Saturday soaking

I had planned to do some XC riding today, getting some time on the other bikes. However, Saturday morning brought rain & lots of it. The idea of loading the van driving out to the trails, riding around in the rain for a few hours, then driving home soggy & the following clean up, didn't seem too appealing...

Cue Fatbike...I decided it was a much better idea to ride out from the house, have some fun in the rain, then roll right back for hot shower, coffee & cake...much better plan.

I headed East today, following the river for a short while before taking a route across the marsh to eventually join the beach after a few miles, then returning through the woods & back to Lossie. The conditions today were really wet, The rain was really heavy at times, but perfect for fatbiking!

As I went East along the river, conditions got really soft on the tidal mud. Even with the new Nate tyre on the rear, the bike was spinning all the way along this section. I though I was going to bog down at one point, but  eventually the bike found some grip & dug it's way through!

I'm sure you can see yourself how wet the marsh was! It was all ridable & a lot easier to ride through than the mud was

Fat tyres work pretty well on marbles too! These are unbelievably difficult to ride on

This is the reason I fitted a sealing "boot" to the bottom bracket, this fine wet sand gets everywhere. So far it seems to be working. Only time will tell....

I have also been testing out my new winter riding gear. The Five Ten Canyoneer 2 boots are working really for beach riding & general wet weather when used with seal skin socks. I have a feeling I am going to be using these a lot during the next few months!

I have also got a pair of Fox antifreeze winter gloves. After reading lots of good reviews I ordered a these, but when they arrived I found out that these are an older version & do not have the waterproof liner glove. Nice glove & will be good for cold days, but not a perfect choice today, soaked by the time I got home, so the search for a good waterproof glove continues...

Heading off the beach into the forest at the point where the costal defence begin. This section runs East all the way to Kingston & the river Spey

This building is directly behind the 2 8"gun emplacements. I imagine this would have been quite an impressive post. There are several foundation pads all around, which I can only presume were used for nissin huts or similar

Pill box in great condition, trail leads to main gun emplacement

I think this was the ammunition store. I only found this a few months ago after riding past it for years! It is fully covered & not visible from the road, just looks like another dune!

Finally, here is another simple winter modification. I have used the same amalgamating tape on the seatpost clamp as I did on the bottom bracket, to prevent water getting into the tubing. The tyres throws a huge amount of crap onto the rear of the frame & the clamp area is alway covered in mud/sand

Mud crawling

Ok, that's me just finished with another great beach ride, testing out the new tyres, so here is my post ride thoughts, from the perspective of the conditions I ride regularly around Moray

I bought the nate to use as a mud tyre & that is pretty much what it should be used for. Think of it as a fatbike swampthing....

Compared to a regular Larry -

It weighs more
It doesn't roll as well....I would not like to ride these for huge distances
I would not use it as an all season trail tyre, I think the Husker Du is going to much better option. Nate has too deep a tread & open spacing for general use
makes your balls go numb when riding on the road 

But.............

It has awesome grip & traction....if you cant float over it, you are going to dig your way through with these! These are the ultimate winter tyre. If Nate had a last name, it should be Crawler! The extra traction in the sand was handy at times

The BFL works really well, I'm very impressed with them. They take everything that was good about Larry & make it just a little bit better. I was running 7psi on front tonight, I think I could have gone even lower without any problem...will experiment another day.

After trying the BFL/80mm combo on the beach tonight, I can only imagine the moonlander will be amazing to ride on soft snow & sand.

So what have I learned from this?.....well I have decided that for the moment, without going to the expense of the moonlander, I can get the most out of my bike with a second set of wheels.

The plan is to get a set of 100mm rims for beach riding. BFL on front, Larry on back
Second set will be my existing 80mm rims, with hopefully Husker Du all round, with Nate being the rear tyre choice during winter.

Fresh goods

It has been a busy week in the shed, with all the bikes requiring some sort of attention.

