Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay 2015

Prelude in E(xcuces)

I haven't run for a long time, around four and a half months. The excuses are many and varied.

In the aftermath of the Fellsman my heels were very bruised and putting on my running shoes (in fact any shoes) was uncomfortable. A such, I was unable to capitalise on post-Fellsman fitness despite managing a run commute to work over the moors. Then I hurt my knee again by not doing my physio excercises and playing volleyball with nothing in the way of a warm up which set my back a few weeks. Then work got suddenly very busy and I was working 8-9 hour days for a few weeks. It's also been easier to put more cycling in than running with cycling to work every day.

etc etc and so on. Everyone has their own excuses, no one wants to hear mine.

Suddenly a wild post appears on the KCAC Facebook page from our fell captain JP (he got to the nickname first in the running club and it still causes me to double take) calling for runners to take part in the Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay. I decided to put my name down as the highly enjoyable Open 5 adventure race season is starting soon and I felt this event would be the perfect re-entry into fell running.

The IHMR is a memorial race for a top class fell runner who died in the 80s after being knocked off his bicycle. All the big fell racing teams from the lakes are there - Ambleside, Borrowdale, Keswick as well as some of our local friends from Bingley and Calder Valley. Effectively it's a national competition with a lot of strong teams. And me.

Of course with a combination of crazy work and my first cold in a year meant my training was... sub optimal. I just hoped that my cycling fitness would get me round...


Race Day

I got a lift up with my Fraser and Lorna who was my running-mate for Leg 1. Lorna was quite travel sick on the way up and yet still managed to boss her way around the leg. If I'd have been in her state I wouldn't have been able to get out of the car, never mind up a hill - she's twice the man I am ;)

JP gave us our numbers, we chatted briefly to Ian Holmes (not many sports where you hang out with the ex-national champion pre race) and faffed around long enough to make it to the back of the start group on time.

"and-stick-to-the-path-through-the-field-don't-cut-across-the-grass-3-2-1-go!" - race organiser

Keen to make a good start, the field all set off like it was a 100m race. We settled into a steady pace about 2/3 of the way down the pack, making steady progress from Patterdale up to Boredale Hause, gradually reeling in a few pairs.

The weather was being kind to us - light cloud cover, low wind, dry underfoot, a good running temperature.

We eventually crested the hill and belted down the fun-runnable track to Angle Tarn and our first CP. The view was great and I was immediately reminded why I like fell running so much!

Thanks to some advice from a Bingley runner, we picked a good line on the approach to the main descent - a steep 45° grassy slope that was almost as easy to slide down as run down with a fantastic view towards the nose of Grey Crag.

We dibbed again at the bottom of this hill and then thundered down the track. My legs felt shot by this point, the pace so far and the lack of training really starting to kick in. I just grimaced, not even enough time to wipe the sweat, spit and snot (mmm....) from my face and tried desperately to keep up with Lorna to the finish line.

Finish

"COME ON PAUL, LAST 200!!!! COME ON!" - One shouty Tring runner to the other. Poor Paul.

"Well done Paul!" - supportive Lorna to poor Paul.

The runners were scattering walkers and marshals from the path as we belted down to the finish to frantically dib and pass the baton on to Dave and Paul for leg 2 who set off like men possessed.

We got spot kit checked by one of the marshals (who'd all done a great job as is pretty much always with fell races) so it's a good job Fraser had lent me his hat and gloves as I'd forgotten mine - that's how out of practice I am!

We chatted briefly to Caren who was on logistics duty before trotting slowly off down the bridleway back to the start chatting about fruit picking and analysing the leg. We passed a few of those lumbering behemoths of the countryside (D of E-ers) and a few walkers before arriving back at the start.

We were 54/70 on our leg taking 54:02 in total which we were quite happy about. We finished the relay overall in 57th place in 5:16:25, half an hour quicker than last year. Given that this was a national competition with most teams fielding their best runners we didn't feel too bad about our performance! Well done to the rest of the team Dave + Paul, JP + Owen and Gary + Richard.

