Turf Zone – LaGrange
I just had to take this picture. The colour of my single speed Brompton is bumblebee yellow, hence his name Mr Bumble. And when I came across this little bit of a graffiti at zone LaGrange, it was simply perfect, So perfect in fact, that I forgot to allow the zone to take but didn’t realise that until much later, too much later to go back a take the zone. However, I’ve just double checked that statement and I find I had taken the zone. I’m sure it was still showing red when I looked on the turf app.
Turf Zone – SingleCask
I was hunting turfer uniques again this morning, bumbling my way across Edinburgh, first target was zone OldCollege, in the quad of the Law Library at the University of Edinburgh and held by turfer ViolaPlayer. Of course, I approached from the west aiming for the door on West College Street, which, being a Saturday, was locked. Bugger, I thought, not going to get that zone today. However, Lady Luck came to the rescue and I was able to enter by the main entrance off South Bridge.
Turf Zone – RichOldMan
Turf Zone – RichOldMan
Oh, I also want to mention a nice find at zone RichOldMan, off Sylvan Place, taken in my way across town. I noticed a brick hanging partly out of a hole in a gate and could not resist taking a wee look to see what the brickmark was. It turned out to be an NCB ROSLIN, not a unique find, but another addition towards my Planet Gary Un-official Brick Spotting medal. I have the Brick Spotting 5 and 10, so this brings my tally to 11 and another brick in the wall towards the Brick Spotting 25 medal. I could see other bricks through the hole in the gate but thought that reaching through might not be a clever idea.
My next turfer unique target was KLARUNIA, who held quite a few zones in the area around Lothian Road. I managed to grab one at ScottishZone then cycled across towards Gorgie for another, this one called candlestickmkr at zone BrysonsAngle, located on a disused railway line. All the KLARUNIA held zones were gone by the afternoon as Edinburgh is a popular hot spot for turfing at weekends.
Turf Zone – BrysonsAngle
Turf Zone – BrysonsAngle
Zone BrysonsAngle also gave me another brickmark, this time a CARFIN, which, if a look at my very rare ad dog-eared copy of the 1985 Survey of Scottish Brickmarks by G. J. Douglas and others, reveals it was manufactured at the Carfin Brickworks, Motherwell, Lanarkshire. I have a bad habit of forgetting to look for brickmarks at zones but will be trying much harder in future. My overall tally to date is 14, as noted below. Only another 11 required for the Brick Spotting 25 medal.
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- Between7And8, NEWBATTLE.
- MinerMemorial, SBC.
- MinerMemorial, WHITEHILL.
- Prestonholm, WHITEHILL.
- Mary, NCB WHITEHILL.
- AncientBattle, SANDYSIKE.
- AncientBattle, ROSLIN.
- AncientBattle, ETNA.
- AncientBattle, GLENBOIG.
- AncientBattle, W. HUNTER & CO, PORTOBELLO.
- RichOldMan, CARFIN.
- BrysonsAngle, NCB ROSLIN.
- EskPath, WHITEHILL.
- Prestonholm, WHITEHILL.
Back home that afternoon, I noticed another turfer unique zone just outside Whitecraig, going by the turf name Benedict.fun, at zone CraigTheWhite. I’d seen this name before but had always lost out to local turfer TurboSmith. However, I’m not going to get it if I don’t try.
Turf Zone – NapierZone
So, off I went on Mr Bumble, single speeding across Dalkeith, fingers crossed the zone will not be taken before I get there. Thankfully, it was still available and I added another turfer unique to the total, now sitting at 450. However, my heart did sink for a moment as I approached the zone. Who should come cycling towards me but turfer TurboSmith. Thankfully, he was not turfing today. Phew!
Finally, I’ve made a few minor changes to Mr Bumble, the main one being swapping the 12-tooth rear sprocket for a 13-tooth sprocket, thus lowering the gear ratio slightly. I was finding the 12-tooth rear sprocket together with the 44-tooth front chainring a little on the high side, particularly for hills. Now, with the 13/44 setup it’s about perfect as I can get with the range of components available. The other change was tyre pressures. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus have a pressure range of 65 to 110 PSI. Ran them at 95 PSI today and found the bike much faster and smoother. Back soon.
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