Fitness Is Relative

Ironically this was mostly written when I was Reasonably Fit. Currently I'm Reasonably Fat but attempting to reverse the tide!


Questions

These are meant to be very un-specific questions

How do you consider yourself to be compared to your friends?
How fit do you consider yourself to be compared to the general population?


Self Deprecating Fitness

I'm not Very Fit. Reasonably Fit perhaps, but not Very Fit. Really Fit is another country and getting a passport involves a lot of hard work. Mr/Mrs Really Fit does an Ironman triathlon in under 12 hours.

Some of this is typical British self-deprecation where blowing ones own trumpet is considered crass and generally bad manners. Any American style self promotion is generally viewed to be in "poor taste" and may be subject to a raised eyebrow or eye roll.

Exhibit A: Excerpt from a chat with a colleague who is a Cat 2 cyclist and races cyclocross, regularly placing well in the Three Peaks CX race. He is Very Fit.

him: "You'll be getting good at the cycling then?"
me: "Well I'm getting better but I'm not as fit as you."
him: "Me? I'm not that fit."
me: "Yes you are."
him: "Yeah but there are lots of people fitter than me."

[This is all part of the deal. I know him to be fitter than me and through this exchange we establish this order informally, using the playing down of our own abilities as acknowledgement of each others skills as an exchange of friendship. Anthropologists and psychologists have probably written many papers on such things. I'm neither so we'll leave it there.]

The last line is key, "...there are lots of people fitter than me." Fitness is relative.


It's everyone else's fault I'm so unfit

At the risk of violating the above principle of self-deprecation, taking the population of the UK as a reference, I'm most likely of above average fitness. I average about 5 hours of exercise a week with the cycle commute, general bike riding and a spot of fell jogging (not really running - self deprecation again). I've completed the Fellsman, a couple of 45 mile walks, a 6h 30m on the Yorkshire 3 peaks, occasional adventure racing, a triathlon, mountain marathons, etc. But I still don't think of myself as being Very Fit.

A big part of this is the company we keep. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances through running and climbing and cycling. If I was to judge my own fitness against theirs, I'd have to say I was average. Maybe I should start hanging out down at the local McDonalds to feel fitter?


There's more to it than just running up hills

What about the mental side of fitness? The part that keeps us pushing on when we'd much rather call it a day and sit down next to the fire with a slice of cake and a pint of tea?

Endurance events seem to have more than their fair share of people in the V40 and above category. There could be a number of explanations to this, but it still remains that you can still cut it, indeed get better, as you get older. I'm certainly hoping that this is the case as it means I haven't hit my prime yet!

I've certainly found myself to be more determined of mindset as I've got older. Some things that used to be important aren't as much and I am much more confident in myself and self reliant. I have a better appreciation of the signals that my body sends me and what they mean, where my limits are and the experience to know that a short bad spell will be over in a bit and then it will be business as usual.

Life toughens you up?

As we get older we are more aware of the finite time we have and, hopefully, we are encouraged more to enjoy it to the full. Are our forties the magic decade? Our children are less reliant on us, our careers are generally more settled, do we have less pressure than before?

I'm not there yet but I'll let you know what it's like when I do. I'd be interested to hear from my friends who are there about what they think.

My physio has, stencilled on the wall in their reception area, the motto "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever". Set against the scale of our lives, a little suffering during a fell race is a mere blip.

This is helped by the human brain's incapacity for remembering time. We can remember discrete events in a run for example, a rock, sweat, a view, out of breath, a good bit of trail but we can't relive the whole thing in real time when we remember it. It's a safety mechanism to enable us to actually function and not be stuck in loops of memories and remembering memories ad inifnitum in real time.

Similarly we can't remember pain. We can remember being in pain but we can't bring back that specific sensation. Bloody good job! Add some rose tinted spectacles and even the most horrific, Type 3 suffer fest has good memories associated with it. We can fool ourselves that it was actually fun!

Review: Alpkit Tau Rear Bike Light

I got fed up of swapping my Cateye TL-LD1100 between bikes as I only had one bracket. For the price of a new seatpost bracket it wasn't much more to buy another new light. I'd seen the Alpkit Tau rear lights available so thought I'd give one a go.

Tau Rear Light (image from Alpkit website)

Construction and Mounting

The light unit seems very well put together. No creaking or flexing when pressure is applied. You certainly feel like it could be dropped from a great height and survive.

It's smaller width is good, as the large width is my only complaint about my Cateye light; sometimes my thigh nudges it or presses the button depending on where it's mounted on my seatpost. The Tau has no such problems, tucking in nicely underneath the saddle. It is very unobtrusive.