The overall winners were Borrowdale in 3:34:53 - quite a difference. Those guys are fast.


R+R

The smell of bacon wafting from the tea tent was too much so a cup of tea and a bacon and egg sandwich were definitely in order. I had to drink my egg immediately to stop it going everywhere - perfect!

I had to have a second helping of cake - it was as big as a hill!

Fraser had gone for a loop on his bike down Kirkstone Pass and back up the Struggle and once he was back we headed off for home. All that fresh air and exercise had me puffed out and I slept in the back of the van from Windermere to Settle.

I woke up just in time to guide us in to stop at one of the best shops in the world - the Courtyard Dairy - so that I could stock up on Sparkenhoe Red Leicester - my favourite cheese that has been gracing my sandwiches this week :)


Post Mortem

My legs really hurt. Ouch ouch ow. Going to the KCAC social from the White Lion in Kildwick tonight to say hello to the pinnacle and try and work out some of the knots.

It's had the desired effect of getting me back into running. Thanks to t'other JP for the place in the team.



Overall results
https://www.sportident.co.uk/event_results.php?id=2015262

Ben Mounsey's blog of the day
https://benmounsey.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/purple-patch/

Strava log
https://www.strava.com/activities/406161763

Autumn is here! :D

My favourite time of the year is here.

Nights drawing in meaning it is time to break out the headtorch and the big light for the mountain bike.

Foggy mornings burning off into warm clear days.

Fruit on the trees begging to be made into nice things.

Yellow, gold and red starting to appear on the trees too.

Magic.

MeepFest Games Festival 2015, Left Bank, Leeds

Jack, who organises our gaming club Keighley Table Top Combat, told us about this board games festival happening at Left Bank Leeds, a former church in Hyde Park. There were going to be loads of free games to try and play, a Netrunner tournament, bar, awesome food... what are we waiting for?

Jack, Luke and I arranged to meet on the train and head over together. Transport logistics was spot on and we arrived at the venue for the start with a few games already going on.

The "Big Pile Of Games" really did exist!

So we grabbed a brew and went to look for games!


Apples To Apples

Best described as a polite version of Cards Against Humanity. One person takes a green card with a word on it and then everyone else submits a red card from their hand that best matches the green card. Laura the lovely event organiser was running this demo.

New Labour. Definitely tame.

This is the sort of game you could play at a dinner party as a bit of an icebreaker. No rules and you get to find out a bit more about your opponents, sorry, guests! We just need to get a set and have more dinner parties. Maybe wait until everyone gets drunk before getting CAH out eh?


Catan

Some guys were setting up a Catan demo on the next table. I play Catan: Junior with the kids so definitely wanted in on a demo of the full game. Unfortunately the main demo was full but Catan: Star Trek was empty so we piled in. Starships! Tritanium! er... Water!

Very similar mechanics to Catan: Junior but with mini Enterprise-s instead of pirate ships and a Klingon Warbird instead of the Ghost Pirate. Roll for resources, trade resources, build stuff, win game. Good fun, I will definitely be purchasing the regular version. Cheers to Phil (?) for the demo.


Food!

I missed the start of the Netrunner tournament so went to get some food. Manjit's Kitchen had a little stall set up and the Chilli Paneer wrap sounded too good to miss. Having eaten their stuff before at a previous Leeds event somewhere I was expecting good things and I was not disappointed!

Absolutely delicious, fresh ingredients, so many good flavours and textures. Set the dial to NOM.


Munchkin Steampunk

I missed the starting game of the Netrunner tournament so went in search of a nearby game. Some people were playing Munchkin Steampunk with some fantastically titled cards.

I joined part way through but the gist of the game appears to be screwing over your opponents as much as possible, either that or the game demo-er just preferred to play that way! Amusing cards and simple mechanics.


Netrunner Torunament

I came (joint) last.

Damn you Ichi 1.0! Damn You!

X-Wing Demo

Jack from t' club was running an X-wing demo so I wandered over to take a look at that. Folk seemed to be enjoying it if playing a little slower than most.


