16 miles at 18.2 mph...

it was supposed to be a warm down leg spin ride....oops...

Simonside walk.....a good day

The Sunday of the bank holiday I headed to Northumberland with Mum and Peter....the day before not being great when I discovered that someone had vandalised my car...nicking the rear wiper; kicking the towbar and damaging the drivers side wing mirror. A bit of repair with duct tape later and the car was at least driveable...

After breakfast at the Blacksmiths' - cafe in Belsay - we headed up to Simonside, a hill I knew when I lived over on the East coast but one that I had not been to in several years. The walk that was planned for me was a new one as well; skirting round the plateau to Coquet Cairn (not sure of its relevance as it does not seem to indicate much) and then up to a hill called Tosson for lunch (expertly timed to miss a heavy squall as we sheltered under some rocks..) and then up and over the Simonside plateau and back to the car.

This last section of the walk was made considerably easier by the paving stones that had been laid on the path...much as I theoretically dislike this kind of thing there was probably little choice given that one could have taken school parties up to the top of Simonside to give a realistic view of conditions on the Somme in winter the last time I was up there....

More to the point - the 9 mile walk had no after effects on either knee which is very good....

August 3rd - 19th...

the Dolomites trip......should be good.

Ferry booked today; with the Smorgasboard ordered as well....seems to be an 'all you can eat' lark so will probably smuggle in some doggy bags and have hill food for the first week.......

Is going to be good....lots of big; long and classic routes done methinks...

Another pain free run..

only about 3 miles or so; however it did involve a reasonable uphill and the descent of the very steep Fell Lane - which is more important as its the area where Karen (the physio) thinks my knee is going to be the weakest....so this is quite encouraging really.

Evening walk...

the weather changed yesterday again and we had some rain....had finally relented by early evening so I was able to get out for a quick stroll on the hills around Mungrisdale before a pint in the Mill Inn and then heading home.

Given its not getting dark til around 10pm at the moment this is time to really get out and enjoy one's self...lucky its half-term next week then! Just hope the weather holds.

nb: A glorious morning at the moment....hoping to go out climbing tonight.

Training update....

went to the Laundrette after lunch followed by a 40min dose on the sofa with the wind gently blowing outside and the sun being very hot...now just doing some sorting out of the flat and using the fingerboard when I go past it..

...have just done a pull-up using two holds that I have never been able to do a pull-up on before...feeling strong and looking forward to doing some routes this week.

Tour of Blencathra...redux

Was an agony of indecision this morning....Luke was hors d'combat after an epic trip to London (they arrived back with one less car than they went with..and they only had one to start with!!!!) and his knees were swollen; so he elected to rest it. On the plus side - he has got his holiday confirmed for August...

So, what to do on another glorious day in the Lakes....I borrowed Phil's bike today as Marvin is still waiting to get fixed and drove to the head of Mosedale to do the Tour of Blencathra.....

Not much to say - the picture above shows the descent from Skiddaw House to the main path round Blencathra....it was bone dry and I rode better than I have ever ridden before so was pretty chuffed....

Round in 1hr 40 mins was good so it was time for the cool down...the reason I had parked at Mosedale was the plunge pool I could leap in...despite it being a hot day it was FREEZING...mind you - did me a lot of good. I left my legs in for about 10 mins which should be ok...came up and did some work on the finger board and feel quite strong; but very tired - two days out in the heat have been good..

Right - lunch

photo's from today..

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.bigair/NewlandsHorseshoe#

Newlands Horseshoe...extended..

will try and post the pictures later; for some reason there is an issue with finding the photo's on i-photo...

Anyway; had a little quandry last night as to what to do; given a perfect weather forecast and settled conditions...going out on one of the bikes was possible but with the 50mile event coming up in a couple of months I elected to do the Newlands Horseshoe; but adding in Catbells and Hindscarth before descending over Robinson.

It was a bit of a faff finding the carpark at Littletown; but once parked I was walking fast and felt strong. The detour to Catbells was done in blazing heat and I was walking in shorts only on the climb up to Maiden Moor and then onto High Spy...

Climbing up to Dalehead was like being in an oven, an enclosed area and no wind meant a very sweaty climb up to the trig point; which I was starting to feel when I got the top. A bit of an early lunch on top and a 20min sit down helped and I felt ok with the ascent of Hindscarth (not much in reality) and then I dropped down to the col between it and Robinson. This last ascent was a bit of a grind but I got there in the end before the descent down the Newlands Church; via a little known farm that does tea and cakes - a huge pot and big slice of cake for £1.50 - yummy...

