Colin went for a MTB ride visiting Lochs an Eilan, Eanaich and Morlich. Very nice route in good weather. The ride out to Eanaich wasn't has hard as feared. Around 3.5 hours ride time for just over 30 miles. Stopped for lunch at Glenmore visitor centre.
An easy cycle with Hannah from Aviemore to Boat of Garten via the off-road cycle path and then back via the road to Coylumbridge where we stopped for coffee. Hannah did pretty well especially in the long section of headwinds.
Cherry headed back to Edinburgh for a few days to look after Les on the evening train.
Colin, Cherry and Hannah visited the beach at Loch Morlich and had a walk around the Loch. Another very nice day.
Colin headed off on Thursday morning for a fast paced munro trip. Took the mountain for roughly an hour from our Aviemore house past Glenmore and got just beyond the bridge at Bynack stable where the trail became difficult for biking. From there a fast paced ascent although mainly walking given the gradient. About an hour to the top and then a very enjoyable 40 minute run back down and then an hour bike home. Weather and views excellent and path all the way which made for a very pleasant journey.
Colin & Cherry took a short drive to Loch Garten to visit the RSPB reserve. Saw the two Osprey chicks and their mother in the next and lots of smaller birds at the feeders near the reserve centre. After that went on the two lochs walk and enjoyed the magnificent pine forest.
In the afternoon we were joined by Hannah for a short but expensive 10 minute go kart session. Cherry will never go karting again, I was starting to feel and bit queasy and Hannah enjoyed it.
In the evening we went for dinner at the Scottish Steakhouse, part of the Dalfaber resort. The steaks were OK and the fish pie was pretty poor.
Colin, Cherry and Hannah went for the day at the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park. Very enjoyable. Most of the animals seemed to be out and visible today. Saw the baby polar bear playing in the pond, the baby snow leopards and parents and many others.
Third day in Aviemore was a bit damp. We headed into town for a wander and coffee at Costa. Collected Cherry at the station in the early evening. Went into town for dinner but everywhere was fully booked so we ended up having fish and chips.
A wee bike around Aviemore with Hannah getting the feel of the place. Run along the River Spey in the evening.
Colin and Hannah drove through to Aviemore after lunch and spent the afternoon settling into the house and doing some shopping. Cherry needs to stay behind and look after Les on Sunday but will join us on Monday.
Colin set off on Monday afternoon with a snuffly nose that turned out to be CoVid. An Extra Large Van from Arnold Clark was a bit of an ugly monster of a truck without any AirCon.
Stopped overnight at Norton Cane days in for a very hot and sticky evening at the Days Inn.
Finished the drive on Tuesday morning and met up with Hannah around mid-day for several hours of removals from top from flat to van. Hot work.
Colin slept overnight at the Cotswold Lodge. No luck with the room this time which was up in the rafters and exceptionally hot.
On Wednesday Colin did a long Zoom meeting at Hannah's flat and then we finished the packing in time for a professional cleaner to give the flat a good doing over. We spent the afternoon in the Up in Arms and headed off in the van around 6 pm in the evening with an overnight journey stop at Norton Canes.
We got home on Thursday around 2 pm - unpacked - and returned the van to Arnold Clark the next morning.
Final day of Ian's short visit and we lent him a bike and we went for an easy paced cycle loop along Water of Leith and Union Canal with a stop for a very nice second breakfast at the Rose Garden Cafe.
Took the train with Ian to North Queensferry for a look at the Bridges from both sides and a walk across the old road bridge.
Light lunch at Oroco Pier and a pint at Hawes Inn.
In the evening Cherry joined us for dinner at Los Argentinos where the steaks were pretty good.
Ian arrived in Edinburgh a bit late off the Easyjet flight from Stansted. We headed out to Dunbar for a nice walk on a windy afternoon around John Muir Country Park.
In the evening we met up with Frank for a few drinks at the Pear Tree and then a good curry at Solti on Drummond Street. Nice to see Frank again after a very long gap.
Colin booked a van for a long weekend trip to the mountains to test out the potential use of a converted van for mountain trips away.
The van was a Toyota Proace. Small wheel base and low roof so not that much bigger than a large car and less than 2 m in height so should be able to get under most car park barriers. Moved in Hannah's mattress and other essentials into the van and headed off on Thursday to Glen Etive.
The Glen was pretty quiet compared to my last visit in August 2021. The car park at the foot of the munros was empty so I had an idyllic location all to myself that night.
Drove across to Bangor via the ferry on Thursday 23 June after picking Max up in Glasgow. A pretty smooth journey. Maxwell was out for a golf club dinner on the first evening and also for lunch on Friday as it was Captain's day weekend.
