Tinto Hill Race

It had been a long time since my last hill race in the summer of 2017 and Tinto was a tough winter race to make a comeback on. The race had a 2 pm start and the weather was cold but not freezing and damp but not yet raining. Lots of pre-race nerves and frequent trips to the freshly felled pile of logs for a pee. Confidence was low and that feeling of what am I doing here on such a dreich afternoon was strong. But soon we were off and the heart rate pounding as the long ascent commenced. Gentle at first then getting steeper and rougher. Lots of muddy puddles. A few moments of respite on the way up when the slope briefly eases and then the question is can you summon the will power to force a running pace again. Strength, lung capacity and above all will power are needed on the way up. On the way down strength, core stability, courage and perhaps a bit of madness are the secrets of success. I'm running in Hoka Speedgoats with thick solid soles with lots of bounce but not quite the studs of the traditional fell shoe - they work a dream on this terrain letting me flow down the hill at speed aiming the feet at solid rocky ground of which there is plenty. Yes - I'm loving this - this is my sport. Total concentration and maximum effort as I push through a rapid 2 miles of downhill and race through to the finish in a time similar to what I was achieving 8 years ago but not quite the best results of a decade ago.

SOSOL - Dechmont Law

A glorious day out in Livingstone. Helped with the event parking before a good run round the Green course. Pretty straightforward navigation wise. 6th of around 60 runners.

Mid Week Pentlands Cycle and Run

With some nice weather I enjoyed a cycle out to the Pentlands followed by a run in the hills of about 7 miles taking in the summits of Caerketton, Allermuir and Capelaw. Felt on pretty good form.

Beinn Mhanach

The hotel offered an early breakfast starting from 7 am which allowed me to get to the hills nice and early. Temperates had dropped sharply and it was zero degrees in the morning and the hills which had been snow capped yesterday where fully covered in snow/frost in the morning.

I used the mountain bike for the approach down the Auch valley which allowed me to make good speed over what would have been a long slog by foot. There were many river crossings along the way which were all just about manageable on the bike but did mean getting feet very wet and cold. 

I stopped at a bridge at the foot of the hill and headed straight up the snowy grassy slopes. It was a long hard slog with the legs a little bit tired after yesterday. The summit was cold and windy and not somewhere to hang about. It would have been nice to do the other two munros as per the original plan but they looked too snow covered for me to attempt safely so I headed back the way I came and was back to the car before midday.

After a cup of tea at Tyndrum I decided to make the most of the good weather and did a cycle ride from Strathyre to Callander where I stopped for a coffee before heading back.

Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh

A reasonably early start and drive up to Bridge of Orchy for some munro bagging on what was forecast to be several days of glorious weather.

It was fairly pleasant at the foot of the hill near Bridge of Orchy station but started raining about half way up to the col. I sensibly stopped and put on the waterproofs. At the col I decided to head left towards Beinn an Dothaidh. It remained pretty wet and cloudy with poor visibility on the way to the summit with some difficulty finding the right route to the summit and then being clear on whether I'd actually found the true summit. In the end visited everything that looked like a peak. Things then started to clear a little and were looking a lot better when I got to the col again.

From there it was a pleasant ascent at the start towards Beinn Dorain but I stayed on the lower northern path which started to get a little bit hairy towards the end with a lot of snow on the ground. I left the path near the end and headed straight up to reach the summit ridge which was a lot more pleasant.

The descent was pretty straightforward but the rain started again at the end.

Stayed overnight at the Muthu Ben Doran which was cheap and pretty decent. Had dinner at the Tyndrum Inn.

Pentlands Run with Max

Max and Colin headed out for a run in the Pentlands on a pleasant Sunday evening. A challenging route was planned but proved a little much for Max who hasn't been running much in recent weeks. We cut things a little short as it would be a bit tight to do the full route before the sun set. Very pleasant run with lovely views of the hills and the city.

