2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

Let's see — seawater's an excellent conductor of electricity, highly corrosive to exposed metal, and perfectly capable of leaking through fully immersed weather seals.

I say, go for it!
I wonder if that's not the Lindisfarne Causeway during the high tide...

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I'm excited to hear about the Charge's adventures in Northumberland, the area I liked so much years ago!
 
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Another blustery day but not as bad as Sunday, westerly winds once again around 25-30mph! Rain was forecast once again but I wasn't letting it stop me, I actually did a very good job of avoiding it! All I could see was darkness to the south so I headed north...

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I didn't really have a plan today, it was just a case of go and hope for the best and amazingly I didn't get wet and ended up with imperial century #20 for the year! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get a century ride in today, If I managed 70 I would have been happy! I ended up heading over the Forth Road Bridge because the weather made the decision for me, I was a little worried about crosswinds but strangley the wind stayed calm over the crossing!

A few photos of the bridges as always!

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I was greeted by sunshine on the bridge, it didn't last long of course!

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I enjoyed a nice tailwind for most of the 33 miles until now but after crossing the bridge that was about to change, as soon as I turned west for Rosyth it felt very different battling a 25-30mph headwind at times! I tried my best to find shelter, turning off the main road sure helped as I made my way into Limekilns!

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The descent after taking this photo was so much fun, once again the tide was out here...

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Then I had the cobbled climb up to Charlestown, where I was met with a sign saying local access only! I wasn't for turning back to join the main road again so I continued in the hope I could get through on the bike, my luck was in as the road workers waved me through! Most of the road was almost complete and I enjoyed lovely new smooth tarmac! :D At the end of the road I joined the cycle path to Crombie where the path ends so I was back on the main road again but not for long as I used the footpath soon after! I then made my way to Torryburn on the coast road with little to no traffic, its a very nice road for the bike!

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I then passed through the villages of Newmills and Low Valleyfield before arriving in Culross, I was going to use the cycle path here but it was busy with dog walkers and the like!

The view across the Forth with the Grangemouth Oil Refinery across the bay, they stopped processing crude oil at the end of April with the loss of many jobs! :( Grangemouth is transitioning to a fuel import terminal and is exploring opportunities for a low carbon future, including potential renewable energy and chemical production.

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I continued along the amazing coast road towards Kincardine Bridge!

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Earlier a massive flock of geese flew overhead and they made quite a racket, as I neared Kincardine Bridge on the cycle path I spotted them in a field! It may have been a whole different flock of course...

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They were spread everywhere, it was impossible to capture the whole flock!

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I crossed the bridge and stopped for a couple of photos looking across the Forth towards Grangemouth!

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I then headed into Falkirk and passed through Camelon where I stumbled on major roadworks with a big line of cars, thankfully the footpaths were clear so I was able to sneak past all the cars! I was now heading for Bonnybridge where I stopped at the canal for a break and a snack!

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From there I made my way through Allandale and Castlecary where I turned south towards Abronhill, I then took the back road past the Fannyside Lochs! The sky was getting dark here and I could feel rain in the air now!

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The road was still dry though and it had been resurfaced recently!

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At the end of the road I had a choice of heading straight home through Greengairs but I decided to tackle the big climb from Upperton to Longriggend, I took this photo at the top of the climb! As you can see the road was wet here, the rain had stopped though!

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From Longriggend I headed to Caldercruix and turned west for home, arriving with 80 miles exactly! It was only 13.35 so I decided to grab my 3rd battery and head back out after doing some chores! I made my way south to Allanton and did a big loop up the back roads, this part was amazing with a lovely tailwind and dry roads!

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The descent into Allanton at the end of this road is just amazing and I had the wind helping me, from there I took the back road to Hartwood and tackled the big climb up to Kirk of Shotts! Near the top I turned west for Hareshaw on my favourite back road and despite the strong headwind I was flying along thanks to the road being mostly downhill! From Hareshaw I used the main roads to home as the weather was starting to close in, 15 minutes after I arrived home the rain started to fall! It was my lucky day for sure, some days you get unluckly like last Sunday so I was due a break! ;) I'm closing in on 6000 miles for the year now, just 153 to go and I only need another 100 to reach 42000 miles on my amazing bike!😁
 

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perfectly capable of leaking through fully immersed weather seals.

Thats why you dont go swimming at your age.
Did they call the helicopter in? Talk man, I'm all ears!

once again the tide was out here...
Hard to believe but for most people from the Baltic Sea area the concept of the tide is as foreign as the "Tales of The Iron Wolf*" :D
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*) No one heard of those tales, in fact :D
 
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I wonder if that's not the Lindisfarne Causeway during the high tide...

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I'm excited to hear about the Charge's adventures in Northumberland, the area I liked so much years ago!
yes thats the causeway, at high tide, we are in Seahouses , just been watching the RNLI bring a lifeboat in.

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Ya lowcals aya spotid we yar scowserz.
 