Running tonight...

borrowed a knee strap from Caroline (one of the history team at school who is a very good runner i.e sub 40min for 10km) and did my easy circuit with it.....no probs with the knee at all which is good. The knee strap is quite thick and quite big and might cause a little issue with the lower thigh however I suspect this is more trainable. I have been working my knee as prescribed by Karen as well which may well also contribute to the success.....a small but significant milestone I think....

A new crag...

we went to Armathwaite after work last night....a crag I had not been to and did not especially high expectations of to be honest; I was in for a pleasant surprise.

The crag is a lovely sandstone outcrop right on the River Eden; as in if the river was high you would get wet belaying on a couple of routes!! It would be not out of place in Northumberland at all; and the climbing style is very similar as well. This proved a problem for a couple of the party who were doing their first outdoor route at all/for a long time and found it tricky to adjust to the style of climbing that is very different to that of a climbing wall. One sequence on the severe caused some amusement for people whilst I called on my outdoor experience to get up easily.

The bouldering there also looks pretty special and the start to the E1 was one thing that I bouldered out. Given the landing is a nice sandy area I was able to get quite high...it is definetly possible with a crash mat and spotter...the only issue would be could you protect the second half of the climb (I would solo the first section with the rope on)....it looks a little blank. I would also want to check the top out of the route...might be worth abseiling down one day...

How today I found leading easier than seconding...

its probably some indicator of the mental state (or lack thereof) at the moment. Luke had hurt his elbow so I was about to go out on a bike ride when I had a quick look on the UKclimbing forum and there was a post looking for a partner to do a classic severe in the Lakes today. I made the call and to cut a long story short, Ben and I did Troutdale Pinnacle today. As classic severe's goes this is about as good as it gets; this route would get into my top 10 list of climbs I have done anywhere in the world it is that good. I led the first, third and top pitch - and can honestly say that I climbed really well. The very top move (which is the crux and has given me some trouble in the past) I flowed over...this is the second time in 4 days I have waltzed over a move that has given me some trouble in the past. However, just like on Thurs, my performance seconding was less good - the move off the slab onto the pinnacle felt weird and I climbed it using far to much arm power and not enough footwork....likewise my performance on pitch 1 of Little Cham on thurs with look was about as smooth and flowing as a drunken hippo on roller skates...

Leading does obviously heighten the mind as falling off is a decidedly less pleasant idea..but my weakness when I was climbing well was always in my mind...maybe, just maybe, that is starting to change....

Road biking....

Today was the first day that I have been out on my road bike Arjuna for quite some time....he is seen here from the last time I did the Etape du Dales (with a hire car I was using at the time).

He is a lovely steed; a carbon fibre Trek although I am not totally attuned to him yet -especially on the descents. This is the one area that I struggle to make the transition from mountain biking with thick tyres and disc brakes - not to mention a much sturdier bike.

Just did 22 miles and was .1mph below the speed I like to go - not too bad really when I think about it; need to get out and do some after work rides now...

Luke's first attempt at a video...

http://lividpenguin.com/random/climbing/carrock-fell-bouldering-may-2010.mov

pretty good really - am going to play with some of my Morocco stuff on Final Cut tonight and start to assemble some stuff....

Evening climbing....Little Chamonix..

god it was nippy on Thurs; with the wind whistling down Borrowdale making belaying on the first pitch of Little Chamonix quite an experience. Little Cham (as its known) is a classic VDiff on Shepherds Crag - a route I have done several times before but very suitable for an evening climb after work. The fact it dries fast after the showers on Wed was also to its benefit...

Luke took the slabby first pitch which is quite polished and tricky to protect; whilst I took the main, very steep, on top pitch which for a roadside VDiff is pretty out-there. Got to say that I was quite pleased with how I climbed it - finding an easier sequence on the one move I find arkward, and one of the few moves I have done where being tall is a hindrance; followed by a series of committing moves up the headwall - all felt in control.

No climbing tomorrow (Sat) due to Luke going to a birthday party - thinking of going out of the bike tomorrow as the rain starts to fall again in Penrith - forecast for tomorrow is good though....

Recovering slowly....

jogged, very gently, round my short and reasonably flat 4 mile circuit today.....knee just about held out although I tweaked the run to ensure no steep downhills were encountered. Its difficult to know what to do really; the knee seems to be improving slowly but may yet need more physio. It is still cold over here; however hope to get out climbing after work in the next couple of days and the forecast for saturday is good as well....

Video's of today's bouldering...

a couple up on my Vimeo page

http://vimeo.com/user2067635/videos

Bouldering in a quite scenic location...

