Christmas Day

Christmas Day with Colin, Cherry, Max, Hannah and Les. The normal routine with Turkey at 2 pm. Very nice!

 

Alien Bloc

Colin and Max drove down to Alien Bloc for Colin's annual go on the climbing wall. Working on the Bumble Bees it was a fairly decent effort from Colin. Max did endurance work on Level 3 climbs.

 

Wicked at the Playhouse

With all the family home for Christmas we had a family outing to see Wicked at the Playhouse. It was a general thumbs down to greater or lesser extent from all of us. 

China Crisis at the Queens Hall

Hannah, Colin & Cherry went to Queens Hall to see China Crisis. 40th anniversary of Working With Fire and Steel. A run through of the album then a short interval then another 45 minute set finishing around 10.30 pm. Nice set and lots of chat from Gary.

 

Arab Strap at Summerhall

A good performance. Started with a run through of Philophobia celebrating 25th anniversary then a few other songs to complete the set. Summerhall again a pretty nice venue.

 

Orienteering at Bush Estate

A local event at Bush Estate in the rain. An Agatha Christie theme with various cards to complete in score format. Didn't go at all well as I missed one of the 9 controls on each card thinking I had done them all. Bit of an accident clambering over a barbed wire fence - luckily just getting some bruising on the arm. Right heel plantar fasciitis also started playing up quite badly from half way. In spite of all that was great fun. Sadly I'll need to keep off the running for a while limiting myself to just the races I've already booked in 2024. 

Billie Marten at Summerhall

Another concert at Summerhall. One of Hannah's favs Billie Marten with a nice mix of folk/rock/pop.  

Hermitage of Braid Trail Race 10K

A cold but clear Sunday morning and a fabulous well marshalled route around Blackford Hill and the Hermitage. Felt on reasonable form and was slightly faster than 5 years ago and came in with a time just under an hour at 157% of the winning time. Don't like the photo though!

 

Hamish Hawk - Summerhall

After ferry and drive back from Northern Ireland we had tickets for a show at Summerhall in the evening. Cherry had stuff to catch up on but Colin went along to watch Hamish Hawk do a gentle acoustic set. Quite a busy standing room only venue but a nice sensible volume and not too long. A very pleasant show.

 

Funeral

The arrangements were progressed quickly and the funeral arranged according to Maxwell's wishes for Friday 24 November. We visited the family grave site at Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church for the interment and then the memorial service at First Bangor Church. This was following by nibbles and drinks at Bangor Golf Club.

RIP Maxwell Ledlie

Maxwell sadly passed away in hospital on Thursday night shortly before midnight. His last week was peaceful spent in almost continuous sleep. 

Northern Ireland

Sad trip to Bangor by car and ferry to see Maxwell in hospital. A combination of Covid and Alzheimers has left him in a very bad way. I arrived on Sunday and left on Friday with daily visits. Mostly he was sleeping but when awake in a very disturbed state.

Glentress - Old Blue and New Blue

With just one rain free day forecast for this week this was an opportunity to get out somewhere nice on the bike. Parked in Peebles and had a coffee at the theatre near the car park. The blue route had some detours on it but was in pretty good shape. Very much enjoy the climb. Descent OK - even the blue feels a bit hairy for me at times. Also checked out the new taster courses and there are a new set of routes of which I tried the blue. Slow and not very good lunch at the Peel Cafe.

Not much sign of the World Championships although I guess the new routes may have been linked to that.

SOL 5 - Devilla

A very wet morning ! Pretty much continuous rain so I was well wrapped up with waterproof trousers and top. Blue course at a SOL level event always proves challenging. This was really tough. Focussed on navigation which was difficult and made 1 big error with everything else going just about OK but never terribly easily. The result was very poor the somewhat improved navigation not making up for the slow pace. 

Northern Ireland Trip

A ferry across to NI on Friday to take Maxwell to hospital on Monday for his stent replacement operation. Some delays due to high winds but overall a smooth and pleasant journey. With the central heating broken at 54 Moira Drive I was staying for 4 nights at the Bangor Premier Inn.

