We did it!
After much procrastination on my part, Jimmy did the Tin Pot Dictator bit and named Auldhame Castle as the venue, on the East Lothian Coast. Bothies? Pah!

Firstly, however, some apologies....
Apologies to the South Wales crew, we had good weather all weekend. It was a bit breezy today and there was some rain around but compared to previous SWB's it was positively glorious!
Apologies to Jimmy, Justin and Dave, I drank far too much last night and paid the price with a hangover of grotesque proportions today. I hope I didn't slaver too much pish last night....
Apologies to the various walkers I encountered on the way home who must have been horrified by this apparition cycling towards them - eyes like p*ssholes in the snow and a grey complexion...
Apologies to Edinburgh City Council for spraying sealant all over their nice cycleways....

Ahead of all this I had a fine ride from home to North Berwick. The fog of the previous week had finally gone and it was a cool, breezy and sunny day. Once again I battled through Edinburgh (third time this year) and noted a shiny new cycle route linking the end of the Roseburn Cycleway to almost Fountainbridge. I believe they intend to punch it right through to the Meadows one way or another. I followed NCN's 1/76 eastwards including the Pencaitland railway path which is still nice and gravelly. Dark O'clock occurred just before Haddington and I carried onto East Linton as per a route I did a couple of years ago to meet up with Mum and Dad in a holiday cottage they were staying at. From there a few more back roads to North Berwick and the pub, with Justin in residence, Dave incoming and Jimmy preparing our accommodation.

Beers were drunk and chips were eaten then off to the spot via the inevitable Co-op. A bit of nosing around then the castle loomed out of the dark. Jimmy had a fire going in the 'fire place' (ahem) and fairy lights up! Well I know what we say about fires but this would do no harm to any flora or fauna and given that the castle would have been built by local slave labour for some posh, rich git, it seemed fitting that four reprobate bikepackers squatted in it for a night, with a fire to warm our ageing bones. So there.

Much conviviality followed, probably why I ended up drinking too much as it's the first social I've had in a long time....



We crashed out at 12 (literally in my case as I tripped over Dave's sleeping bag heading for the loo and measured my length - I blame the whisky) and I slept soundly until just after 8.



Quite a pile in it's day.

I got packed up before the full force of the hangover struck. Dave, Jimmy and Justin were heading to Dunbar - Dave for his wagon and the others for the train but I felt I had to cycle all the way home as penance for abusing my body so. Plus, to be honest, I didn't trust myself on a train in case my breakfast made a re-appearance.

So a lengthy ride followed, my body on a go slow, aided and abetted by a stiff breeze in my face. This built as my hangover receded. As I ground along, I made a ferverent hope - "please don't get a puncture" - I'd probably just roll off the bike into a ditch and stay there. Sure enough, pedaling along the innocent railway, there was an almighty hiss and sealant sprayed everywhere. Fortunately the hangover had largely receded by this time so I set to as it was quite a slash, caused by broken glass, no doubt. This lasted to the meadows and the plug actually came out - a first for me, leading to more sealant spray... I used one of those WTB bullets and that seemed to do the trick.

Leaving Embra it was a full on gale. I nearly ended up in the Forth going over the bridge as huge gusts were battering me all the way across. Relieved to survive that lot, and with my appetite back, Greggs in Inverkeithing was a lifesaver fueling the final miles up the hill back home. Total distance 200k!

Cheers to Jimmy for organising and cheers to the others for putting up with me....

. Nice pile. Lucky to enjoy a pile rather than suffer from them as some bikers do .

And 200k certainly puts us SWWBers to shame. Although we probably kept up in the beer stakes.

Great to hear other folks pulled their fingers out and got out there

Nice one Phil. Impressed you rode all the way back in that headwind, with a hangover... you seemed a little subdued in the morning AND a special visit from the puncture fairy

No need to apologise - pish-slavering is the name of the game. Well, not literally.

This winter bivvying is very comfortable, I'm not sure what that soft South Wales lot were getting all het up about last weekend...

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2024 9:47 pm This winter bivvying is very comfortable, I'm not sure what that soft South Wales lot were getting all het up about last weekend...

Perhaps it was all just a dream

Thanks for taking on the write-up duties Phil. A very enjoyable event in good company and I'm glad the venue met with everyone's approval.

Hats off to you for riding all the way home into that headwind... even more so when suffering from a raging hangover. We, on the other hand, took full advantage of a nice tailwind to propel us towards Dunbar, via a breakfast halt at the the always excellent Tyninghame Smithy caff in, er... Tyninghame.

Some pics below to hopefully convey some of our experience...

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Untitled by Jimmy G, on Flickr

6 by Jimmy G, on Flickr

View of the Bass Rock by Jimmy G, on Flickr

Looking forward to next year's SWB already!