The soft rubber back is grippy, reducing the risk of the light bouncing around meaning a lighter elastic band weight can be used. The rubber bands go on easily enough with their big pull tags. The quality of the rubber will be the determining factor in how long this light lasts I think. I'm tempted to take a needle file to the points on the side clips that the rubber band engages with to prevent any sharp edges from fretting the rubber bands.

Charging is achieved via a Micro USB port hidden behind a rubber flap. This seems to engage OK and would be held in place and partly shielded by the bike frame or seatpost it is mounted to so I'm not too concerned about water ingress. I'd take it off the bike if I was washing it but I'd do that for any of my lights.

As the owner of a Koala seat pack, I would have preferred a method of mounting the Tau to a webbing strap, maybe a clip or some slots in the body of the light, to enable easy mounting to bike packing luggage. The small elastic band doesn't seem to hold the light steadily on a strap and I worry a bit about it falling off.is a bit small for it. More thought required, perhaps there is a way and I just haven't come across it yet. In the meantime I'll keep the Tau mounted to my seat stay, even though the angle isn't perfect.


Weight

I think its a good job it is so light given that the length of the charging cable supplied means that it invariably dangles in mid air from whatever charging port you are using on your PC or adaptor. However, Micro USB adaptors are now the standard for charging phones so everyone is bound to have a lead already plugged into a charger lying spare.


Light Output and Modes

Performance of the Chip On Board (COB) LED module is good with very little observable change in brightness over a 90º arc. One complaint I have with some rear lights is the focusing of the beam with a lens results in a high peak brightness but out of angle it isn't so good. The Tau overcomes this well. The spread of light is such that I can easily check that the light is still on just with a brief glance down at where it is mounted. No more holding my hand in front of the light to see the reflected glow! I think this would be an excellent light for urban commutes with traffic coming from all angles being able to see you.

Brightness is OK on low but on high it is really very bright. The stated 3 hour runtime in this mode would put me off using it unless conditions were bad or traffic particularly heavy. The "pulse flashing" mode is more of a steady throb and doesn't immediately catch the eye. Unlike the 6Hz flashing mode which is really eye catching and is my preference for the road. Especially good considering the quoted 18 hour runtime - that's enough for a couple of weeks of commuting and a long ride.


Charging

It has a micro USB, charges from my phone charger in hardly any time at all (note I haven't timed it). That's it!


Out and About

As mentioned above it is very bright and with a good arc of light and seems to last a long time which will be good as the Li-Ion battery capacity decays with time as they always do. I've recommended the Tau to a couple friends looking for bike lights.


Overall

Brightness, viewing angle and build quality are good.
At £12 including postage I think it represents a very good value rear bike light.


Additional

I bought a couple of the front lights which are excellent as "see me!" lights and have now fitted a front and a rear to all the bikes in the fleet.

Fork Service.

After damaging my freehub in the Lakes I thought I'd take the opportunity to strip my coil fork down and give it a good service as it was sticky, rattly and squeaky - all the things a fork should not be. Thankfully, Rock Shox provide a pretty detailed service manual for it. Also thankfully it's a very basic coil fork so there's not a lot to go wrong and not a lot to service.

Stripping it down took a couple of hammer blows on the bolts on the bottom of the fork legs to persuade the lower legs to part company from the stanchions. Once they were apart it was fairly easy to see that there was no grease or oil remaining in either of the legs.

I stripped the spring out and also the damper, emptying the oil into the jar of bike related old fluids that now resembles the rhubarb gin our neighbour gave us. It has a cheeky nose with a hint of apples and engine oil. A bit young, could do with laying down for, say, 35 years until it's past it's half life.

Everything was cleaned and re-greased with SRAM Butter supplied promptly and efficiently by the folks at Bikegoo (along with some 5wt and 15wt suspension fluid) and reassembled. I used a bamboo cane with tape around it to get the right fluid level in the damper leg and my set of baking measuring spoons from the kitchen to get the right volume of oil in the bottom of the damper leg. Improvisation is our watchword!

The fork in the work vice, just after filling the damper leg bottom with oil

All in all, it took a couple of hours to take the fork off the bike, strip, clean and reassemble it.

Best of all, it's now like a new fork! It sags gently when I sit on the bike and bobs gently with pedalling. Taking it down through the old Riddlesden golf course it ate up all the bumps and more. It has also delayed my decision to change to a better air fork now it has some new life back in it. I should have done it sooner and it will certainly be on the regular servicing list in future. Happy bike fixing times :)

Lakes MTB: A Grind Around Grizedale and Some Pass Bashing (Got Bashed)

Grizedale Grinder
https://www.strava.com/activities/611139988

It would be rude to go to the Lakes and not take in a bit of the fantastic biking to be had in the region. Spending a bit of quality mini-moon time with The Wife (need to get used to saying that!) meant heading over to Grizedale for a potter around the fire-roads with the odd excursion onto the red trail singletracks.