Walk around Kinghorn, Fife

Cherry, Colin and Max had a day out visiting the organic area on the old mining works at Kinghorn. Really should have been a summer visit as it didn't look its best in the cold grey morning light. The sun came out later and we walked to the top of the Binn for views over Burntisland and towards the Bridges.

Rebus - Long Shadows at the Kings Theatre

Cherry and Colin went to the Kings Theatre to see a Rebus play. Pretty good.

SOL - near Calvine

A lovely autumn day and the A9 was looking delightful with the trees turning red and orange and the low but bright autumn sun shining bright. Another Scottish O League outing on the Short Blue course. As always these are pretty challenging but managed to get round reasonably cleanly. There was just one control where I was lucky to find it having run pretty aimlessly or a long leg in broadly the right direction but definitely losing contact of where I was on the map. Around 75 minutes out of the course.

Budapest

We chose to fly BA via Heathrow to enjoy a more relaxed flight time rather than the 6 am direct Jet2 flight. The plan worked reasonably well although the travel was a bit of a drag for a relatively short weekend break away. We got into Budapest around 7 pm on Friday evening and got to the very nice Corinthia Hotel which had a lovely large room.

We headed out in the evening for a wander and a search for dinner. Arrived at some lively areas and had a drink at an outdoor vegan bar/eatery and then onwards till we found a trendy italian restaurant for a very nice salmon (Colin) and steak (Cherry).

Saturday was a wander by foot around the Pest side of the town going through the main shopping area and on to the market.

We went out on a boat trip at 12.30 which took us along the river and dropped us a Margaret Island for a pleasant walk around this green and pleasant little island.

We walked back towards the Parliament and various other sights making it a pretty long day out on our feet.

We headed to the hotel pool and spa both evenings for a swim and sauna.

On Sunday the weather was fabulous for a trip to the Buda side of town. We got the funicular to the top and had a very pleasant walk around town enjoying the sights and views.

From the bottom we got a taxi to the Citadella hill to get some more views from on high.

On Monday we headed to the City Park north of our hotel for a final look at some more sights prior to getting a taxi to the airport for our 13.15 flight home.

SOL 3 & Highland Wildlife Park

The orienteering was located right beside the wildlife park so Colin dropped Cherry off at the zoo for the morning while he did the orienteering. Orienteering was generally quite straightforward apart from 2 controls that weren't. A large valley crossing provided to be too steep to attempt safely and resulted in a very long detour and some back and forth looking for a safe route. Then control 9 of 15 just couldn't be found and I eventually gave up and we had arranged a meeting time at the zoo and it felt as if I could be out all day looking for the darn flag.

Nice lunch and shopping stop at House of Bruar on the way back.

Meall Cuaich

With a trip up North on Sunday and good weather forecast for Saturday we decided to make a weekend of it and booked at night at one of the few remaining hotels in Kingussie, The Osprey, and headed off in the car on Saturday morning.

Colin headed up for a quick ascent of Meall Cuaich which was a very pleasant and relatively easy Munro. The weather mainly stayed fine and I was feeling in pretty good shape and managed a fast pace up and down.

Cherry did the 5 miles walk on the flat approach and along the side of Loch Cuaich.

A very nice dinner in the evening at the Cafe Bistro restaurant.

Peebles Duathlon

An early start on Sunday to head down to Peebles for my second outing at the Peebles Duathlon. A very nice low key event with only around 50 competitors. Start was at 9 am with a 3 mile run on a circuit round the river Tweed. This year was a very fast transition onto the mountain bike with flat pedals and no need to change shoes - saved at least 5 minutes over the 2 transitions as a result. The MTB ride seemed to go pretty well and didn't feel it was slowing my down very much compared to a road bike. Bike ride was 12 miles which is quite a nice distance for pushing hard. Final 3 mile run started with legs feeling very strange after the bike but gradually loosening up. Run pace was steady until the very end where I managed a short sprint to pass the man in front. Nice event and well worth repeating.

