Checking out the route...

yesterday; depressed whilst the rain poured down in Cumbria, I decided to enrol myself in this...

http://www.sportinaction.co.uk/index.php/sportevents/duathlon-events/72-hartside-duathlon

So, today, with a funny yellow thing in the sky and the temperature at least 10 degrees hotter; I went to ride around the bike route. Quite a few people will know the descent from 2/3 of the way up the Hartside to Renwick - some of it is done (in reverse) by those doing the C2C and using the off-road approach (which is MUCH better); whilst those who do the PCW will have climbed up what I came down today. Likewise, those who've done the Cumberland Challenge, will have climbed the way I descended today.

Descent on Arjuna is not one of my strong points - especially today with a strong cross-wind and roads I don't know well. I certainly feel better prepared for the race having ridden it - and will probably ride it once more before the race at least (we'll be in Bots for 2 1/2 weeks before the race) to get the hang of some other parts of the course as well. The actual climb up the pass went pretty well - I was able to get into a nice tempo; however the section from Kirkoswald to Langwathby was not as fast as I'd have liked.

The cycle course is pretty brutal for its 21 miles - am going to have work on fitness a LOT to do the two runs and the bike - aim for this race: Don't be the lantern rouge.

Breaking in Claire's fell shoes...

it is a measure of the chaos (mostly work related) that has surrounded our lives that Claire today finally began to break in her fell-running shoes.

What is slightly disquieting about this is that I brought them for her birthday - back in April!! This is not good....

running down High Pike I had forgotten a) how much I love fell-running and b) what a damn good workout it is...

My battered old Inov8's are still going - they got chewed up by the OMM in 2008 but have steadfastly refused to die - which is pleasing to me; although I have a new pair I got a couple of years ago in the sale ready to go when they do die.

Claire reported no real problems with her shoes - and she ran down well....which is also good.

The least said about the weather forecast for the next few days the better - Claire is at a mock exam in London next weekend and I am debating going to Scotland with Suilvan or staying here - this will depend on the weather a bit as well.

My photo's are moving...

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739  is the new location where they will all be stored. In due course I am hoping to try and sell a few of these  - they can also be made into calendars etc and a whole variety of stuff - please spread the word to all those around.

The photo's will be on picasa for a little bit - can't say for sure how long though.

Braeriach

Claire and I decided to take advantage of the excellent forecast for the Saturday and delay our departure south by 1 day - another big advantage of having the van. Sure enough, the day dawned hot and sunny and we were ready for an early(ish!) start - with quite a goal in mind.

Claire descending to the Lairig Ghru

Braeriach is arguably the daddy of all the Gorms - not the biggest or the most remote, but a big top a long way from anywhere with a reputation for appalling weather and tricky navigation. It also boasts, in An Garbh Choire, arguably one of the finest of all corries in Scotland. Our plan was to park at the Sugarbowl on the ski road and traverse the hill-side to the Charlmain Gap, before descending to the Lairig Ghru - one of the two great passess that split the range. From there, we would climb the loooooong ridge of Sron na Lairig (which we'd have to ascend as it's a munro top!) and thence onto Braeriach itself. We'd be facing about a 200m re-ascent to the Gap on the way back - giving a 20km day with around 1500m of ascent.

The path to the gap has been re-made since I was there (almost 20 years ago on a trip to Corrour bothy after finishing my finals) and made for quick going to the Gap itself. The gap is actually a rocky boulder hop that Claire did not find to her liking - surprising for one so usually sure-footed. However, given the magnificence of the day this was not a massive problem and we were soon descending towards the Lairig Ghru.

Crossing the stream was easy - and gave the promise a water re-fill at the re-cross (which given the heat we'd need) - and we were soon starting the VERY long climb up the Sron. The weather was astonishing - I was seriously hot in short-sleeved wicking top and shorts! This has not been the usual weather for the summer in Cumbria at least. The ascent starts quite steeply but then eases into a bit of a drag, but there is a good path to follow which helps a lot. About 2/3 of the way up there was a brief and very violent 3 min rain/hail squall - apart from this the jackets stayed in the the rucksack.

Looking to Ben MacDui.

The path actually skirts the summit of Sron na Lairig and, fortified by a banana and a country slice, we started the final climb to the summit of Braeriach. The views were amazing - across the vast expanse of An Garbh Choire to the Angels Ridge, a superb grade II scramble/grade I winter climb which needs to be looked at, to Cairn Toul and across to Ben MacDui. The view even extended to the far east and Ben Avon. The photo's are all on the photobox gallery - link later.

Having had lunch at the top - and gazed out at the plateau and the hills of Thursday we began to descend. We went over Sron na Lairig - not too bad an ascent before dropping down the long descent to the Lairig. I then re-filled my bottle giving vital energy for the last climb - which is a bit of a drag back up to the Gap. Claire was much more sure-footed through the gap second time around and we were soon beginning the walk-out to the car.

7 1/2 hours for the round-trip was pretty good going for us and to have such an amazing day was utterly priceless.