Of the bits that we did there was nothing massively challenging although Louise was surprised by a step down in the boardwalk at one point causing her to utter a naughty word before falling, very gracefully, into a tree. A slightly scraped arm was the only damage.

Tis but a scratch!

They'd been doing some logging so we did get some nice views down across Coniston Water and up to Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag allowing us to trace the route of a walk we did a few winters ago over Wetherlam way.

View good. Malt loaf also good.

We were startled at this point by what looked like a bloody big hornet, causing us to head off in short order. Later research led us to finding out it was in fact a Great Wood Wasp and is in fact entirely harmless. Phew!

The threat of rain meant we headed back early instead of exploring some of the sculpture trails in the area. I think I prefer the Blue single track at Whinlatter, the fire roads are a bit boring to be honest even though the views are much better.


Pass Bashing (Got Bashed)
https://www.strava.com/activities/611937823

Last day of the holiday and Louise wanted to see the Beatrix Potter house in Near Sawrey and to catch up with a family friend. I'm not National Trust Man yet as my beige elasticated waist corduroy trousers haven't arrived from my tailors (soon, soon) so sooner than part from the mountains my love, I went for a bike ride instead.

A short sharp rocky climb on tired legs out of Ambleside up to the top of Jenkin Crag was rewarded with some pleasant views over Windermere and Bowness.

View from Jenkin Crag

The track contoured around the hillside, maintaining the view over Windermere until I dropped sharply into Troutbeck village down a slightly rocky but fun bridleway. A short road section led to the bottom of Dubbs Road and the long steady climb up Garburn Pass.

Garburn Road Climb

This got steeper and looser the nearer I got to the top, requiring the odd pause for lungs and legs to recover, before it finally flattened out. Food stop!

Top of Garburn Pass. The joys of the descent were to follow!

The descent from here was brutal. Despite dropping the seat to its minimum height and hanging my arse off the back of the bike I struggled to keep the bike pointing in the direction I wanted to go. A bike with a slacker head angle, better suspension and wider bars would have made life easier. So would being a bit stronger in the upper body, too much champagne and fine dining this week obviously. I now know how the ball in a pinball machine feels!

Down into Kentmere and then out again on High Lane heading for the next pass and the descent to Sadgill in Longsleddale. Another rocky climb but not quite as steep which was good as my legs were beginning to struggle. The descent wasn't as rocky as Garburn but made up for it in steepness. More hanging the arse off the back of the bike to remain in some semblance of control.

The exploratory climb up Gatesgarth Pass was too much to hope for as far as my legs were concerned so I bailed just at the start of the steep bit and turned around.

Don't be sad, Sadgill. you are lovely.

Time was running low, I was hungry and my freewheel had started making a clunk every revolution. Time to head back down Longsleddale to Staveley for a well deserved feed at the lovely Wilf's Cafe (lentil and black bean bake with sundried tomatoes and olives, a coffee and a big slice of chocolate cake since you asked) and good old browse at Wheelbase.

Nice waterfalls at Garnett Bridge

I bought a couple of Lakes MTB guidebooks in the bike shop and was slightly pleased to see that the route I'd taken gets a "very hard" rating in the book for the descent of the two passes I'd done. I'll come back when I'm fitter and better and smash it out properly next time. The broken freehub has been replaced and I'm servicing my fork ready for round 2!

Cote Gill and Mastiles Lane

Tuesday rolls around, the forecast is nice and the trails and bridleways of the Dales are calling. Karl is otherwise indisposed (house hunting) so an early off from work sees me rolling out of the car park near Malham Tarn for what the (excellent) South Dales guide book lists as it's first Classic ride - Cote Gill and Mastiles Lane. Admittedly I'm doing it from the Malham side and not Kilnsey but there's the same amount of up believe me!

On the way up to the top of the hill

It's a steady climb up to Cote Gill top on grassy track. Nothing technical or muddy, just sit and spin and enjoy the views, the sheep staring at the intruder, the purple and yellow flowers making the most of the sun, curlews barracking you from the skies and oystercatchers and lapwings zooming around overhead. And the brutal headwind that reduced me to the granny ring for much of the climb!

About to head down Cote Gill

Over the top and a long steady descent with Cote Gill on the right. I was somewhat disappointed to not get a good view down into the gill from the trail. I must come back for a walk up it at some point, perhaps on a roasting summers day where is northerly aspect might offer respite from the sun and make for a nice cooling gorge scramble.

