Dope skillz dude....

Last Sunday I went to Glentress with Paul and Gary. Not having a car, I can't get down there unless HB's off her work or I can borrow the crazy bus, so I was pretty grateful of Gary offering to drive us there. The weather was great, sunny but not too hot and nae rain or strong wind, awesome. We did the usual run up to Spooky Wood*, followed by Hit Squad Hill* and Super G*, before heading up the firetrack to ride The Matrix*. We then skipped onto the black trails to ride The Bitch*, a steep rocky fucker that I hadn't ridden before. Gary took of at his usual extreme pace but got a puncture, followed by Paul. I took it slow and steady and had no real troubles riding it until Paul shouted that my water bottle had fallen off. It was't my bottle, but when I stopped I found it pretty hard to get my feet back on the pedals and get rolling again. I had my Gopro with the chest mount on. Here's the video.

Gary's puncture fixed, we rode along a bit fire track where I spotted a steep trail going down the hill next to us. It has to be one of the steepest descents I've ridden on a pushbike. Paul came off riding the steepest bit. I shit it and walked down and still fell on my arse. What a fud!

It was a great day out. We all had a good laugh and hopefully I'll be able to convince someone else to have a shot of the BraCam next time we're down.

Inspired by my trip to Glentress, I hit our local mini trail centre here in East Lothian. I was fair "railing the berms" and "jackknifing the turns" which was fucking great fun. I also "nailed" a fucking tree which resulted in a wee scratch on my arm. I got HB to take a photo of it of course. 

Where the fuck have my guns gone?

Stagnant.

Brakes On.

HB and I had planned to go for a nights camping at Glencoe this weekend but we changed our minds at the last minute. I'd have been fine, but HB's sleeping bag would have probably been too cold as the temperature was predicted to get down to minus three.
I still wanted to get out on the GS. Hammy phoned asking if I was up for going for a run, so I got my shit together and went to get the GS out the garage.
I turned the key......


And......




ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK

fuck.

The ZZZZZZZZZZZZ was the fuel pump kicking in, which was good. All normal. But the ticking was the ABS going mental. The ABS warning light was flashing like crazy meaning something was not fucking right. My GS has servo assisted brakes which have been known for developing a fault. A really expensive fault. Nightmare. We noticed that the brake light was continuously on too so a few searches online (www.ukGSer.com www.ADVrider.com) informed me that it could be a faulty brake light switch. If the switch is stuck on the bike thinks the brakes are on and the servo won't activate when the bike is started. With Faithir and Hammy's help I started to try and figure out how the fuck to sort it. We took the tank off and Faithir used his meter to check the switches. The rear was working normally but  there was something up with the front. Hammy and I were in the process of taking the brake apart to check the switch when Faithir noticed a broken wire. It looks like said wire was being stretched by the bars turning, or/and rubbing on the petrol tank, but Faithir soon had it sorted with his soldering iron. Thank fuck.

The broken wire.

Faithir gets the solder on.

All the time we were fixing the bike the weather was changing from sun to sleet. Thank fuck HB and I never went to Glencoe! Me and Hammy had planned to ride some of the single track roads up the Lammys but had to settle for a spin down the coast road. It was ace to be out on the bike but there was a big bastard black cloud floating over East Lothian which burst shortly after I split from Hammy at his folk's. I ended up riding home in hail stones!

The bikes and the Bass Rock

Cheers to Faithir and Hammy for helping me fix the GS.

Sun, sea.... and snow?? Whit?

After work on Friday Aidan and I went for a spin on the bikes up the Lammermuir Hills before heading doon the coast for a chippy. It was another braw day so I grabbed the open faced Roof Bamboo helmet and I took my gopro with me to make a wee film. I made a wee discovery. The suction cup mount for the Gopro doesn't work with bamboo. 

Oooooohhhh!

OOOOOOOOOOO!

OHYA FUCKER!

There goes my Gopro bouncing up the road at 60 mph.

Bastard.

Luckily the Gopro is as indestructible as they claim it is. Apart from a few minor scuffs on the case there was nothing wrong with it. Nothing at all. Fuck all. So cheers Gopro. 

Anyways, I attached the Gopro to Aidan's lid and wee set off, after a while I put the Gopro on my GS. Here's the film.

Saturday was another fine day. My mate Bruce was going for a shot on a microlight with East Of Scotland Mocrolights. I headed down on the GS with my camera to get some photos. We put Bruce's Gopro on the flying helmet with the suction mount. Good job the flying helmet isn't bamboo! Here's one of the films Bruce made of a short section of our coast here in East Lothian.

To see more of Bruce's films and photos check out his blog, http://coastkid.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/reach-for-sky.html

If you want to fly with East Of Scotland Microlights here's their website http://www.eosm.co.uk/home.asp

I'd recommend it. So would Maw.

That evening HB and I joined Faithir and Maw for a gid curry and some nice beer before sitting around the chiminea. Grand.

Sunday started a bit cloudy but became warmer than Saturday. Egor an Lee came round for a barbeque, and after a while Zul and Lee got out their pits and joined us. Another stonking day, Egor even took a shot of the pushbike and I had a shot of his awesome camera.

Egor hoists it.

Today I woke up to........ SNOW! And some pretty strong winds, the sea was looking pretty mean doon the coast! Still, the cold weather didn't stop me and Dave heading out on the pushbikes. Two minutes in we bumped into Trev who we persuaded to come with us. While we were waiting on Trev getting ready Sweeney phoned and we met up with him. It was like cycling a few months back. We even got the compulsory puncture just as the snow started falling again, still fucking good fun though!

Oor garden this morning. Fuckin hell!

Windy!

Still windy.

Fuckin hard core.