tanks could be the first lesson. Not actually on sand but equally challenging.

Parts of the trail here, leading down from the gravel WW2 service road to the old searchlight battery, are little more than simple game trails created by deer, rabbits, wild haggis and the like, no more than a foot wide and lined each side with tough unyielding tussock grass. When half that width is taken up by my 4.5-inch wide fat tyres, there’s not much room for manoeuvre.

Then you hit the really gnarly stuff, an even narrower game trail, one that takes you to zone PillBoxWW2. And the tussock grass is even higher along here, perfect for catching that pedal should you lose concentration and end up with a tumble into the tick infested grass. Add to the mix hidden little bushes of incredibly spiky buckthorn, just waiting to gouge a scratch into your shins. And not forgetting their evil brethren, the brambles. I guess wearing shorts isn’t always a good idea, or better, stick to the main trails and avoid the game trails through long grass.

Turf Zone – ItWorks0Tanks

Now, I must mention the passengers I picked up along the way today. Yes, I’m talking about those troublesome ticks. From the access road to zone ItWorks0Tanks, three of the little buggers managed to hop aboard and were climbing up my legs. Then on the stretch to zone PillBoxWW2, another two added themselves to the gang. All five were removed and flicked away into the grass. Interestingly, to reach zone ZoneWithAView, I took to the higher more exposed parts of the dune system, riding the fat bike along to soft wind-blown sand, no further ticks appeared. Then, later back home, I felt an itch on the back of my left thigh. Yes, another one of the little blood-sucking bastards. I measured this one. It was 1mm across and probably at the nymph stage of development!

My initial thoughts this morning was to make a turfing/fat biking video but my lower back was aching for no reason I can think off and I knew that all that extra bending to setup cameras and so on would not be a good idea. So, sorry, but you’ll have to do with a few stills photographs and old-fashioned words instead. On the plus side, this gave me more time to a) simply enjoy riding the new Trek Farley 9.6 fat bike along the coast and b) pick off a few more unique zones from the zone-to-take list.

Turf Zone -TheBleaching

From ZoneWithAView I tried to cycle down from the dune top but failed miserably, the sand was juts too loose and deep. Even with 4.50″ wide tyres, steering on deep soft dry sand is a challenge at any time. So, I ended up pushing the bike until firmer sand was reached near the high tide line. This is where the art of fat bike beach riding comes into play. There’s a skill in reading the sand, knowing where wind and wave will create the most compacted sand. Get it wrong and you might find yourself trying to cycle across sand the consistency of sticky scone mix! Aberlady bay is generally well-packed and easy to ride, though there’s always a sweet spot between the strand line and the ripples that’s best. Mind you, it can change from season to season throughout the year.

Next zone was TheOldMan located just before Gullane Point. The little bay at the end of the beach is called Jophies Neuk. Why, I know not. Now, if you are passing this way and paying attention, you may notice a grey shale-like area not far along towards Gullane, in Ironstone Cove. It’s actually mining spoil from an old iron mine a few meters from the beach. While the entrance has been buried, you can still see the old quarry where the mine used to be. It was fellow fat biker Bruce Mathison, aka Coastkid, who showed me this one day while we were out fat biking. Gullane bay felt a tougher ride, probably down to an additional headwind and softer wet sand.

Turf Zone – SeeEyebroughy

Zones HummelRocks, TheBleaching, GullaneEnd, TheBlackRocks and WestLinks were next, all taken previously so not uniques but the next one, SeeEyebroughy, was my target unique zone. While very pleased to see the zone appearing here, I’ve long requested a zone be created on the nearby island of Eyebroughy. It’s a tidal island, and in fact was easily accessible this morning as I was there at low tide. You would not even need to get your feet wet. But fingers crossed, perhaps one day. Managed to stay on sand all the way from Gullane beach to opposite Eyebroughy, the benefit of being there at low tide.