The Ragley Bluepig has been kitted out with new winter tyres - Specialized Storm controls sould keep it rolling during soggy season. I fitted a longer stem, which although "uncool" these days, has really improved the feel of the bike & weight distribution. With the short stem & slack head it was way to easy to lift the front when climbing.it now feels like a great set up for the trails round here now, fun bike for winter trail centres, dog walking ect.

The EX8 has had new full length cables fitted, some brake issues repaired & wheels straightened. This bike has been neglected since the fatbike arrived. I was planning to sell it, but hopefully I will get some trail miles on this week & find the love again. But I do think it would make a good deposit on a Surly Moonlander, hmmm...

The 907 had been broken after only 300 or so miles. The BB decided to die due to sand & crud working through the seals onto the bearing races. After a wee wait in sourcing a replacement, I have made some extra dirt seals using waterproof grease & amalgamating tape. So far it is holding up well & I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will work at keeping winter out of the BB! I have also replaced the granny gear with a deore 22t, as it is a bit thinner than the old one that came with the bike, it was causing chain suck when riding in really dirty conditions. So far it seems to be working.






The really big news in the Fatbike world is the arrival of my new tyres! I believe these are the first set to arrive in the UK after I imported them direct from Alaska (Thanks to Bill & James at Fatbikes.com)

These have been causing a stir, becasue the Nate if the first Fatbike mud/trail tyre & the Big Fat Larry (BFL) is now wider, 4.5" if fitted to a 100mm rim.

The Nate is going to be fantastic for winter mud conditions. The open tread pattern provides really amazing levels of grip & is excellent at clearing mud. Not to mention it looks mean

This is Nate next to 2.35" Maxxis Righroller





The BFL looks to be a great tyre also. The thing I have noticed most during my short test, I ordered both tyres in 120t tpi & they have much more feel than the 27tpi, you really notice the difference.





Mounted up on 80mm flattop rims they come in about 104mm, but for me, most important is the are a good bit taller. This means I should be able to run these at a lower pressure & not have to worry about pinch punctures.

I chose this combo as I ride a variety of condition, Nate is going to rock when it comes to traction, BFL, should provide a good bit more float when run really low.

I did notice that Nate doesn't roll quite as well as larry in soft condition, which comes as no surprise TBH. Seem ok on harder trails. Have to wait to see how it gets on the beach.





And here is a short film of the swamp testing I did with bike & dog! Really greasy mud under that water, but the bike handled it fine...well almost!

Finally, I also got another set of lights to see me through the winter. These 2 plus my head torch now gives me 3000 lumen's for 6 hrs riding. Bring on winter!

Late summer Beachridin'

We seem to be having a mini heatwave at the moment, temperatures were 24 degrees today! I managed to get a great ride last night, leaving from the house & heading down the West beach, catching a fantastic sunset.
Not the longest ride I have ever done, but one of the most relaxed & chilled out

And a short video of the ride, hopefully capturing the feel of the ride

Things you gotta do....

Well, I was supposed to have been going to the first UKFat Bike meet, but a late call from work meant I had to go back to Norway over the very weekend it was taking place!

Rather than sulk, I made this wee film of the last 8 month spent in the shipyard. Sure, not bikes, but normal service will resume now that I'm home for a few weeks!

Seasons change

I have finally made it back home after an extended stay at work to find that summer has officially gone. How do I know this, well, bike lights & winter gear are used most days, goodbye summer, we will miss you!


Scotland has been lashed with wind & heavy rain all weekend from the remains of hurricane Katia as it slowly made its way East from the Atlantic. 
It hasn't been the best riding weather since I came home, but I did manage to get out for a few hours yesterday for a ride through my local trails, returning along the beach. I will be heading back to work again in a few days, so it was great to get out again - whatever the conditions


This is one of the great things about having a fatbike where I live - I can just leave from the door & have loads of trail choices that would not be possible on other bikes, such as the dunes & softer trails along the edge of the beach. Perfect for a day like yesterday, soon as the weather improved I can hit the trails, no wasted time loading the bike on the van & driving to trail centres!    

Big fat beach ride

This weekend's ride was an overnight tour from Lossiemouth over to Culbin Sands, riding off-road where possible on beach, trail or coastal path. 

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......