As above and beyond, after a certain amount of discussion and debate over the competing merits of bothy vs bivvi Jimmy only came up with a castle, which met with immediate approval. Greensykes bothy had the advantage of being dry and hospitable last year but was distinctly lacking in turrets, while the various bits of woodland considered didn't stand up to the long range forecast. As it happened we missed Storm Darragh by a week and I headed out just after lunch to meet my guide. I was a couple of minutes late having failed to find a direct route through the Dalkeith Estate.

Jimmy introduced me to the Pencaitland railway path and from there it was a quick succession of quiet roads and singletrack to meet up with the John Muir Way.

We stopped at a posh garden centre for water and a wee hot chocolate and before long it was starting to get dark.

A bag of chips in North Berwick before Jimmy was anxious to get off to get the fire lit. Phil turned up shortly after having cycled from Fife and Dave rocked up halfway through the second pint having parked in Dunbar and done a circuitous route around the area. In due course we followed Jimmy's route across the golf course and through the caravan park and into the woods where the castle loomed amidst the trees.

There followed a most convivial evening, details of which have already been lost to time. Routes and kit were discussed, plans for the future, the wisdom and ethics of BaM itself. Sufficiently refreshed and relaxed there may even have poetry. Turning in with the flames of the dying fire flickering across the arched roof and blessing the flatness of the old kitchen floor, slept well.

Next morning popped down to the beach to check out the cave which had been mooted as a last minute alternative, then while Phil gingerly cycled his hangover home me Dave and Jimmy headed to Dunbar via cabbage fields and woodland trails and a cracking little cafe in Tyninghame. Bacon rolls and coffee consumed it only now occurred to me to check the times of trains back to Edinburgh, having promised to be home at lunchtime for christmas shopping. Realised the next train was in 21 minutes and and after that there was an hour and a half gap, and we were 28 minutes from the station, but with a tailwind I bid a hasty farewell and very nearly made it.

Ah well, time to buy a few presents online in the bar by the station and got home to only minor "So you missed the train - were you in the pub?" (which to be fair was the case two weeks ago).

Excellent trip - cheers gents.

Poetry?
Please tell me that wasn't from me....

You're fine, it was me. Something I wrote for my pal who fell off a mountain back in April.

You knew the selfish pleasure of being
Awake in a space while others still sleep
You who crossed lines and borders, oceans deep
Who took delight in the night sky, seeing
Comets and constellations agreeing
To meet, old friends, with promises to keep.
You knew well the hills, the mountains, how steep
The ways out of life, the hardness of freeing
One's thoughts from the barbed wire of thinking.
But biltong, brandy, woodsmoke and weather
Falling asleep on a mountain, on top
High and remote, the seas and stars shrinking
To a point, among the rocks and heather
May you rest, in peace, at your final stop

I do recall that Justin

Don't know if I mentioned it was based on something he wrote last year.

https://ivanmeyer.muchloved.com/Lifestories/682507275

gecko76 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:56 pm You're fine, it was me. Something I wrote for my pal who fell off a mountain back in April.

You knew the selfish pleasure of being
Awake in a space while others still sleep
You who crossed lines and borders, oceans deep
Who took delight in the night sky, seeing
Comets and constellations agreeing
To meet, old friends, with promises to keep.
You knew well the hills, the mountains, how steep
The ways out of life, the hardness of freeing
One's thoughts from the barbed wire of thinking.
But biltong, brandy, woodsmoke and weather
Falling asleep on a mountain, on top
High and remote, the seas and stars shrinking
To a point, among the rocks and heather
May you rest, in peace, at your final stop

I enjoyed that on reading it just as much as I enjoyed hearing you recite it, lying in a sleeping bag in an old castle. Really lovely

Anyway, belatedly (Christmas, eh?) adding a few words and photos of my own, although the others have summed it up pretty well.

I parked in Dunbar to leave myself an easy ride back in the wind the following day. But to justify the outing, I took a somewhat token sojourn up onto Dunbar Common via the old Herring Road, which eventually goes to Lauder where I would have started had I had the motivation required to do the reverse into a 30mph headwind the following day.



Not much of an adventure really, but I did find some obligatory tussocks, get benighted (deliberately) and lose the path in a sea of heather. It was good to be reminded what it's like to be out on a cold, dark, windy moor on my own - I've not done much of that lately.





Met Phil and Justin in North Berwick for a pint and some chips, stocked up on beer from the Co-op, and went to find Jimmy who'd set up the welcoming cave you see above.

Atmospheric doesn't do it justice!



T'other castle:






Jimmy continued to look after me and Justin on Sunday morning, giving us a guided tour of local tracks and an excellent cafe on the way back to Dunbar.

Thanks again gents.

Nice one Dave. See you all next year!

I enjoyed that on reading it just as much as I enjoyed hearing you recite it, lying in a sleeping bag in an old castle. Really lovely

Glad you liked it Dave. The plan to write one a month has fallen a bit behind but have got nine in the bag, a few of which still need some work, and am hoping to nail the remainder before heading back to work. Definitely ending on a high.