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739  is the link to the new photo storage site - they can be downloaded and brought/made into calendars etc...

Glen Feshie hills..

The Thursday morning dawned ok - it had rained heavily overnight but had stopped and the cloud was quite light on the hills. The forecast was for it to improve as the day went on as well; so Claire and I drove Suilvan round to Achlean farm and parked up. The stalkers path mentioned in the books as the way to approach these hills was a delight - it did mean we'd have about a 4km road walk at the end of the day; however a strong southerly wind precluded us using the bikes to bike up and walk back south (our original idea). This way, the wind was at our backs.

The stalkers path as superb, well drained and well graded, so we could maintain a slow but steady plod up the path towards the summit of Carn Ban Mor. This area is known for being a navigational nightmare in thick mist and it's easy to see why. Visibility was not perfect (far from it with it being limited to around 100 yards); however there was a cairn at the junction of the four paths and it enabled us to find the wind-shelter on the summit of Carn Ban Mor easily [ a word of note; the cairn is not the biggest and may well get buried in the winter snows].

Lunch was taken on top and, with no improvement in the weather, the decision was made to retreat to the van. We'd got about 100m down when suddenly the clouds started to lift and the sun began to make an appearence - so we climbed back up and continued with the traverse as planned. 5 minutes later and we'd have been too far down to re-ascend - truly a stolen day.

This picture is the next stage of our route with Claire starting the ascent of Sgor Gaoith, one of two Munro summits on the plateau, the other being at the far end which we weren't visiting today.

                                                                                                                     

This was a view looking back - showing the desolation of the Moine Mhor (or Great Moss). Using the path that we followed, you can walk across to Braeriach and to the hills of Monadh Mhor and Beinn Bhrotain. Irvine Butterfield, author of the 'High Mountains of Britain and Ireland' (pretty much the bible for me in my Munro bagging) describes this as the most "psychologically intimidating walk in Britain" and one can see why.

Sgor Gaoith had marvellous views into the great corries of Braeriach, and also marked the high point of the day's round. From there, it was a short hop onto Sgoran Dubh Mhor and onto Geal Charn, the last top of the day at 920m. From there, a steep descent took us to another lovely path, with lovely trees and heather to look at - which took us back to the road.

The 4km on the road was not good for my knees, however the lamb chops at the van did make more than amends for this - as did the sunset that night. With less wind, we were back in the high car-park - no midges!!!! - and this was our reward. A great end to a stolen day.

Journey to Aviemore....

Suilvan here again...remember how I said I was being loaded and I wondered what the humans were up to...I was right, time to get on the road again.

This time I was pretty full indeed, with a bike rack on the back and a bike in me as well....however it wasn't too bad a drive until we got to Aviemore itself. The male human starting chuntering about how the layby we were going to stay in wasn't there anymore (cycle path instead) and the female human was worried about parking in layby's with 'no overnight parking' signs - unlike the male human who wasn't worried about that at all!

They eventually took me most of the way up a very steep hill to a very windy car-park. Things didn't get much better there as the male human managed to empty most of the contents of the salt-cellar over his supper!! Luckily there was enough to go around for both. It was also very windy (I'm not talking about the humans either but the weather); so my humans decided to take me down to a car-park known as the 'Sugarbowl' which was more sheltered - but had midges...God these humans moan...at least they weren't getting rained on - unlike the bikes and me.

Being unwell in Devon..

me unfortunately not Suilvan - not that I wish he was unwell either!

I woke up on Tuesday morning feeling decidely off colour, as if I was going to vomit (something I hardly ever do) and was totally unable to do any climbing with Matt, Liz's partner and a very good climber. This was a bit of a bummer for all concerned - especially poor Matt who had been tempted up to North Devon with the promise of climbing! He did manage to work a route - which he eventually decided not to do on the Wed with too much grease in the air - and I was able to stagger very slowly and gingerly down to Screda Point to do some belaying for a couple of hours.

I'm still not totally sure what caused me to feel so crap - I didn't eat properly for about a week afterwards; certainly not over the following weekend when Claire was at a course in London and I stayed in the Wye Valley (including a look around Tintern Abbey - very impressive) or when we went to visit some of Claire's family in Cardiff.

I did get some routes in on the Screda Point slabs on the wed - top-roping a HVS and an E1, quite encouraged actually although not sure I would want to lead the E1 yet!! Liz and Matt departed on Wed afternoon - Claire and I stayed another day on the Thurs; more marvellous weather and then headed off on the Fri - Devon was a fantastic place; we'll (hopefully) be back soon(ish!!).

Suilvan speaks again...

there are lots of boxes and lots of activity amongst the humans....wonder if I'm about to get some more excercise?

A friend to play with....more from Suilvan

It was nice on Monday - another van arrived to keep me company. Some old friend of the human (the male one) and her family turned up. The other human spent most of the time trying to make friends with the dog that turned up as well........however Liz (the old friend) came with a nice van that  I could talk to; which was nice as it was getting a little lonely for me in my little corner. The humans were loving the fact the campsite was nice and quiet and so close to the sea and the village (they even walked there this morning to get some food - didn't by me an ice-cream I noted) but that meant that I did not have much to do; it was a nice relaxing holiday for me though.

