After school climbing....

with the good weather and the days getting much much longer I was able to get out to Shepherds Crag on Wed and do a little bit of climbing outdoors.....I only led a pitch of MVS on the second pitch of Brown Crag Wall; however it was good to get outdoors and I would much rather do that and have a gently evening than go to the wall. Having said that,I AM off to the wall tonight with one of the people from school I have climbed with in the evenings....the aim this weekend is to take advantage of the improvements in the weather forecast for the long weekend and climb on Sunday and Monday...Luke has promised to stay sober and is keen to lead so that is all good.....

Did about 20 mins on the treadmill last night- which was good and no reaction from the knee either....will try an outdoor run soon before deciding if I need to head back over to see Karen the physio...

Its friday - this be a good thing- off to work now!!

Link to photo's...

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.bigair/PaveyArk

Sorry about the delay...

in posting; things have not been great recently...however yesterday...

Luke (with a hangover) and I went up to Pavey Ark in Langdale. The walk up to Stickle Tarn was a bit of an eye opener for Luke being his first experience of a mountain(ish) crag and with full gear to boot.....

Anyway, he survived and after some vacillation on my part it was decided to attempt Crescent Slabs (Severe) a climb that I have done twice before in my previous climbing life....Not though that actually mattered as the lower section of the first pitch was wet - a bit mad since it hasn't rained for a week but Pavey does take seepage; and the ensuing moves were probably a bit harder than Severe. At least I hope that is the case as my performance on the first couple of pitches was not great...mind you it did get better on the last two which I also led - Luke still feeling a bit under the weather! After waltzing past the alleged crux I then came up against a move over an overlap which I had vague recollection of doing when doing this route before, and yet is not mentioned in the guide....

Anyway; to cut a longish story short it was the correct way; and the long run-out to the top with no gear (although very easy climbing) was enjoyable and a sign that I seem to be climbing ok....now to look at something a bit trickier as we build up to the Dols trip in August.....

will post pictures on Picassa and link it later

Tour of Blencathra...

This was taken a couple of years ago when I did the circuit with Mum..I thought it would be an excellent one to give another test to the demo bike..poor Gill being sidelined with a migraine this morning..hopefully back on her feet to do Newlands tomorrow.

The weather was gorgeous and the bike actually worked pretty well for the most part. It is certainly heavier than the hardtail and made the climbing hard work - although it was a lot better than expected on the road climb up to the Blencathra centre. The fact that I am nowhere near as cycling fit as I was last year also has to be taken into account as well when I assess the bike. Descending wise it is clearly better and gives a much more confy ride...although again this could in part be down to be more a better ride on the back of the Morrocco trip. A snakebite puncture slowed me down a bit; however to finish in a total time of 2 1/2 hrs is pretty good and I am more than pleased. Did start to feel it on the final road section from the bottom of Mosedale back to the car at Mungrisedale - regrettably the Quaker Meeting House cafe was not open today so no cup of tea to speed me on my way for the last bit.....

VS on my first day of outdoor climbing...

not bad and quite a confidence builder...although a stark reminder that climbing outdoors is VERY different from climbing indoors - especially in Cumbria.

The VS in question (Brown Slabs Crack) did see some hesitation before committing myself to the crux - polished footholds being my excuse! However, I strolled up a VDiff the climb before and it was a good day...

Forecast is good for the w/end...looking forward to doing Newlands.

Riding like a novice again...

went up to Whinlatter Trail centre this morning with the full-suspension demo bike to do a bit of mountain biking.....the first time round the blue route felt very strange and a bit like being a new boy again....

...by the end though I came down 2/3 of the South Red Trail and loved every minute of it...great bike,.

A windy day on Grizedale Pike..

Looking down to Braithwaite from the slopes of Grizedale Pike...the battering by the wind was yet to come...

Gill and I climbed up the ridge from the car-park into a progressively strong wind. So much so that the original plan to descend via Coledale Hause was ditched as that would have meant walking into the wind. The descent to the top of the Whinlatter Pass was bad enough with steep grass that was damp and the howling wind all around us...I then jogged back to get the car, which was surprisingly good on the knee actually.

Place Fell...a very nice walk

Looking to Brotherswater

These two were taken on Sunday when Gill and I went for a walk to celebrate her birthday by going up Place Fell..It was actually a very nice walk and the cloud stayed off the top to allow us to savour a decent day.

winter lingers on High Street

Grumpy weather continues...

as I write this it is pouring down with rain at Gill's at the moment....not sure what happened to the lovely day that we were promised...

Marvin update; he is still having back brake issues and is at the bike shop - Phil is allowing to use one of the Mount Vision demo bikes....not SO sure this is a good idea as I might end up buying one...a bit like the huge sofa suite I brought yesterday...