Ran the Bangor Park Run on saturday morning with a time about a minute off my course best from earlier in the year. Visited Maxwell at Oakmont but decided it would be a bit much for him to head out. Spent the day clearing old papers at 54 Moira Drive to take home. Financial stuff and a fair bit of family history.

Lunch at RUYC with Maxwell and Liz on Sunday. 

Hospital trip on Monday went pretty smoothly. Needed to stay with Maxwell most of the morning as they went through all the prep stages. The Op itself was quick and Maxwell was in pretty good shape when he was released around 3.30 pm.

Boat home on Tuesday morning.

Manor Water Hill Race

Straight back to racing after the holiday. Cold temperatures but clear blue skies for the longest race I've done in quite a while. Challenging terrain under foot - 9 miles long and around 670 m of climb. I was pretty slow but content with the effort with plenty of people behind me. Race time around 1 hr 50 mins.

 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 12 - London - KitKat Club

Eurostar back to London and went for a swim at Pancras Square. In the evening went to see Cabaret - KitKat Club. We had prime seats for the show with dinner and champagne. The food was pretty good, the champagne went down very well, icecream and brownies at the interval. A very nice finish to the holiday.

Friday morning was the LNER train back to Edinburgh. All the train journeys went to time and were very pleasant - the only complaint being the queuing and waiting around for the Eurostar.

 

Lourdes Holiday Day 11 - Paris

An early train at 7 am from Lourdes to Paris passed surprisingly quickly arriving in Paris just after midday. We got an early checkin at the hotel - Mercure on Rue de la Gaite - and headed for a wander around Montparnasse Cemetery and a rather disappointing garden associated with the astrophysics institute.

In the evening it was a night of jazz at La Bal Blomet watching Baptiste Trotignon perform Brexit Music - a collection of jazz takes on classic British rock & pop songs. I quite enjoyed it - Cherry wasn't so sure.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 10 - Riverside Walk

Final day in Lourdes and we went for a walk along the river. Not entirely successful today with our original planned route having a closed gate, a section on a narrow road and a dull final section. 

Dinner out in town in the evening before packing. Both of us nursing a rather large number of insect bites.

Reviewing our stay in Lourdes - whilst it was nice to not drive anywhere the public transport was a little limiting on our activities as was the very hot weather. Next time I think a hire car probably a good idea.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 9 - Lac du Lourdes

A bus out to the lake and a pleasant 6 km circuit which was generally well back from the lakeside. A very nice meal at the lakeside cafe before getting another bus back to town.

 In the evening we headed out to watch the 9 pm candlelit procession. Yet again a huge crowd out with lots of wheelchairs and various groups.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 8 - Swim & Hill / Draw

In the morning we went for a swim at the local pool which is around 10 mins walk from the flat. Around 30 mins of swim in the nice 25 m pool. Bought some very nice tarts & sandwich at the nearby bakery before heading home.

In the afternoon we split up to do some serious hiking and to do some sketching. Colin headed up Beout with a summit at 791 m at the edge of Lourdes. It was a very nice walk with a strenous climb up the back of the hill.

In the evening we headed out into town for dinner. Our first choice Italian was only doing pizzas so we ended up at the first reasonable looking place we could find. A nice outdoor seat and view at Riviera Sol. The food was pretty average.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 6 - Cauterets

A roughly 1 hour bus journey from Lourdes to Cauterets deep in the Pyrenees. For the first time in France we felt some chill in the air - at least initially on arrival. We grabbed a coffee and pastry before following our noses towards the sun and a walk. It worked out surprisingly well finding by chance a really nice route. It was a fairly gentle uphill that brought us to La Raillaire an disused former spa with hot sulphur waters.

We passed a small collection of shops and cafes which we decided would be our lunch stop later in the day before heading up a woodland path near a series of waterfalls.

Lunch at La Cascade was good. Salads, trout, pasta and ice creams. We headed back down to catch the 3 pm bus back to Lourdes.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 5 - Castle & Pic du Jer

In the morning we walked to the Castle arriving a little too early so stopping for a quick coffee beforehand. Took the lift up to the castle for some great views and a very well organised route around the Pyrenean Museum, Castle and Botanic gardens. Really interesting and enjoyable visit. The small garden was excellent. Interesting scale models of local rural architectural styles.