With two of my three unique zones taken, I still had one more to do, zone JohnMalkovich, located on the John Muir Way beside Luffness Links golf course. So, back towards Gullane we go, following the easy trails though the open grassland of the West Links. I should say mostly easy trails as some stretches have sand as dry and soft of the dunes and as challenging to ride across. Came across a dog carrying a throwing ring. It saw me, stopped dead in its tracks, opened its mouth and dropped the throwing ring. It just stood there staring, jaw dropped. I’d swear it was thinking, what the heck is that human riding! The owner and I both laughed.

Picked off another four zones along the way, PropMemorial, UpperLinks, GullaneBents and StAdrians. Cycling the fat bike though Gullane town centre got me some funny looks but you get used to that when you ride a fat bike, or a Brompton, or simply go out turfing for that matter. With zone JohnMalkovich taken, it was a short and easy ride back to the car at Quarry Corner. Back again soon.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

It’s a great triumph when you are first to take an FTT zone here in Midlothian, especially one located withing easy cycling range of Penicuik. The zone in question is called LindsayRose and appeared at 19:33 yesterday evening in the sleepy village of Rosewell and I was mightily surprised to see it still there, and still untaken, when I checked for new zones while eating breakfast this morning. Always pleasing to get one before the local rival turfers from the wild west. And it was one of my own zone suggestions which makes the FTT take all the better.

I’ve been off turfing these past few days with a bad head cold, or more accurately, serious man flu!. Not much fun turfing when your eyes are constantly streaming and vile liquid snot is dripping from your aching itchy nose. However, felt much better today, so cycled up to Rosewell for that FTT zone. And what I did discover today was a great way to clear clogged sinuses. Simply ride your bike in cool weather and blow your node, or rather nose. What comes out can only be described looking akin to Evo-Stik adhesive! Quite satisfying actually but makes sure no-one is nearby.

Thought up another idea for some turf medals today. I’m always hoping that there will be a few additional zones added to the railway path between Rosewell and Bonnyrigg, ideally ending up with 10 zones within about 2.00km, about the perfect distance for some good Eager Ferret times. However, why stop at the Eager Ferret, that’s 10 zones in under 10 minutes. Why not continue?

My thoughts were to have additional eager medals for each minute under 10 minutes, all the way down to 5 minutes, which seems to be a reasonable stopping point, though the fastest Eager Ferret is from turfer JimmyAIK94 with a time of 4:15 (which almost seems impossible over 2.82 km), so perhaps 4-minutes might be worthy target as well. So, how about this:

• 10 zones under 9 minutes, Eager Rabbit
• 10 zones under 8 minutes, Eager Hare
• 10 zones under 7 minutes, Eager Rat
• 10 zones under 6 minutes, Eager Greyhound
• 10 zones under 5 minutes, Eager Cheetah
• 10 zones under 4 minutes, Eager Tortoise

Well, you never know, it might happen on day. Fingers crossed.

Well, the beast has finally arrived. One rather splendid Trek Farley 9.6 is now in my hands and ready to ride. Handlebar grips have been replaced and the pointless (to me anyway) dropper seat post has also been removed and swapped for a standard seat post. One other important task was to add puncture sealant to the inner tubes. This was achieved by using a special syringe to inject the sealant through the valve stem, once the core had been removed.

As I never trust anyone to do tasks properly, especially with my bikes, I gave the Farley the once over and was amazed to find the top two handlebar clamp bolts had not been tightened and the bottle cage bolts were also loose. So, come on Trek Bicycle Edinburgh, up your game a little. Okay, bottle cage bolts are hardly going to result in anything serious occurring but handlebar clamp bolts are a different matter. Not impressed!