Roll For The Galaxy

Ian from Aireborough Community Gamers was running a bit of a session with Roll For the Galaxy with Ashley and Grumpy Neil from the Netrunner tournament. Roll and assign dice in secret to explore for new worlds, develop and settle them, produce goods, ship goods and eventually get enough Victory Points for... er... victory!

I quite enjoyed the mechanics of the game once we got into it, which took a few turns. Grumpy Neil had played before so was a good person to ask for hints!

Oh noes, the rocket is chasing meeeeeeeee......

I didn't find the theme that compelling as it seemed a bit tacked on and fractured otherwise I might have considered buying a copy. Still an enjoyable game and, finally, with the last roll of the dice, I WON SOMETHING! YEAH!


Colt Express

Luke and Jack played this and were full of praise for this Wild West train shootout game. Sounds ace.


Takenoko

I really wanted to get in on a game of Takenoko as it looked ace but all the sessions were full :( Grow decorative bamboo and protect from roving panda so that the Emperor can judge your garden the most beautiful. Fantastic looking artwork!


Discworld

Luke and I picked this up but never got chance to play it. Vying for power in Ankh-Morpork in the absence of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari. I love Pratchett so this might be a good one to try in future.


In Summary

What a fantastic day out, really well run with loads of stuff to do. Even if I hadn't have spent 2 hours playing Netrunner I would still not have got round to palying all the games that I liked the look of. It was only £3 to get in and what flipping great value it was.

All three of us were totally brain-baked so we strolled back into Leeds for our train and our beds soon after.

Leeds Netrunner Tournament

After hearing about the Core Set only Netrunner tournament at Leeds MeepFest via the Run Last Click blog I thought I'd give it a go. I mean I can beat Louise and Luke just over half of the time so I can't be that bad.... right?

Decks

A first go at deck building on the eve of the tournament so lots of thought and research went into it. Not.

Gabriel Santiago (Criminal) thinking he has a reasonable economy with Easy Mark, Bank Job and 2 credits for running on HQ.
with
2 x Gordian Blade - crims need a code gate breaker
2 x Akamatsu Mem Chip - didn't want to be waiting for a console
2 x Corroder - better than Aurora
1 x Medium - criminal puts pressure on HQ so wanted to add pressure to R+D also. Didn't manage to use this card effectively

Haas Bioroid thinking Biotic Labor, good economy and reasonably tough ice. To this I added
2 x Wall of Thorns
2 x Neural Katana
2 x Tollbooth
2 x Research Station for a bit of added hand size - these got trashed fairly quickly and didn't really bring any benefits.


Tournament

Round 1 - bye
I was busy playing Star Trek Catan so missed the start of the games. An odd number of players so I got a bye (two free wins apparently but I didn't count them).

Round 2 - vs Ashley (Criminal and Haas Bioroid)
Runner - despite wanting to play conservatively I face checked an Ichi with one Gordian Blade installed and the other in the trash. That would be no code gate breakers for me then. Played very poorly, couldn't get in anywhere. Ashley scored out easily.

Corp - After Ashley pointed out that I needed to pay to install more than one ice on a server I felt even more stupid than before. Shortly after he Inside Job'd a server to steal an agenda I thought was safe. I managed to score an Accelerated Beta Test but we were running out of time. I didn't do my sums right and my opponent got into my remote server on the next to last run to pinch an agenda and then riffled through archives for the winning one.

0-2

Ashley went on to win the tournament so I didn't feel too bad at being beaten by the best man.

Round 3 vs Grumpy Neil (Shaper and Haas Bioroid)
Corp - Stupidly used my Biotic Labors to score out three 2-point agendas leaving me needing only a single point to win and only two three point agendas to do it with. Neil had some Datasuckers and Cyberfeeders up and running and quickly made short work of my defences, nabbing the last agendas from R+D.