 We walked onwards from there to the market to grab some takeaway food before walking on to get the cable car up to the Pic du Jer. A small walk remained to the summit at 951 m. Great views all round. Clear skies.

A bus back home from the foot of the hill in searing heat. 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 4 - Market, Bernadette and Churches

First trip of the day was to the Lourdes covered market which is open every day from around 6 - 2 pm. We got a good selection of fruit, veg, cheese, meat and fish. 

After a break we followed the Route of Bernadette around various places she lived or was linked to.

After lunch and another break we headed to the main religious area of the two with its three large churches. A very long procession took place around 5 pm with lots of sick and disabled and their supporters. Two of the churches pictured - the brutalist underground church and the more traditional Basilique Notre Dame de Rosaire.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 3 - train to Lourdes

We got the 10 am TGV from Montparnasse. A massive 16 coach double decker which would split in two further down the line. We arrived at 3 pm and just had a short wander through town in the evening doing enough shopping for our dinner.

The apartment was a fairly smart two bedroom apartment that looks pretty grotty from the outside but sports pretty decent views to the castle and Pyrenees.

 

Lourdes Holiday - Day 2 - Paris

We wandered over the Coal Drops Yard for breakfast at Lina Stores before heading good and early for the Eurostar at St Pancras. As previously the train journey was very nice but is marred by the airport style queues, security and waiting about.

In Paris we wandered across town to the Bateau Mouches via the Eiffel Tour from Montparnasse. Quite pleasant and relaxed parts of town we wandered through.

We had a dinner cruise on the Bateau Mouches starting at 8 pm and finishing 10.45 pm. A decent quality 3 course meal with champagne and a bottle of wine. Both quite sozzled by the end. Enjoyable boat trip with interesting enough night time views.

Lourdes Holiday - Day 1 - London

We got the 9.30 LNER train to London with first class seats. A nice little breakfast and then our own sandwiches for lunch before arriving at around 13.55. Easy check in at the Kings Cross Premier Inn before getting the quick train from St Pancras to Stratford International.

A short walk enjoying the gardens of the Olympic Park....

 ... and heading up ArcelorMittal Orbit - a sculpture made for the London 2012 Olympics with a slide down from the top. We skipped the slide and enjoyed the views from the top and a walk down (lift up).

After that we went to the London Aquatic Centre for the pool built for the London Olympics. 30 mins swim in a nice big pool.

Dinner at The Real Greek - nice greek mezze - then walk to the Abba concert. An enjoyable concert. Technically very impressive but somewhat soulless and overly produced music for the most part.

London & Yellowcraig Score Orienteering

Stopped off in London on the way back from Bournemouth and had a nice run along the canal through Camden to Primrose Hill and back via Regent Park. A nice change from the late flight home from Southampton. Pizza express and a glass of wine afterwards.

On Saturday went to a small local orienteering event at Yellowcraig. Took the bus from Waterloo Place which was around a 1 hr journey which was quite pleasant. Orienteering was fun in decent weather. Result not terribly good although probably not capable of that much better. Got a slower bus home which dragged a bit and the walk afterwards when tired wasn't entirely welcome. Overall worked quite well.

Scottish 10 K

Another 10K race - this time a big mass participation event with over 1000 runners. Had been feeling a bit off the last few days and Cherry is down with a cold so cautious about whether I've got some mild infection and decided to take this one nice and easy. 30 mins cycle down and a good well organised event that started at 9 am. Took the run nice and easy and avoided looking at the watch until very near the end. Felt fine plodding along at an easy pace and couldn't help increasing the pace a bit in the latter stages without ever extending to a full out effort. Came in at 52 mins 34 secs which isn't a great time but certainly not terrible and a lot better than expected. 

A cycle home via a stop at Costa. Good start to the day and surprisingly felt all the better for the exertions.

SOSOL Cademuir

First proper orienteering in quite some time. Thought it would be easy given that the course would all be on open hillside. Disaster on the first control. Headed in roughly the right direction but soon found I was pretty lost. Eventually got my act together in the last 7 controls and navigated these reasonably well and carefully. Great fun and I relish the challenge of getting a little better next time. 

