Orienteering

The local orienteering calendar has been springing to life with a good number of events on local parks and streets. In the past couple of weeks I've managed to do two Sprintelopes at Fairmilehead and at Pollock Halls and two parkland events at Dechmont Law and Corstorphine Hill. The first proper forest event is now scheduled for the end of June.

Balcary Bay Holiday

Taking advantage of the lifting of CoVid restrictions we arranged a short break away to Dumfries and Galloway staying at the very nice Balcary Bay Hotel. Nice place with fabulous views over the bay.

On the way down Colin got on the road bike for a tough climb from Abington through Leadhills, Wanlockhead and up to the summit of Lowther Hill. A tough climb but made it without having to stop. Snow in the summit. Cherry had a nice wander round Leadhills. We just finished in the nick of time before a hailstorm.

We enjoyed a nice 5 course meal each of our 2 evenings in the hotel and the fresh fruit salad was a highlight of the breakfasts.

On the second day we headed to Glentrool forest park. Colin changed plans from a summit climb to a slightly flatter trail run give the bad weather while Cherry had a short walk. We stopped off briefly at Kirkcudbright on the way back.

On the last day and journey home we visited Threave gardens. The weather was not quite a nice as hoped for but it was a pleasant enough visit.

Long Run - Peebles

Finally allowed to leave Edinburgh City so headed down to Peebles for a long easy run in the Meldons. Ran the Drove Road northwards out of Peebles then steep climbs up White Meldon and Black Meldon. These felt like very hard work! Onwards along the road to Lyne and then followed old railway lines back into Peebles. Feet were feeling it by the end but a very nice journey on a cold by clear skied day.

 

Orienteering Again

A slow return to some aspects of normality with a proper orienteering event for the first time in over a year. A lovely sunny day and a challenging course at Craigmillar Castle. It will be a slow return with just a handful of events over the next couple of months.

Oxford Move for Hannah

On Monday morning we loaded up the van for Colin to drive down with Hannah to Oxford and help her move into her new flat which had been quickly arranged over the preceding week. We had a Standard sized van from Arnold Clark and were ready to leave by 2 pm. We stopped overnight at a Premier Inn at Warrington just off the M6 and finished the journey the next morning.

Got the keys after lunch and moved all the boxes on Tuesday afternoon. Very pleased with the flat and the location. Some lovely views on our short walk on Tuesday evening.

A day of shopping and other moving in activity on Wednesday before Colin drove back on Thursday and Friday stopping for runs at Cannock Chase and the Lune Valley near Lancaster.

Snowy February

February saw more heavy snow which has hung around quite some time with very cold temperatures. Managed to get out a few times for decent length runs from home to Calton Hill, Holyrood Park, Blackford and the Braids. Had an afternoon sledging with Hannah and Cherry.

Hard Lockdown January

The year started badly with soaring CoVid cases and a very strict lockdown announced in the first few days on the year. The disappointment of a return to very strict lockdown after so long under various covid restrictions and very cold temperatures throughout the month made this tougher than earlier lockdowns. There was little work until late January when reading and meetings kicked off again.

Made the most of exercise time with various local runs and bike rides when the conditions allowed.

Virtual French Holiday

In the first week of January with a hard lockdown announced we decided to try a virtual French holiday to  add a bit of variety to our lives. Our holiday to France in April had been postponed to September then pushed back to March 2021 which was also looking improbable.

Colin did an indoor simulated ride of a French mountain on 4 days and a run on another to the Little France area of Edinburgh. We went out for a short walk to a french cafe or boulangerie to collect cakes or bread and cooked a recipe from the French Recipe books we got for Christmas over the 5 days of the "holiday".

Above the Victor Hugo Deli and below the resulting lunch.

Recipes for dinner during the week were;

- Marinated Roast Pork with Cauliflower Gratin

- Stuff Tomatoes with Taboulet following by Pancakes

- Sole Meuniere with baby leeks (home grown) in vinaigrette

- Steak with Gratin Dauphinois

- Roast Chicken with herbs and lemon

We watched a French movie each evening:

- La Haine

- Intouchables

- The Kid With A Bike

- Les Miserables (2019) - not the musical

- Portrait of a Lady on Fire

 

CoVid Christmas

With Christmas cut down to 1 day Colin drove to and from Glasgow morning and evening to collect Max and bring him to Edinburgh for Christmas day. We weren't quite sure what to expect on the roads with the potential for a lot of traffic so it was a very early start for the drive through. It turned out the roads were pretty quiet which made for a fairly relaxed set of journeys.

Apart from that it was a fairly typical Christmas Day with Les as usual joining us just for the day.

The last few days of the year saw lots of heavy snow in Edinburgh.

Early December 2020

Lots of work meetings in early December as usual kept Colin busy with loads of reading and long Zoom meetings.

Completed 6 weeks of the Duathlon training plan. It was a good experience and I enjoyed the structure and simplicity of knowing what training to do each day. A good plan for lockdown as most of the running was locally round the Meadows and the cycling indoors on the trainer. Running speed improved a little and there were good gains on the bike. Whilst enjoyable decided to stop after 6 weeks and not do the second half to allow for a bit more fun and interest in my fitness activities.

Partial Lockdown November 2020

With CoVid cases rising rapidly and restrictions on activity increased plans for a short break in November were cancelled and we reverted to activities close to home.

Colin started a Duathlon training plan and so did lots of indoor cycling and structured running along with regular Body Pump and Body Balance. 

Coffee shops still open so most mornings popped out for a coffee at the quietest of the cafes available locally.