Before I knew it I was down in the very quiet and pleasant valley of Littondale, with my knobbly tires on freshly laid tarmac making me sound like a swarm of disgruntled wasps as I rolled down towards the main road and on to Kilnsey.

Littondale

There were plenty of climbers on Kilnsey crag but too far away for any of my photos to do them justice. Lots of lurking at the bottom in down jackets, one chap redpointing a route with an inventive heel hook rest on a ledge and someone else top roping a pale patch of limestone on the left of the crag. A good evening for it.

Turning right at the Tennants Arms I pulled in on a grassy bank, pulled on my jacket which smelled of ripe banana, ate the aforementioned fruit item and the standard cheese/marmite bagel, enjoying being out of the breeze for a moment. A man in a white car drives past, opens his door, a dog jumps out and then runs up the road with the man following behind. Most people use feet and, you know, a lead when walking their dog, not a mid price Japanese saloon car...

Up a short tarmac climb and the long climb of Mastiles Lane hove into view, extending up into the darkness of a cloud shadow looking ever so slightly foreboding. To the Granny Ring Batman!

Mastiles Lane

Not a bad climb really, steep but mostly fairly easy to pick a good line along the edges. The hardest bit was the slightly looser and rockier steep section at the top where my front wheel was feeling light and a bit of zig zagging over the width of the trail was required. The climb up Rooley Moor on the Mary Towneley Loop was much harder with it's unavoidable fist sized rocks ready to send you off in interesting new directions like pinball bumpers in slow motion.

At the top of the steep part, I paused to cough up a lung or two, noting the lack of really hard exercise of late. Now that work has calmed down a little, the dial registering "busy" instead of "frantic", I hope to he stretching my legs a bit more.

A good climb.

The ride back towards Malham along the top of Mastiles Lane was great. Fast rolling grass, the odd depression in the trail to pump the bike into for a bit more speed, middle ring riding all the way scattering sheep and skylarks. Well worth the climb up.

Fingerpost, Street Gate, Malham Tarn

I wasn't ready to pack up yet, so I headed for a quick loop around Malham Tarn, surprising groups of blindfolded children on a "team building" exercise from the field centre with dings of the bike bell.

They have a problem with spiders at the Field Centre...

A quick whip back along the road, back to the car and then off in search of chips...

First Ride With The Boy

I've been wanting to take my son out for a bike ride for a while now, but merely wanting something does not make it happen. It was a kids weekend so I spoke to their mum about taking Ben out his bike (which lives at hers) and thankfully she agreed.

So, for a nice easy first ride, we parked up at Farnhill and rode down the canal towpath to Skipton in the sunshine.

He loved it, and it was a nice man and boy moment riding along together. It's the first time he's been on his bike further than the end of his street so the feeling of exploration was ever present in his new environment. Also, he was putting the hammer down on the flat stretches and enjoying moving fast, I struggled to keep up (or at least pretended to).

We reached Skipton sooner than I thought and enjoyed a really good chocolate ice cream from the Tug Boat Ice Cream canal boat. Most of it ended up in my moustache.

Me and my mini me

We were back at the car before we knew it, Ben sailed past the turn off to the car and had to be called back. He insisted on riding around the car park a few times before letting me put his car back in the boot! I'm glad he enjoyed himself.

One of my more distinct memories from my youth was going on a bike ride from Huddersfield to Marsden along the Leeds-Liverpool canal towpath with my Dad and brother. Now, I feel like I've been present at an similar notable moment in my son's life and hopefully given him a lasting memory. Here's to many more rides to come.

Team Spinach Ride Again: Open 5, Todmorden, March 2016

This weekend saw the last race in this winters Open 5 Adventure Race series, this time based out of Todmorden. Practically next door compared to other venues like North Wales and the Lakes. Emma was free that weekend we set the controls to Team Spinach!

Go team :-P tired but happy faces after the long run back!

Photo courtesy of Open Adventure.

Check out the rest of the (really good!) photos here, it really gives a great idea what it's like to take part in one of these events!

There had been a dusting of snow on the high tops overnight, which made for a nice drive over the moors, and a cloud inversion over Hebden Bridge as we descended.

We arrived in plenty of time so after a tea, a study of the map, getting ready, locating the car key, wheeling over to transition we had about 10 minutes left to get started.


Bike Stage

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy and our bike plan of not taking in the large obvious loop eventually went out of the window. We picked up the Mary Towneley Loop near Rodmer Clough and rode all the way round anti clockwise to Long Causeway. It looked slightly different going the other way from my previous expedition but some bits were very familiar. This is the first time I've ever had anything approaching local knowledge on an Open 5 event and it was welcomed!