View from Carrock Fell towards the Lakes....if I was limit myself to a couple of areas where crash pads are not needed then I could cycle to this place.....

As I try to unravel what I want to do in the next few months I post this to remind me (and others) that being in Cumbria has some advantages......

Faith in friction...

Vital ingredient in bouldering at Carrock Fell which is where I have just come back from......this is the descent from the Sugar Loaf boulder in the North part of the bouldering area....

The first sector we visited was new to me and confirmed what I already knew..that much as though I enjoy bouldering I do in fact suck at it...only one V1 managed and a grand failure on other things.

So, Luke and I adjourned to an area that we knew better and things started to get better - I repeated a V3 that I had done last year and actually climbed pretty well. The smearing needed was good and I felt pretty well in control. I failed totally on a V1 that I think benefits shorter people - at least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it (it is MY blog after all!!!!) - but pulled a V2 out of the bag; just. Note to self; need more stamina; power; finger strength.......

Video's will be posted shortly; including one of a very impressive slip down the rock by Luke....the downside of good friction....VERY rough rock...ouch!

The conumdrum of climbing....

This shot was taken by Luke today and shows me on the top pitch of an MVS - Ardus at Shepherds Crag in Borrowdale. At first sight, Shepherds would seem to be an odd choice for a weekend in May - and it would except for a freezing north wind that is currently visiting Cumbria; giving us good weather but oh so cold....Luke complained of cold fingers climbing on Ardus and I got cold belaying him on the top pitch of Donkey's Ears.

Today also highlighted an odd conumdrum with climbing in general and my climbing in particular. For a long time my biggest weakness has been in my head - yet today I sauntered up the first part of Ardus which is an unprotected slab with no problem; whilst finding the steep wall above much trickier - despite it being adorned with protection. The final pitch was the same - the polished nature of the small footholds as one left the traverse making me pause - despite having good gear; a huge void to fall into and being almost level with the bombproof belay.

Luke also found this - he labelled himself a "wuss" for bottling out of leading the top pitch of Ardus and struggled whilst seconding it - and yet led the top pitch of Donkey's Ears pretty steadily despite the risk of taking a 2 metre leader fall - his first - at one point. The elegant sequence I used to get over this section was in part due to my reach and also due to having a rope over my head!! Could I repeat the smooth flowing climbing and elegant balance shifts in the lead....herein lies the fun of climbing and the difference between leading and seconding. I have seconded E3/E4 (about my physical limit at the time) and whilst I was thoroughly knackered there was no emotion ever to compare with the main pitch of Sirplum which took me closer to my limit than I have ever been.....probably until we hit the South Face of the Marmolada and/or the Gran Pilastro in August...:-).

Right off to do some vital recuperation - at the pub.

St. Bees vid..

Got this about 4th try...hope it works!

Bouldering at St. Bees..

bit of a change of plan simply as I arrived at Luke's to find Keswick busy and we therefore thought it might be a bit of a pain to drive through the Lakes to Wallabarrow on bank holiday Monday..so we elected to go to Castle Rock South - home to some nice looking amenably graded routes...oops..

Having shelled out lots of money on guidebooks for the Italy trip! we arrived at the crag and found it was not busy - it was heaving...even worse was the person climbing a 25m route in two pitches - thus holding up most of the other parties on the crag. This not being to our liking - and having the advantage of living here! we elected to dive back to Keswick and head off to St. Bees to go bouldering. I'd been there once before and been really impressed, as I was this trip - not simply as there was a nice sun out! Luke got his crash pad and I "borrowed" Chris's (his flatmate) pad and we had a good few hours bouldering. On sighting a good V1 problem was good- but the highlight was doing two probs with the technical grade of 6a - a grade I only did twice in my previous climbing life. Granted; I have done 8 problems of this grade in the last couple of years and only 1 was as difficult was Y-Front at Bowden Doors; but it is still a good boost to the confidence given that I am not a great boulderer - lacking the brute power and being quite heavy. I felt at the wall on Fri I was climbing well...and it was good to see it translate to outdoors....need to do it on routes now though.

There is a video of me on one of the 6a's ,which I will post later.

Building up slowly....

nursed the knee through most of 4 or so mile run today....although it has started to hurt a bit this evening.....not sure about the need for more physio or just give it time and build up slowly. May yet wait until Whitsun; although this would be getting closer and closer to the 50 event in July...

its pretty freezing over here today and was snowing on Helvellyn yesterday....off valley climbing I think tomorrow with the long drive to Wallabarrow Crag....need to get to different crags and different areas though methinks...