Ya lowcals aya spotid we yar scowserz.
I do understand! :D Can you speak Scouse, Chris? You could try in one of your videos!
Anecdotally, as we flew in Liverpool back in 2005, we were forced to listen to a Scouse bus driver and none of the 5 Poles in the group could understand the word! Also, I was being trained by a Scouser instructor in Runcorn back in 2002. I could understand only 40% of what he was saying! "Speak English, please..." I was begging him to which his constant reply was "Sorry, English is my second language" :D
 
The descent into Allanton at the end of this road is just amazing and I had the wind helping me, from there I took the back road to Hartwood and tackled the big climb up to Kirk of Shotts! Near the top I turned west for Hareshaw on my favourite back road and despite the strong headwind I was flying along thanks to the road being mostly downhill! From Hareshaw I used the main roads to home as the weather was starting to close in, 15 minutes after I arrived home the rain started to fall! It was my lucky day for sure, some days you get unluckly like last Sunday so I was due a break! ;) I'm closing in on 6000 miles for the year now, just 153 to go and I only need another 100 to reach 42000 miles on my amazing bike!😁
Amazing, more unbelievable. Could you share the repair history of your bike? Has the motor ever been replaced? Is there ever a plan B on your long rides? Plan A being make it home. Like, do you ever camp on the side of the road because you couldn't make it home due to weather or some other reason?
 
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Last week I saw the comedian Trei Crowder billed as the Liberal redneck. He mentioned that he had been to England on tour where he was generally unknown. After the show in conversation with the venue’s manager he asked if he could expect the same quiet reception in Scotland. “Oh my word no…they will understand you perfectly.”
 
Last week I saw the comedian Trei Crowder billed as the Liberal redneck. He mentioned that he had been to England on tour where he was generally unknown. After the show in conversation with the venue’s manager he asked if he could expect the same quiet reception in Scotland. “Oh my word no…they will understand you perfectly.”
Dude's hilarious!
 
Last week I saw the comedian Trei Crowder billed as the Liberal redneck. He mentioned that he had been to England on tour where he was generally unknown. After the show in conversation with the venue’s manager he asked if he could expect the same quiet reception in Scotland. “Oh my word no…they will understand you perfectly.”
Why do I laugh at Jimmy Kimmel or Jon Stewart monologues while I remain indifferent when listening to Trae Crowder?
 
I have a story about the Farne Islands, our scuba club visited in the 90s and we dived a large wartime supply ship thats sunk very close to the Islands, incredibly clear water even at 30m you could see the boats on the surface.
Anyway the open hulls were full of jeep tyres, boxes of spares, rolls of sheet metal, thousands of glass bottles.
I opened up a leather suitcase and it was full of 16mm film reels, i pulled at the film but as it unravelled the images just floated off , for a split second remaining intact until dispersing into the water.
So I found a box of Macleans toothpaste, completely intact lead tube I presume.
Brought one back up, everyone was looking at it as we motored back to the shore , I took the top off, bearing in mind we were doing a good speed in open RIBS, squeezed some on to my glove, it had become dark grey.
The smell hit me first, it was the most acidic, wretching, putrid foulness I have ever experienced, within seconds both boats were full of people gagging.
I threw it into the sea but the smell remained, it was unbearable.
Just the tiny pea sized lump on my dive glove was enough to bring people in the other boat to quickly steer away.
I had throw my glove into the sea as well.
I have never smelt anything like it since and it brought a whole new realisation of the power of odour.
 
I have never smelt anything like it since and it brought a whole new realisation of the power of odour.
Nothing of the calibre of your scuba diving adventures but something about the odour... I was an amateur chemist since 1975 (age of 14). On one day, the chemistry teacher in our 7th grade primary school class told us we would produce esters, which usually have a very pleasant smell. At the primary school level, it was an easy and interesting experiment: a small porcelain vessel, a small amount of alcohol and organic acid plus a droplet of a strong acid as a catalyst, heat it up and then you can enjoy the smell. My mixture was acetic acid and ethanol, nothing simpler than that, the smell found in the old school nail polish remover.

My close friend Kamil got butyric acid and ethanol. His experiment went well, and I can tell you ethyl butyrate smells just beautifully (it is similar to Advocaat liqueur). However, Kamil being an extravert and a careless person managed to pour some butyric acid on himself and sprayed a little onto me. Enough to say, the butyric acid is one of the worst smelling odours; it smells rotten butter or a skunk :D

We both had to spend the next lesson breaks outside :D While I put my clothes in the laundry and took a bath, Kamil just jumped in his full clothes into the bathtub! :D
 
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I have a story about the Farne Islands, our scuba club visited in the 90s and we dived a large wartime supply ship thats sunk very close to the Islands, incredibly clear water even at 30m you could see the boats on the surface.
Anyway the open hulls were full of jeep tyres, boxes of spares, rolls of sheet metal, thousands of glass bottles.
I opened up a leather suitcase and it was full of 16mm film reels, i pulled at the film but as it unravelled the images just floated off , for a split second remaining intact until dispersing into the water.
So I found a box of Macleans toothpaste, completely intact lead tube I presume.
Brought one back up, everyone was looking at it as we motored back to the shore , I took the top off, bearing in mind we were doing a good speed in open RIBS, squeezed some on to my glove, it had become dark grey.
The smell hit me first, it was the most acidic, wretching, putrid foulness I have ever experienced, within seconds both boats were full of people gagging.
I threw it into the sea but the smell remained, it was unbearable.
Just the tiny pea sized lump on my dive glove was enough to bring people in the other boat to quickly steer away.
I had throw my glove into the sea as well.
I have never smelt anything like it since and it brought a whole new realisation of the power of odour.
Eeew. I’m eating breakfast, Charge! :D :D
 
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