Blast Running 10K - Silverknowes

Flat and fast course at Silverknowes. 49 mins 32 secs. 

Arthurs Seat

Gradually ticking off training runs to each of the 7 hills of Edinburgh. A lovely afternoon and a fabulous run to the summit in Holyrood Park. I love the feeling of being able to skip and dance up and down a hill like a mountain goat - I'm sure it doesn't look like that but on a good day it is a real joy to be able to move confidently up and down the craggy slopes. It was a slow training run but still just 23 minutes to get from front door to summit.

Portobello Beach Race

A bike ride down to Portobello for a nice run along the beach at Portobello. A nice sunny morning and Portobello sea front looking surprisingly continental with the beach front cafes busy and buzzing.

The race was just over the advertised 4 miles. The tide was out with a wide beach to run on and mainly fairly well compacted sand so not overly difficult although pace was pretty slow suggesting soft enough to lose a fair bit of momentum. Completed in 36.55 and came 40th of 63 runners.

 

Holyrood Park Run

A good run on the Holyrood 5K loop. Over 500 people out today and I was fortunately quick enough to reach the finish before queues started. Very pleased with the time of 24.18 - very comfortable on the climb but starting to fade a bit in the last mile. 

 

Sprintelope - Loanhead

Enjoying getting out to lots of local races. This was a very straightforward urban course that I managed to do very cleanly and in a good time coming 8th of 23 which was very pleasing. 

Braeval Loop - MTB

Previously did this route in winter after heavy storms which felled many trees and blocked much of the planned route. Pleasant conditions today but the sun not quite coming out as much as hoped. A nice loop from Braeval car park over the hills to Loch Venacher and then through Queen Elizabeth Forest Park back to the start. Loops of climbing and generally decent off road surfaces.

Around 1 hr 45 mins.

 

Oldhamstocks Hill Race

Second time I've done this race associated with the village flower show. A nice wee race that is more like a trail race than a proper hill race. A very gradual ascent along road, then trail then path up to the high ground but no particular clear summit before a steady cross country run back down. About 3 minutes slower than my time 6 years ago although times I think generally slow today in the very windy conditions.

After the race drove down to the coast just east of Dunbar and did a short bike ride from Whitesands to Skateraw. Quite pleasant if you avoid looking in the direction of the power station and cement works.

 

Grange Sprintelope

A nice urban orienteering event based around the Astley Ainsly estate. Legs not on top form but good fun. 

Glasgow World Champs - BMX and Women's Road Race

A train through to Glasgow to spectate at the BMX finals at the BMX track to the west of the city. 42 races across Quarter, Semis and Finals for Junior, U23, Elite, M & F. Fast and furious with a lot of nasty crashes keeping the medics busy. Good views of the races. Not a bad spectator sport and got through a lot of action in a couple of hours.

From there headed on to Glasgow City Centre and watched the women's road race go by. Even with a city centre circuit and multiple passes the road race just isn't a good spectator experience on the ground. Headed to the big screen with commentary in George Square, got a nice beer and enjoyed a great atmosphere watching a very good race.

This was the finale for the Mega World Championships. A big success for Glasgow and Scotland with the whole thing going very well across a range of first class cycling venues.

 

Cademuir Rollercoaster Hill Race

First time I've managed to do this nice fairly easy race in Peebles. Took the bus down and back which worked pretty well. The race instructions could have been a bit clearer on the facilities at registration but managed to work out changing and what to do with my bag.

A nice race which started with a runnable climb some rolling and then very steep climb to Cademuir summit. Largely rolling on the way back with one climb steep enough to be walked. 40 mins and 21 secs - 154% of winning time. Just 59 runners in the 6 k but also a 3 k happening a bit earlier. 

Nice to be back racing in the hill. First race since Jan 2022.

Braid Hill Run

Another easy run on a very humid morning to visit Braid Hill summit. Haven't been here in ages and what a treat it is. A really stunning 360 degree panorama. Photos really can't capture it.