Crieff Hydro Weekend

 Colin, Cherry and Hannah headed off for 3 days in a cozy cottage at the Crieff Hydro. The cottage was fairly basic but adequate although the double bed was a bit small and hard.

We had dinner three nights at the Terrace restaurant which was pretty good. It was pretty busy but with reasonable levels of spacing. 

We had booked lots of fun activities. Colin & Cherry did an hour or archery and we all did Air Rifle Shooting, Segway and Laser Combat.

The weather was a bit rubbish unfortunately.

Nice to get a bit of change of scene as we don't expect to be going anywhere else this winter.

Cycle to Cardrona

 As my October adventure I set out on a two day cycle "adventure" from Edinburgh to Cardrona - just over 40 miles of riding each day. I deferred the start from the weekend to midweek in search of some reasonable weather.

First headed along the canal to Balerno where I had a coffee break of a takeaway coffee and sausage roll from Scotmid - no sit in cafe available. Then onwards into the Pentlands and over the Red Road and grassy descent down Monks Rig to Nine Mile Burn.

Then a nice back track to West Linton and another Scotmid break for a chicken sandwich again sitting outside. From there I picked up the Borders Drove Road which was a nice remote mix of trails and tracks into Peebles. Tea and Pain Au Chocolat before a final road circuit of Cademuir and on to Cardrona.

Squeezed in a very quick swim at the pool and enjoyed a really excellent dinner. They were very busy and short staffed by managed admirably. Oh - and they had a bike store and a hose to wash down the bike which was quite handy.

A nice vegetarian cooked breakfast the next day and a fairly early start in cold dull weather. Route home was via Granites and Cycle Route 1. This was a bit dull due to over familiarity, tiredness in the legs and too many cars driving too fast and close. 

Coffee stop wasn't until Eskbank where I got a MacDonalds coffee and then a Costa coffee and panini near Newcraighall.

Arrive home just after lunchtime. Day 1 was good due to interesting route with Day 2 a bit of a grind.

Munro Bagging near Bridge of Orchy

 Some stunning weather for 2 days of energetic walking in the hills. Up early for the drive North to just beyond Bridge of Orchy. The car park near Victoria Bridge was overflowing with lots of people taking to the outdoors as a result of CoVid. Walked up Stob a Choire Odhair and Stob Ghabhar in fine weather. These were very pleasant hills with quite a lot of path on the route.

Stayed the night at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. Expensive but nice and worth the little bit of luxury. Decent dinner and very good breakfast and all very CoVid safe and secure.

The next day I was able to get out early from the White Corries Ski Centre to tackle Meall a Bhuiridh and Creise. On route through Rannoch Moor mist was sitting on the frozen group creating a wonderful picture.

Moved at pretty high speed on the hills and feeling in pretty good physical shape. Another fabulous day.

Virtual Tour de France

For a bit of fun and to celebrate the race actually happening this year I plan to ride every day the Tour is riding doing a ride that reflects the nature and spirit of the actual tour.

The first two days were a nice opportunity on Saturday for a ride through our wonderful city doing 3 loops of the old town and Holyrood Park.

On Sunday I took the car out to Killin for a big loop in the mountains going past Ben Lawers on to Loch Lyon and over the hills to Glen Lochay. Weather wasn't as good as hoped but it was a nice challenging circuit.

Cruachan Munros

With a forecast of excellent weather all weekend it seemed like a good time for my first leisure day away from home in ages. An early start and a fairly easy drive up to the hill just beyond Dalmally. The roads were all surprisingly busy. Started the walk at around 11 am and just under 5 hours later had bagged 2 munros - Beinn a Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich.

Spend the night at the Tyndrum Inn before heading off early on Sunday to Cruachan Falls for a walk up to the reservoir and then a circuit of the horseshoe and two munro summits of Ben Cruachan and Stob Daimh. It was pretty rough going with some tricky sections on the high parts and on the descent from Cruachan.

East Lothian Bike Ride

With CoVid cases increasing a little in Scotland we are still staying close to home and staying safe. Lots of running and cycling in the local area.

Today was a long 45 mile slow paced cycle along the East Lothian coast and onwards to Haddington before taking an inland route home. A pleasant ride on the back of a hilly 13 mile run the day before.

Family Gathering

With Hannah back home for the summer Max came home from Glasgow for a long weekend with us. He has just resigned from his ScienceSoft job and will be starting with Spartan Systems soon. We headed out for a nice walk in the Pentlands on Saturday.

Pentlands in June

I set myself the goal in June of bagging as many summits as I could in the Pentlands. Managed to get out 3 times per week most weeks for a moderate length journey bagging summit big and small, well known and new to me. Managed 45 in total which was pretty much all the hills North or the Drove Road through West Linton.

Not a great photo but it is looking North from Mount Maw and includes pretty much all the terrain and peaks covered during the month.

Pentlands Run

I've been sticking very close to home for all my exercise during lockdown with lots of indoor Body Pump and Body Balance as well as some outdoor running and cycling.

This Sunday headed out for a longer session taking the bike to Swanston and then having a run/walk to Caerketton, Allermuir, Woodhouselee, Castlelaw, Harbour and Capelaw Hills. More fast walking than running but nice to be out in the wilds.

Lockdown Project 2 - Raspberry Supports

Study wooden posts and wire supports for raspberry canes.

Lockdown Projects - Vegetable Bed

With the lockdown providing lots of time for garden projects we built a third vegetable bed. Peas this year and sufficient beds for some crop rotation.