24hrs....5 beach rides.......1 salt flat......68 mile
The route was Lossiemouth west beach to the cliffs at Covesea, then short road section & rejoin the coastal path at the sandstone Quarry at Hopeman that would take me to Burghead.
From Burghead it was over to Findhorn using a mixture of beach & trails. Once in Findhorn, you can look over the bay to the Easterly edge of Culbin forest which is only 500m across the bay, bur requires more than an hours riding to reach, as the only way to access is the road around the Bay to Forres, then out to Culbin. A packraft would have been handy!
My plan was to camp at the Westerly tip of the Sands, but a later departure from home & strong headwind meant I had to pitch up on the Flats, as daylight was fading fast. Not such a bad thing as the whole area is an RSPB reserve & a really cool place to camp.
Once the tent was up & first coffee brewed, the lights were put on the bike & I had a short ride over the salt flats at low tide to the sand bar to check how do-able this would be for future rides. It turns out that these are no problem at all, which I was very surprised at!
Culbin is far too big to do in a single ride, so I plan to return several times to ride each are in more detail. It is like a fatbike playground!
The following morning was a 4am wake up call so I could ride West to investigate the trails & access points to the beach from that side of the sands. After more coffee, it was a quick sprint back to my camp spot to pick up my gear, head over the flats on the East side to the dunes for a hike-a-bike-athon over the dunes to reach the beach that would take me round to Findhorn Bay again. Timing was perfect this time, with early morning sunshine & a receding tide, I would be riding beach all the way home!
A great weekend on the bike, but I have only scratched the surface of some fantastic coast riding. Plan already underway for return trip!
A sunny Burghead harbour
Lots of old pill boxes in the area, but these are still used....
Looking out to Findhorn & over to Culbin
North side of RAF Kinloss
Some sort of Radar arrangement?
Main Runway RAF Kinloss
Looking back to the peninsula at Burghead
Sand/Shingle dunes at Findhorn
Easterly Edge of salt flats at mid tide
Shells everywhere from a lot of hungry sea birds. this went on for miles
Cosy campsite
View from my window at dusk
I found some challenging trails the following morning!
Like most areas of scotland, Forestry plays a large part of the local economy. In my case it provides employment for my brother, who happened to be working here removing several thousand tons of timber as part of a forest management program
Out of the forest & over the salt flats to reach the beach
Then the beach riding home begins......
