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.
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