I’ve also ordered the final item of video equipment I was after, the Canon Legria HF G70 camcorder which should be here tomorrow along with the essential spare battery and media cards. So, watch out for fat biking turf videos from Aberlady Bay and along the East Lothian coast to North Berwick, as well as trips into the Lammermuir Hills for zones on Priestlaw Hill, Meikle Says Law and Lammerlaw. Back soon.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – WayOfBaird

Much excitement this morning, out turfing Bonnyrigg and up pops a notification, Rank 57 – Turf Archangel. That means I’ve collected 13 million points. However, you might think 57 out of 60 ranks is fantastic, only three more to go. But there’s a downside to that as you actually need another 37 million points to reach Rank 60 – Turfalicious. Even the next one, Rank 58 – Turf God, requires another 2 million points to reach 15 million.Then another 10 million for Rank 59 – Turf Titan and a whopping 25 million for Rank 60 – Turfalicious. Then a police car screams past, followed by another, then an unmarked police car, then two more, all five cars on blues and two’s, thundering along at 60 or 70 mph, coming from Eskbank and heading towards Bonnyrigg town centre. Seems a bit overkill for riding a Brompton on the pavement!

Last night. It wasn’t my original plan, that was a foot turf at Aberlady Bay in East Lothian, to pick off that new zone, DuneWithAView, located out in the salt marsh where the dunes face the beach. It was one of my own requests and I’m very pleased it was created. Instead, I decided a local night turf on the kick scooter was in order, saving the drive to and from the coast. Thought I’d keep the Aberlady unique zones for the new fat bike when it arrives. It’s been a while since I did a kick scooter night turf and with fine mild weather tonight was an ideal option.

It wasn’t far from 2.00 am, or silly o’clock for those of you who think getting out of a warn snug bed at this time of the morning is plain crazy. Conditions were very mild, perfect t-shirt and shorts weather, not too hot and not too cold, as Goldilocks once said. First take a local zone, WayOfBaird, only 300m from the front door. It’s not my closest zone that’s Pittendreich, which is even closer at only 100m.

From there I kick scooted my way towards Broomieknowe golf course, taking a few zones along the way. And not having been on the kick scooter for quite a few months, hard going it was. Riding a bike, especially one with gears, is so much easier. Even my single speed Brompton is easier than kick scooting. It was very quiet tonight, not a single soul was abroad, only the distant rumble of traffic in the background breaking the silence.

From zone BroomieGolf, I dropped down to Melville driving range, took zone MelvilleGolf and scooted round the golf course perimeter heading towards the River North Esk. A police car sped past just before I crossed the road. Imagination has me wondering who they are looking for, someone kick scooting on the pavement or across the golf course, perhaps? Missed me though.

The thunder of large beasts in the trees around the golf course startles me until I see four roe deer burst from the trees in front of me, dark shapes floating across the fairway, indistinct and ghostly before vanishing into the dark. I sometime wonder what it would be like turfing at night in countries where an intrepid turfer might encounter large potentially dangerous animals, such as bear, dire wolf and pack of wild hunting rabbits.

A narrow path leads me towards Dalkeith, following the River North Esk downstream. The trail here is now about a metre wide, once, only a few years ago, it was little more than a game trail, less than a foot wide in places. However, increasing urban sprawl by way of new housing developments have seen an increase in foot traffic, thereby forming a much wider trail. In the past, during the daytime, you would likely get the place to yourself, not so these days. Still, at night you have the trail to yourself, and the robins singing from the holly trees. The new footbridge crossing the river to Melville Castle hotel has also contributed.

My next target zone was EskPath, found on the old railway line at Eskbank. It’s a good spot for listening to tawny owls calling but they were quiet tonight, not a single peep was heard from the trees. It was cooler here, often a feature of railway paths and cuttings, even on the warmest of days. I once cycled here on my fat bike and the gear mechanism froze solid. It was 8 degrees below so not all that surprising really.

My next zone was in the dead centre of Dalkeith, or to be more accurate Dalkeith cemetery. It’s always spooky here, especially when kick scooting or cycling at night. Not only are there ghostly LED lights all over the place but the kick scooter lights can reflect off polished gravestones making you think someone in following behind you. Always keep to the path and avoid the grass, You don’t want a skeletal zombie hand reaching out and grabbing your ankle. Took zone HolyDalkeith then scooted along to Kings Park for the zone there. Another police car zoomed past, blues and two’s waking the dead. Ha, missed me again.