It was a glorious day, blue sky, deep blue reservoirs, beautiful moorland colours, lapwings dancing overhead, nice riding temperature. Perfect. We both appreciated the bit of head space that this segment of ride provided.

Clever Google stitched this panorama without being asked!

Everyone coming the other way at Widdop res were telling us that control 24 wasn't to be found but we stopped for a look anyway.

Is it here? Or perhaps it is here? No?

But it didn't matter, we had a great ride over all different kinds of surfaces from fast bridleway, muddy steep descents, rocky climbs, bits of road and rutted stone sets. Definitely a good day to be out and about. We were also glad to not find the permissive bridleway that dropped down to the back of Cant Clough reservoir, it sounded like a right old miserable mud fest! Going the long way round worked out pretty well.

It wasn't long before we picked up on a bit of trail I recognised from the Haworth Hobble and we were bombing back down into Todmorden and back to the school. Emma is a good rider and I can just about keep up with her on the descents. A longer than preferred bike ride at around 3h 45m and 24 miles but crucially we had fun and sometimes that is what matters.

https://www.strava.com/activities/541288240


Run Stage

I refuelled with lots of water in transition as I'd dropped my water bottle on a bumpy bit of bridleway and lost the contents. We knew we didn't have time for many controls on the run so just went for the nearest ones, slogging up the wooded cliff (hill seems too kind) behind the school to pick up a couple of high points value controls.

I caaaan seeee myyyyy biiiiike froooooom heeeerrrreee!

We had one wrong turn on an overgrown path before we put ourselves right. Bumped into an ex colleague, Dave W, at this point who was racing. He let us photo his control description sheet as I'd lost mine on the bike ride and Emma left hers in transition. Ooops!

It was a right slog up this hill...

We picked up another well hidden control affixed to a railway bridge; the lack of the usual red/white warning tape that is normally affixed to the controls made a big difference in ease of locating them! Then the short steep climb up to Rake End where a marshal was stood holding the control for us to dib before hammering it back down the hill for one last control near a farm. At this point we knew we were going to be late back, the question was, how late?

Flying totally by instinct, I led us wiggling and winding down steps and snickets, mostly guessing what seemed like the best path through the Salford area of Tod, dropping us out by the Golden Lion pub on the canal.

We belted it back along the main road; I haven't run that hard for a while and was only just keeping going, Emma not far behind, with the finish in sight. The event clock was pointed away from us. Did we make it back in time?

The faces say it all.

https://www.strava.com/activities/541288051



Fin

We dibbed into the finish just three minutes late dropping 6 points, not bad considering I was expecting to be at least 10 minutes late. A couple who were descending from our next to last control turned up about 5 minutes after us with a puzzled "didn't we..." "how did you get back so quick?"

Downloaded, 384 points scored, happy with that! Should put us in the top half for the mixed pairs, I thought. Got changed, acquired a well needed cuppa and wandered in to the hall to catch the end of the prize giving.

We were pleased to have made 4th place in the mixed pairs but the scores from the lead guys and girls was really impressive, they must have cleaned up the entire course!

Also the prizes were being given out for the series with some very deserved wins. Even though the came second on the day by a whisker I was glad to see Rosemary (check out her blog) and Lucy win the Female pairs overall. We chatted with Lucy afterwards and said congrats. It never ceases to amaze me how many people in the AR community that Emma knows and that know her!


Postscript

One shower later and I took the lovely Louise out for a tasty curry to celebrate a good race result and her having a successful wedding fair earlier that day. We were very hungry!

Short Stem

Shortcrust, Short Selling, Short Stuff, Short Stem

My Cube Analog 29er "Herman" is a fairly basic MTB with a geometry (e.g. 70 degree head angle) that suggests it is aimed at cross country (XC) and easier trails. With a 700mm bar and a 90mm stem as stock it is a very stable bike to ride. I've had it (slowly) round the red trail at Gisburn and, with the seat dropped down a bit, it's quite capable of handling terrain I wouldn't have expected it to. Indeed, the fat fleshy bit pushing the pedals is often the limiting factor.

A lot has been written about running a short stem and wide bars on a mountain bike. The idea being that it improves the steering speed and allows the rider's weight to be moved back further when descending. It should also make lifting the front wheel on trails easier, something I've struggled with in the past.

I thought I'd make a large enough change to the geometry that even a lump like me might stand a chance of noticing a difference. So the 90mm Cube stem has been swapped for a 50mm On-One "Hot Box" part cos it was the cheapest 50mm stem available at the time.


