Painful meander – 2 falls and a submission

Not quite sunset yet

I usually try to limit me posts to one a week at most, but . . . . .

It was my second ride after 2 weeks of coughing, spluttering and all sorts of things I wouldn’t inflict on my readers. Spent part of the morning fitting new tyres for the winter – Vredestein Fortezza Senso All Weather Anth/Red 700x25mm. The bike was clean, all the oily bits were attended to, cold weather clothing on & camera strung round my neck. So I was ready to go.

First, up into the foothills, with a few nice climbs as a warm up. I approached Starvation Brae, a steep climb near Spott, but didn’t feel up to it having been up a 17%+ slope (according to Strava) already. So I decided to potter on down the hill & take a meander east of Dunbar. On the way I saw a pal, caught up with her on her lovely pink bike & we  pottered on together, gossiping, to the coast. I left her to meet her man there & carried on to the lighthouse, intending to maybe carry on along the coast.

At the lighthouse I negotiated my way on the narrow trail past a rock and at about 0.005 mph got it wrong, stopped & with feet firmly in cleats crashed to the grassy ground. Oh %$£@*&%?/$$!!. I was shaken and stirred quite a bit, but retrieved myself & the bike for a breather.

The bike recovering from the trauma!

So along the coast I went, but it was too rough for a road bike (and me) so I turned back & set off for Dunbar. The sun was getting lower & it was getting a wee bit colder, but the sea looked great, so I headed round the harbour, up the wee twisty path round the swimming pool, and then along the cliff top path – not a good place to slide!

A dodgy ride?

So easy back then? Down the hill and along the fairly newish cycle/walk way to the Sea Road. A couple of guys were ahead looking out to sea with binoculars, maybe studying the birds? I decided I would take to the grass to ride past them. It was wet & as I remounted the path I caught the wooden rail at the edge, got caught in it as in a tram line and made an undignified crunching fall onto the tarmac. The guys rushed up, but nothing was hurt much, just pride, ripped winter tights, bloody knee & bloody elbow plus the odd scrape elsewhere. It was a definite reminder of my human vulnerability. So apologies for interrupting their walk in such a fashion and a sore ride the few miles back home.

Luckily it is very, very, very rare that this sort of thing happens – but twice in one ride, a bit much?

The remains of Dunbar Castle and the Harbour – look carefully you can see the saltire flying.