SOSOL Windy Hill

With my bike season finished the orienteering season has restarted and my attempts on the South of Scotland and Scottish orienteering leagues. Sunday morning was a trip to Muirshiel Country Park and an area around Windy Hill. The weather started surprisingly nice but by half way the hill was living up to its name with strong winds and rain. Navigation wasn't easy but is never that difficult on open moorland and hills although I did mess up badly on the penultimate control. Came 5th on the green course which was reasonably good.

Had my bike with me and went for a short ride but it was still windy and I was feeling cold from damp clothing so after about a mile headed back to the car. 

Tour O The Borders

Last big cycle ride of the year on Sunday. A VERY early start with a 5 am alarm call and drive to Peebles for a ride that departed Peebles at 7.08 am (for my Wave 7).

The weather turned out to be rather worse than forecast with a fair bit of light rain and quite strong winds on the way round. I started off at pretty steady pace on the familiar route past Cademuir and Stobo. Feeling fine but without the energy to push the pace at all.

First stop for pies and cake was on the main road shortly before Talla. The weather was about at it worst at this stage and thoughts were of taking the short route home. Talla climb was interupted by an ambulance vehicle which gave me an excuse to just off the bike. I'd probably have made it but any excuse was gladly accepted.

The ride towards Gordon Arms had a strong tail wind which was very good news as this section can be a real grind into a headwind. This positive section and an improvement in the weather meant I headed into the Long lane and turned right without any hesitation although it was soon followed by a long grind uphill into the wind and drizzle. The second food station came soon as was very welcome.

The rest of the climb wasn't too bad and then a nice downhill and a pleasant rolling section with a favourable wind. A really nice climb followed at a fairly steady 6% grade which I made up pretty comfortably and it was nice to see others off and pushing. The return to the Gordon arms after this was into the wind and fairly tough.

Paddy Slacks was very very easy and had a feed station half way and the last six miles were a familiar and I was fit enough to start pushing fairly hard for most of this and particularly at the end.

A very well organised event. Very nice to be riding on closed roads. Start time unpleasantly early. I don't really enjoy the grind of 6 hours in the saddle but got pleasure from the fast finish and the third climb.

Bangor Trip

Cherry and Colin headed across in the boat on Friday. Not a bad journey across with the boat being pretty fast and comfortable in the Plus lounge.

Went to Mount Stewart for the first time. Surprised we hadn't ever been here before but didn't recognise it at all. Very nice and definitely worth trying to visit in different seasons.

Nice dinner out at the Old Inn in Crawfordsburn.

Colin was meant to be cycling 97 miles round Lough Neagh on Sunday but the weather forecast was for solid rain all day long and he wisely decided to wimp out of the event. Did a short ride from Bangor to Millisle in the late afternoon.

Cherry got the plane back home on Sunday afternoon and Colin got the boat on Monday.

Car Boot Sale

We hired a stall to get rid of some of our old stuff at the Bridgend Farm Car Boot Sale. It was actually inside on a table as the weather was bad and not a huge number of customers as it was both our first car boot sale and the first at this venue. Sold one or two things.

The Crossing Day 3

The very bad weather forecast for Day 3 turned out to be just bad weather. There was steady light rain but reasonably high temperatures which meant there was no chilling out in the cold. It felt a bit of a grind at times today with quite a lot of rough sections where I wasn't able to ride up or down - I'm a very nervous and cautious descender.

I finally made it into Scarborough around 3 pm feeling in pretty excellent shape - even my bottom wasn't suffering too much after all that time in the saddle.

A celebratory ice cream was on offer as was the obligatory medal to add to my collection.

Had a wee walk round town, a coffee, a walk round some gardens, fish and chips and then ready for the bus home at 7 pm. This got into Whitehaven just after 11 pm and I was back at the Premier Inn around 11.45 pm.