First Thoughts

This isn't a scientific A-B comparison as I haven't ridden Herman for a couple of weeks as I've been commuting on the Croix. However the bike seems to feel lighter of steering and I amused myself by slaloming between the gaps in the white lines whilst going up the road.

Along the track to the golf course it seemed to feel a bit more composed on the rougher sections and on the Golf Course Flyer segment on Strava it felt quite stable, even going straight down the middle of the rocky bit. Perhaps this is due to my hands being more in line with the line of the shocks rather than being offset.

Slightly more precise of steering perhaps?

Front wheel lifts seem a bit easier judging by my experiments on a flat road.

I'm looking forward to doing some of the usual routes with this change and seeing if there really is a difference.

Open 5 Adventure Race - North Wales - Dec 2015

6am alarm on a Sunday after entertaining dinner party guests until late. Urgh.
-2C on the car thermometer. Brrrr.Scraping ice from the outside and inside of the windscreen. Meh.
Even Bernard doesn't want to start this morning, coughing once before his diesel engine grumbles into life. Don't blame you mate.
Who decided this was a good idea? I did? Oh... OK then.

After doing two races in the Open 5 series last year I was keen to do more. This weekends event was in North Wales, not too far from Mold near Chester. This passed the crucial test of time spent travelling should be less than the time spent racing. However for these events I'd make an exception because they are invariably well run and great fun.

HQ was at an outdoor events centre where I was pleased to see my ex colleague, ace orienteer and general top chap Dave W manning the desk. Having called in to see him only a month back we didn't have much to catch up on this time. I filled in my form, paid my entry fee and went to get the bike ready. The start was a short 2 mile cycle away but with solo runners supposed to start before 0930 I needed to get a shuffle on to get there at a reasonable time.

Open 5 Top Tip: Write your start time on one corner of the map. It makes working out your remaining time easier.

Open 5 Top Tip: If you pack your map board, remember to pack some elastic bands or bulldog clips to hold your map on. You idiot.

I hadn't had much time to study the map before setting off so, after hastily scribbling the scores for each control on the map, had a brief think about route. I could see a nice loop taking in both sides of Moel Famau but wanted to pick the easiest way up. Track or unknown surface? Track it is!

MTB

I started off with a decent value few roadside controls before starting the climb up a muddy bridleway and onto the track up the side of the hill. The riding was varied, sometimes rocky, sometimes very steep, but predominantly muddy! There were several times where I was riding along at a jaunty angle because my rear wheel had stepped out of line in the gloopy goo. The descent from Moel Dywyll to Fron-Haul was fast, interesting and brilliant with some really cool banked corners leaving me with a big grin.

Shaka = ride loose bro   8-)

I should have gone back up the same way as the steep grassy hill (with accompanying headwind) that I ended up pushing up possibly wasn't the best route choice. Winding my way through the network of tracks I enchained the last few controls (once I figured out which stream crossing and which tree) and back to the finish in a shade over 3 hours - so far so good. Both of my derailleurs were covered in clag and not working very well and my feet were freeeeeeeeezing!

Transition

Chop chop!
In.
Swap shoes.
Eat salted caramel chocolate shortbread (nice).
Point out to other competitor that he's still got his helmet on and he's going about to start running.
Realise I'm still wearing my helmet and about to start running.
Take off helmet.Swap jacket for one that isn't saturated with drizzle and sweat.
Exit transition.

Er... where am I going? Oooh I know, look at map!


Run

My legs were feeling it from the bike most of the way up the first hill. I found a bagel in my bag (cheese and marmite!) and also found my stride. The gradient was such that I could walk faster than I could run. There was a tempting control halfway down the hill which meant losing height then having to gain it back. It didn't take that long but I did overcook it on the climb back up to the path so had to pace myself for a bit. Onwards to the misty summit of Moel Famau and the control inside the foggy Jubilee Tower.

Jubilee Tower - damp, cold, windy

Even the trig points needed wrapping up to keep warm

This is where I cocked up, possibly a bit down on sugar and a bit out of puff from the ascent. Not paying enough attention I took off down the wrong path from the summit. It was only when the countours stopped fitting the map. By that point I'd descended about 50m from the summit so had to countour round to pick up the right path. Stupid mistake and carrying on for the control compounded the error when I should have just abandoned it and headed back. This cost me later as we shall see.

The ridge line appears through the clouds

I descended the ridge, making up for my earlier mistake by picking a spot on line to the next control, dropping in almost right on top of it. I realised at this point that it was going to be tight to get back in time so I put the hammer down. This is difficult to do when you've got no hammer left in your legs but I tried my best. There were two more 20 point controls on the way back in that I beeped but by this time the bounce had gone from my bungee.