Max and Colin headed out for a longish run along the shore getting close to Helen's Bay. Slow but tiring enough in the warm weather. Lunch afterwards at the Red Berry on the seafront.
On Saturday we took Max to the Ulster Folk Museum. We were somewhat surprised by the crowds that had turned up. It was a special Ferguson Tractor day that had brought the tractor fans out in droves. We walked around the town area and had lunch in the cafe after quite a long queue. Nothing too strenuous for Maxwell but a pleasant visit.
A nice training run punctuated with a stop to look around the Rose Garden at Saughton. It is looking very well.
We spend Tuesday doing a riverside walk along the Thames. Met Hannah at Folly Bridge for coffee and then headed off getting as far as the Kings Arms for lunchtime. Hannah was suffering from hay fever and given a pass to head home early which was a good call given the fields and grasses in the second half of the walk.
We drove on the next morning to meet Hannah at here Edgeway Road flat and then spent the afternoon at Blenheim Palace. Enjoyed the walled garden and the butterflies and a walk through Woodstock.
On Saturday we completed the short drive from Manchester to Stafford and spent most of the day registering and setting up kit for the IronMan. The event has split transitions with Swim and T1 at Chasewater a good 30 min drive away from T2 and Run in central Stafford. We stayed overnight in the North Stafford Premier Inn (Hurricane) which was horribly hot.
Race day was a very early start with Alarm at 5.15 am and then a drive to the Chasewater car park and then a fair bit of waiting about for the rolling start swim. First start was around 7 am and I think I started towards 8 am very near the back with low expectations for my swim.
The water was fairly choppy which made it a bit more challenging than Foxlake and a long 1.2 miles more or less linear course. Felt pretty comfortable in the swim and was going faster than enough people to be confident I'd make the cut off. Clocked in with a time of 58:59 which I am pretty pleased with.
A few hundred metres run to transition and I took my time to dry properly and make sure I was well set up for a comfortable ride. It was cloudy enough to merit wearing a shower jacket for the first hour. Felt pretty good for the first half of the ride and average speed was above 16 mph for a while. After that it felt a bit more challenge with a degree of fatigue and a more uphill section into Cannock Chase. Once this was done a more general downward trend into Stafford and finished in decent shape in a time of 3:53:26 for the roughly 56 mile route.
T2 was a bit more straightforward and I was soon off on the run and a slow but steady pace. It was very nice run route mainly in the town centre with lots of support lining the route and lots of feed/water stations. Whilst it was never easy I was pretty comfortable running at a steady pace and just walking up the inclines to conserve energy. Got round in 2:25:38 which is a terrible half marathon time but very reasonably given what preceded and the sharp hills on the route.
Overall very pleased with the effort.
On the way South for the IronMan Colin and Cherry stopped for the afternoon at RHS Bridgewater. It was looking very well with the walled garden and the areas near the visitor centre looking in great shape.
With IronMan date approaching this week I headed out a couple of times to the small Foxlake in Dunbar for an evening outdoor swim in my hired wetsuit. I was pretty trepidatious about the cold but it turned out to be pretty pleasant temperature wise and more enjoyable that being in an indoor pool. Swam Tuesday and Thursday doing 4 laps and 6 laps of the 300m loop.
On Thursday afternoon (26 May) we set off by car for Dumfries House. We had booked a room and dinner at the Lodge. We had a very large and luxurious room and dinner was very good. Lovely gardens just outside our door which we explored briefly that evening.
The next day we had a nice breakfast and then explored the extensive grounds of Dumfries House. Rhododendrons were in full bloom and in very plentiful supply throughout the grounds.
The woodland valley garden near the lodge was particularly fine. We wandered up to the House with its formal gardens and mazes and then to the Queen Elizabeth walled garden. This latter had lots of fruit and veg and looked worth a visit in July as it was still a bit too early for most it.
In the afternoon we headed on for a swim at the New Cumnock Outdoor Pool. We were slightly fearful of how cold it might be but it was toasty hot. Quite a nice experience - work repeating.
Finally we headed on the our overnight stop of the Auldgirth Inn. Not quite as luxurious as the night before but still pretty good. Dinner was quite good - the chef trying very hard for a gourmet style menu and coming close but not quite nailing the quality.
Saturday morning was a short drive to the Garden of Cosmic Speculation. It opens just one day and year. It is the former house and gardens of Charles Jencks who has done the landscape features at the Edinburgh Gallery of Modern Art and at Jupiter Artland. A fun interesting walk around the various artworks some of which were needing a bit of care and attention.