Event Stats:

Day 1 : 103.65 km ; 1932 m climb ; elapsed time of 8 hrs 55 mins
Day 2 : 59.91 km ; 693 m climb ; ride time of 3 hrs 58 mins ( should have been around 100 km)
Day 3 : 95.68 km ; 1688 m climb ; time of 7 hrs 47 mins

Overall an enjoyable three days. Lots of people seemed to have come back and done the event many times. It does seem very expensive (over £400) for what you get although it was all delivered very effectively. At times the route seemed designed for pain and challenge rather than pleasure. There are probably nicer routes to do the C2C. As an endurance challenge it certainly delivered. A range of different bikes on the course. I think roughly 50/50 between full sus and hardtail. No perfect solution as there was a constant mix between road and rough trail. On balance not really my preferred type of event as I really don't like the rough downhills on a MTB.

The Crossing Day 2

On the second morning the tent was soaking with dew and I hoped I could hang about long enough for the water to clear off. This wasn't happening so just had to pack it away which in the end turned out to be fine as it dried up pretty quickly after pitching in the evening.

I was feeling fine in the morning but the bike was not sounding at all good. A lovely early section on a glorious day as we entered the Yorkshire Dales.

Unfortunately the bike some came to a grinding halt. The little jockey wheel near the rear derailleur stopped moving. Another rider help do an on the road fix but the benefit of this was short lived and I soon needed to phone for help. The event organisers picked me up and after a lot of hanging about took me through to the Pit Stop where there was a mechanic on hand. There was also a bike shop on site which was just as well - the new part was purchased and I was ready to go again.

The second part of Day 2 had a fair bit of road riding and I sped along pretty quickly particularly with my relatively fresh legs. 

The camp site at Northallerton was at the Leisure Centre and surprisingly the facilities were probably worse than the farm. Pretty much on queue the weather changed at around 9.30 pm to heavy rain. The tent performed well and kept me dry and snug.

The Crossing Day 1

I drove down to Whitehaven on Thursday morning and arrived in good time to register for the event and enjoy a pleasant afternoon in the sunshine walking around the town. The town was looking very well in the good weather.

The night was spent at the nearby Premier Inn. It was a very early start on Friday to drive back into town and park about 10 minutes from the event start and walk down and dump my bag. The race briefing was at 6.45 am and the start at 7.00 am. At which point the heavens opened and we got a whole morning of pretty heavy rain. The journey to Keswick was fairly pleasant and would have had some quite nice views if we could have seen far.

The pit-stop with hot pies and sausage rolls was a pretty basic affair which didn't incur lingering even if there was a tiny amount of cover from the rain. After about 30 mins and the rain still falling heavily it seemed I might as well get moving as I wasn't warming up. Thankfully the rain stopped soon out of Keswick.

There was a fair bit of pushing up the steep rough hills and at one point there was a bit of carrying required. Some lovely high moorland sections in the latter part of the ride.

Got into Shap in reasonable shape around 5 pm I think and in the first bit of rain free weather pitched the tent and then showered and ate. The showers were excellent which was quite a surprise in an impromptu camp site on a farm. It is quite a while since I've slept in my little mountain marathon tent - not very comfortable !

Whitmuir Organic Farm

With Max back for the weekend we had a family outing to Whitmuir Organic Farm around 40 minutes south of Edinburgh.

A short walk up the hill past the pigs, cows and sheep. A visit to the small crafts barn. The fairy walk. Then lunch which was a little spoiled by them losing the order but compensated by some giants wedges of free cake.

After lunch a walk round the garden centre and some food purchases in the shop.

More MTB from Peebles

Another ride from Peebles into the forests above Glentress, through a windfarm and down the Leithen Water. Lovely house and walled garden in an unexpected location in the overwise bleak mountainous terrain north of Innerleithen.

Cheese and ham toastie in Innerleithen for lunch before a tough ride along the Gypsy Glen route. Very hard work and suffered from swarms of flies on the hill top.

Overall a pretty satisfying journey.