The thousand yard stare as I finish the run, totally depleted. I must be able to see my chocolate.

I knew I was late but I thought I'd squeaked in under 10 minutes. Pulled on my super warm Buffalo top and my cold wet shoes :-( and gently pedalled the two miles back to the event centre, muddy shoes swinging from my rucksack strap.


Results

I downloaded by results from my dibber and was both pleased and annoyed. Pleased that I'd scored my best score so far on an Open 5 (410 points) but annoyed that I'd lost 35 points for being late. 445 points would have been a really good score.

I consoled myself with an excellent veggie chilli jacket potato and lots of stuff from the salad bar, the catering staff at the outdoor centre having done a cracking job of feeding everyone up. The usual faces were on the podium, nice to see Rosemary and Lucy winning the female pairs again.

And as usual I didn't win anything in the raffle!

I checked the scores the next day and was super chuffed to find I was in 12th of 31 place in the Male Solo category and 26/73 overall. I managed to hit my target of a top 15 finish in this series in the solos in the first race. What's slightly galling is that had I not bothered with the control I got mildly lost on then I would have had a top 10 finish, that would have been some achievement! I guess all the mountain biking I've done this year has helped.

Apart from that nav mistake and coming back slightly late I was hapy with my performance. I thought I made good route choices for the most part and my fitness is definitely better. Cut out the silly nav mistakes and more consistent fuelling next time!

Strava MTB

Strava Run

Kudos to the offical event photographer who got some great shots of the day. Check them out on the Open Adventure Facebook page.

Also kudos to Open Adventure for organising another great event.

Friday Night Bikepacking Microadventure

My rucksack has oft been me pillow
The heather has oft been me bed
And sooner than part from the mountains
I think I would rather be dead

Ewan MacColl "Manchester Rambler"

Unlike Ewan, I've been faking it for years. I'm not a proper outdoorsman because I've never bivvied out. Never slept under the stars, just in a tent. Bit of a fraud really.

So to celebrate a good year of cycling, having clocked up nearly 2000 miles this year, I decided to break my bivvying duck, load up the mountain bike, head out after work on Friday night and do some some overnight bikepacking. There was a favourable forecast for the evening and, with autumn in full swing, night time temperatures were only going to fall. It was go tonight or wait another year, so...


Inspiration

I've been inspired by a chap I know on Strava via the Triban Owners group, called Dave Roe, who has a good line in epic cycle touring adventures including cycling round Iceland and a retirement ride from Turkey back home to Fleetwood near Blackpool. Reading his trip report about his culinary adventures, battles with mosquitos and joys of summiting the Stelvio Pass made me want to load up my bike and head off myself.

Another source of inspiration is adventurer Alastair Humphreys whose undertakings include cycling around the world, canoeing the Yukon river and hiking the 118 miles around the M25. Adventures of this scope don't sit with the 9-5, 5 day week that we all seem to end up with. Alastair works hard publicising the concept of the "microadventure" - something that is challenging yet accessible.


You do not need to fly to the other side of the planet to do an expedition.
You do not need to be an elite athlete, expertly trained, or rich to have an adventure.
Adventure is only a state of mind.
Adventure is stretching yourself; mentally, physically or culturally. It is about doing what you do not normally do, pushing yourself hard and doing it to the best of your ability.

Alastair Humphreys "The Credit Crunch Expeditions"

We run a system of "Adventure Points" in our house. This is a way of encouraging the nippers to push themselves and try things that they wouldn't normally. For the promise of a chalk mark on a board? Pfft... Kids are mugs.

Still in the lead suckas!

It's a sliding scale. For example the kids get an adventure point for going camping or walking up a big (for them) hill. I have to go for a long walk or do a whole load of winter mountaineering to get just one. Because adventures are relative. Anyway, I need to stay one step ahead of the mob so lets go get another point!

For the promise of a chalk mark on a board? Pfft... mug!


Gearing Up

I'm a big fan of Alpkit gear - it ticks the boxes of light, simple, cheap and effective. They love their lightweight adventuring and bikepacking and have some great stuff for adventures. I used an Airlok Xtra drybag strapped to my handlebars with my sleeping stuff and jacket in and my faithful everyday commuting Gourdon rucksack for everything else. There's a Fuel Pod for my bar light battery and some tools too.

Other gear of note includes my PHD Minimus sleeping bag which weighs nothing and packs down to a ridiculously small size and is super warm. A pair of £5 fleece trousers that are the warmest thing known to man were stuffed in the bottom or the pack. Lastly, a big numb foam mat was strapped to my pack, rather spoiling the look of the whole thing...