From Kings Park I dropped down through Newbattle golf club, noticing the sudden drop in temperature as I approached the River South Esk. I backtracked a few meters, back into the warm air. It was as if I was crossing a barrier between cold and warm. Decided to stay in the warm, so scooted along to Kirk Bank Wood, taking the three zones there then down to zone StoneGate on the A7, before slogging up the tedious B6392, the so-called Bonnyrigg feeder road. Always a chore walking, cycling or scooting up this stretch.

Anyway, soon back home, stowed the kick scooter back in the shed and turned in for the night. Only 16 zones taken but a good two hours kick scooter exercise does no harm at all. I would highly recommend night turfing. It’s usually still and quiet, few people or dogs about to get in the way and crossing roads is a doddle as there little or no traffic. Back soon.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.

Turf Zone – LawheadBurn

Penicuik this evening, to partake in the ESOC FTT#15, though I don’t actually know what that stands for, the latter part anyway, the FTT*. There was a good turn out with 11 intrepid turfers braving the wilds of Penicuik, some on their trusty bicycles and some choosing the slog their way round on foot. Personally, none of this walking/running for me, far too much like hard work, I prefer the bicycle, in this instance my Brompton G Line, aka Mr Orange.

For this event I decided to cycle from Bonnyrigg, doing my bit to save the planet by leaving the car at home, though with the thought in the back of my head that this might not be a good idea as I’ll need to cycle home again after a potentially strenuous event. Which start point to select was on my mind as I pedalled my way along the old railway path to Penicuik and knowing how hilly the town is, decided to head for high ground, at zone LawheadBurn (above), maintain some height as long as possible, then drop down towards the finish area at the Craigie hotel as the event progresses, aiming to take my final zones right next to the base at the Craigie hotel.

My plan worked well enough, not too many ascents, descents and re-ascents and was delighted to find myself making good progress, though unsure of where I was positioned in the rankings. Not that I saw myself winning, not even remotely and not against the likes of Mega-turfers Aibo and JammyDognut. It was only later that I recalled you can see the leader board in the League section of the turf app. Not sure I’d have the time to stop and check my position anyway, to be honest. At one point I had to turn off the “zone lost” notification as I was losing zones to turfer ElsieSpanner and others at a tremendous rate and was finding it rather annoying and off putting.

The competitors gathered afterwards at the Craigie hotel for the photo shoot and winners’ awards ceremony with prizes of bargain chocolates handed out by organiser Hodge. You can view the full results list here. managed to finish in 4th myself so pleased with that.

• ESOC KisaKat – first junior finisher.
• JammyDognut – first on bike.
• EdMedic23 – first on foot.

EdMedic23 also won an additional special award for working out the theme behind the naming convention for the event zones, and that was based on Hodges’ 150 birds seen within 10k of Penicuik, though only ESOC members knew about that which seems a tad unfair as those prize chocolates looked rather enticing. ESOC KisaKat was onto a good thing as the only junior competitor.

A few well-earned drinks were consumed at the hotel, hopefully the non-alcoholic kind for those who were driving home. Personally, I don’t drink alcohol, not for any particular reason, just that I don’t enjoy it. Might be worth pointing out that the legal limit in Scotland is 22 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol in 100 ml of breath which means one alcoholic drink could put you over the limit. Anyway, a very enjoyable evening with a good number of zones well spread across town. Well done to all who attended and supported Hodge’s event in Penicuik and what bargain Hodge had arranged with the weather God’s for a non-rainy day must remain a mystery.

Must really get that Bonnyrigg event started though I’ll have to request another event creating account as I’ve lost mine. Think I was overjealous when deleting old emails. Cycled back down to Bonnyrigg with turfer MuttsCycles, the new rubbery/gravel surface coating making for a smooth ride. Looking forward to future events.

*FTT = Foot Turf Tuesday. Thanks Hodge.

Copyright ©2025 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.