Anyway - with the other van arriving it was nice to have the boxes taken out of me as there was talk of going climbing the next day - another human (Liz's partner Matt) - was going to come up the next morning in his car; so boxes of kit got sorted. The humans also had another bbq - the steak burgers...

A tale of two hills.....

nothing to do with the Devon trip....the two hills in question are Strawberry Hill and the Beacon.

Most of you who have done the C2C will know Strawberry Hill; it's the descent from Penrith to the Eden Valley and towards Langwathby...those who remember it will know it's steep! This is fine you might say, why would this be important in my bike ride on Arjuna...I was riding up it!

Arjuna, pictured here, is designed for fit people to ride - when you are fit riding him is a joy - when you are not fit his gears make it hard work going up 1:4 hills.

The benchmark I aim for in cycling is 16 mph average - not too bad on some of the hills around here; I managed 15.9 on this ride - it was 16.2 before Strawberry Hill....something to aim for.

The Beacon was yesterday (Fri 10th Aug); it is a favourite walk of Claire and I, however this time I decided to try and run it. It was very hot and I am very unfit (more so on my running than cycling where I have a base level of fitness from years of doing it). Anyway, I ran all the way up the road to the base of the climb, but have to confess to speed walking up the majority of the hill rather than running - another goal to aim for.

Second day in Devon....

Suilvan here again...not much to say today as I got to stay on the grass and chat to the other camper vans and enjoy the lovely weather...so I'll let the humans write about today:

Looking out to sea.

 Well, Sunday dawned a lovely day and Claire and I decided to go for a walk along the Devon coastal path up to Hartland Point - where there was apparently a tea van!! As well as being close to the sea - and having a prolonged dawdle on some beaches; we could also check out some of the cliffs that are in the area, such as Smoothlands which has a route I would love to do one day.

First thing about the Devon coast path; it ain't exactly flat!! In fact there were some quite sharp ups and downs; especially for two unfit people trying to wind down after a trying few months.

Lundy in the distance

That being said; it was impossible to quibble, the day was lovely and we found a lovely beach to sit on and munch some cheese triangles and outcakes before tootling along the coast further.

The weather was glorious and lots of stops for gazing at the cliffs and water were needed before we eventually got to Hartland Point, where tucked away was a VERY nice tea shack. A cup of tea and a pasty (so close to Cornwall after all!) went down very well before we attempted the return route. I say attempted as we ended up going back the way we came, due to the path we wanted to take being a muddy path. When I say muddy I mean flooded with mud - clearly there had been oceans of rain in Devon as 3 days of 25 degress plus had not evaporated it/dried it out. That being said, it did give us time to soak our hot feet in the sea on the beach we had been to before!! not a bad thing really.

Supper was at the pub again; having come back to Suilvan for a shower and change....as you can see another glorious evening.

Another glorious sunset.

Relaxing in North Devon...

Suilvan here, thought I would blog about my first road trip with the new owners. It was down to Devon and we actually had some glorious weather. 

First off for me was a few days in the doctors getting a couple of things attended to, my alternator was tuned for example so I could make sure that things worked when I was away from home. After that, I was loaded up with SO much kit it was untrue (it would have been easier if I had to take what was left in the house!!) and the Simon human and I set off for Devon.

It was a long drive, the first day of the school holidays (whatever they may be) and Devon is a long way. There were frequent stops for the human to refuel and quite a lot of cursing on the way down as we hit lots of other traffic. There were a few other nice older vans to say hi to - and some caravans to swear at -  don't know why the master told me to swear at all the caravans (or 'grockle pods' as he calls them) but there we go.

To cut a long drive short, we eventually arrived in Exeter and I was parked up for the night. Next day, the humans my owners were staying with wanted to have a look at me - they had never seen such a lovely van. My top compartment even got tried out by a little human (Claire's nephew!!) and it was nice to be the centre of attention. Soon enough we were heading off on some rather narrow lanes towards the place we were going to stay. The Simon human was driving and he tried his best; however  I don't think he has too much experience of driving a van, so I did struggle up a few hills. However, we got there in the end and I must admit the humans had chosen a nice spot. It was a lovely campsite and had POWER - so I could plug in and relax and enjoy the scenery. I also got to laugh at my humans as they tried to work out how to make things work. All humans struggle with this to some extent but these two are worse than most. Once that was done, we could settle in and enjoy the lovely views of the sea and the local area - some pictures they took are below.

Finally got here....wish they knew how to drive me.

Lovely church behind the campsite

Screda Point..main slab in the middle.

 The humans went off for a walk around the sea (one clutching his climbing guide) and they had supper at a pub on the sea front). Personally I prefer diesel; however the humans assured me that the beer was excellent at the pub. They also said that the climbing looked excellent as well. This was good as some more humans with a lovely van were coming in a couple of days to stay with them - company at last!!
The day ended with a lovely sunset....boded well for the week said the humans.

Sunset on the first night.