I've used the website Lighterpack which is great for visualising just where the weight you are carrying is.

 Herman in the bike rack at work, ready to go!

The red dry bag and top tube bag are colour coded with the bike fork and frame details. I'm not sure what this says about me.



Adventures!

I picked my way over the tops on quiet lanes and crossing busy main roads to reach the foot of the track that goes over Barden and Embsay Moor. I've ridden this a couple of times with Karl but always in the other direction. A long steady climb with some nice views over Upper and Lower Barden reservoirs in the fading light. I stopped to eat a banana and shelter from the wind in a shooting butt by the track, feeling a little chilly in my base layer and windproof.

It started to drizzle as the dark arrived quickly (as is it's wont at this time of year) and I got quite cold on the descent into Rylstone. I had to have a cereal bar (trying some from Aldi, yum!) and a word with myself before starting the long climb to Weets Top above Malham. I reasoned that I'd come this far and I had all my stuff with me so it would be a shame to bail out now just because I was having a bit of a sugar low.

As with all low times, they pass and you get back into the rhythm again. The climb up to Weets was grassy and steady and not too hard to follow in the dark. The rain had abated and the wind had died down allowing me to warm up a bit. I was tired at the top but still abandoned the bike to hike over to the trig point for a sit down and a another cereal bar.

Down the track and road, past Goredale Scar and into Malham by front brake pads had decided that they were worn out and the spring was rubbing on the disc with a nice ticketty-ticketty-ticketty noise. I considered stopping to replace the pads (always carry spares kids!) but that would have meant getting colder so I pressed on, mostly using the back brake for the rest of the ride.

There was a little bridleway leading out of Malham that joined up with the road above the cove. I started down it but the fist sized limestone rocks that lined the bottom put me off as I was too tired to fight / push my way up a more technical trail so I just slogged up the road. I'd been on the go for 3 1/2 hours now and was starting to struggle.

The cove road out of Malham nearly finished me off so I stopped to shovel a load of fruit, nuts and oatcakes down my neck when I reached the bridleway turnoff. I started to feel a bit better after this, should have done it sooner.

I cracked on, slowly winding my way up and over Kirkby Fell and towards Stockdale Lane, reeling the summit in with my bottom gear and wobbly legs. The slippery, stony descent without a front brake or any energy was testing at times. I was very relieved to make the farm track and whiz down to the road.

Quite a challenging ride for me, especially with low energy and in the dark. Time to find somewhere to eat and sleep in that order!

Strava log



Bish Bosh Brew Bivvy

I'd had a look at the OS map before setting off and had spotted a couple of places that could be suitable. After a bit of poking around in a small wood with a stream running through it I found a nice flat spot next to a stream and underneath the remains of what looked like an old lime kiln. Nice and sheltered from the breeze, it even had a mobile signal so I could check in with Louise to let her know I hadn't yet been eaten by a curious badger.

After shooing some spiders out of the way and pulling on some warm clothes I got the stove on and climbed into my bivvy / sleeping bag. It was 10pm at this point and I was bloody starving! A mug of hot chocolate went down the hatch followed quickly by a couple of packets of meatballs in tomato sauce and a medicinal single malt - to keep the cold out you understand...

I was certainly warm enough in my awesome PHD sleeping bag and I drifted off to sleep looking up through the leaves, watching the Pleiades drift in and out of view behind the clouds and the odd plane blinking along.

I woke up at various times, once with a start when something flew down my neck, once for no reason and once when a pair of Tawny owls were hooting at each other and crashing through the foliage 5 metres above my head.

The next thing I know, my eyes are open and it's half seven and daylight. Good morning!

I'd certainly found a nice spot to camp, the leaves were all different colours and shades and it was all generally picture-skew.

I'd made a bag of muesli, milk powder, dried raspberry powder and sultanas for breakfast. Add hot water and away you go - yum - and more hot chocolate. Packed up, changed the brake pads on the bike (I was down to the metal) and rode down the hill into Settle. It was a lovely morning!

Arriving in plenty of time for the train I took the chance to get the worst of the muck off in the loos at Settle station, for my benefit and for my fellow passengers. The train was late coming in to Skipton meaning I missed my connection to Keighley so I pottered down the canal instead, enjoying the ride , the lack of hills, a couple of herons and a bacon butty from the tea van at Cononley. The butty was from the van, the herons were just bothering the fish on the canal and not in a sandwich. No sir.

Adventures are great, mountain biking is great, wild camping was great, but none as great as the shower I had when I got back home. Phew-wee I stank!