Runner - Ate an early Aggressive Secretary but got back up and running, nabbing a couple of agendas. Low on time I made a last minute run on R+D and pulled a Priority Requisition off the top for a straight win, my first, last and only. Even then I felt like I'd got lucky rather than won on skill.

1-3


Analysis

Finished the tournament joint last with Neil, even though the table said 4th I'm choosing to ignore the wins from my bye.

I was very frustrated with my performance. Really pissed off actually. I'm sure I can play better Netrunner than that. I could blame low blood sugar, the time of day (I always have a mental slump early afternoon), poor deck choice. Fundamentally I didn't concentrate and I feel like I played badly for myself which is most annoying. I failed to be cautious when approaching HB ice and paid. I failed to do my sums and paid. I failed to concentrate and paid.

My decks were OK but I didn't make Medium or Research Station work for me so they were poor choices on reflection. However most games I ended up with a decent amount of cash so at least my economy wasn't too bad.

Lessons Learned

• Do your sums
• Caution over confidence
• Know your opponent's deck
• Practice more
• Play a wider range of opponents
• Chill out, it's just a game dude!

Massive respect to people who play games at National and Worlds level. They usually play 8 rounds of two games just to make the final cut. My brain was baked after four games. I had to go in search of caffeine and sugar immediately afterwards.

I came away with two new ID cards as a consolation prize, lets see if I can put these to work!

Lastly, well done to Ashley who was a really nice guy and played some good cards to win the day. Kudos to Neil too for being a good opponent.

p.s. don't ask me where the Bill and Ted idea came from, I have no idea  8-)

Mary Towneley Loop

I must have investigated the Mary Towneley Loop (MTL) a while ago and forgotten about it, as when Karl and I came across the signs on some loops from Widdop reservoir I remembered enough about it for it to pique my interest again.

Follow the acorns, you can't go wrong... mostly.

The best info on the MTL is this map produced by National Trails which, as well as showing the trail direction, lists many of the amenities en route. Looking at the altitude profile I elected to do it clockwise from Widdop so that I could ride more (steady uphills, steep downhills) and push less. This also meant the last climb and descent was on familiar territory.

I confess my heart wasn't in it when I woke up, having fried my brain the previous day playing 6 hours of new board games and 2 hours of Netrunner tournament at the Leeds MeepFest; I was all for rolling over and getting a few more hours sleep. As a result I was a bit later than I would have liked setting off.

The small car park at Widdop was full of JCBs and portakabins so I parked by the track to Gorple, got heavily midge-d getting the bike off the roof so was glad to get going finally.

L: At the start and on the way to Gorple

R: Sheep having a paddle in the drinking water

Dropping down into Rodmer Clough the signage for the trail worsened and the veritable confusion of footpaths in the area didn't help my map reading. With the assistance of my phone GPS I eventually got back on track but missed the turning up to Blackshaw Head and ended up coming down Colden Clough (or should that be "rough"?) into Hebden Bridge. Back out on the main road again to pick up the turn up the hill at Callis Bridge where I stopped for a couple of chocolate brioche rolls from the rucksack.

On this leg the route has felt quite broken up and not particularly flowing with the poor waymarking (and navigating) and numerous gates.

 Herman taking a break at Callis Bridge

The climb out of the valley is through pleasant woodland on a decently paved track and altitude was gained quickly. It didn't take long to get to the top...

...which revealed a view of the trail ahead traversing underneath Stoodley Pike down to Makinholes. Riding down this bit of trail brought back memories of doing the Haworth Hobble a few years ago, being fed single malt by the KCAC crew at the Makinholes checkpoint and having a massive energy crash coming back over to Haworth. Fun times.

Stoodley Pike

By far and away this was the most popular segment with horses as I (carefully) passed around 10 of them travelling in either direction. Finally, the descent into Lumbutts was down some steep stone set trails with the odd upended stone mid path to keep things interesting.

Moving out of Lumbutts I got stuck in the worst traffic jam for a while with a farmer and family moving their sheep up the road to another field. It was nice to have all the traffic slowed down to the same pace as I offered round my jelly babies to the kids that were helping keep the sheep on track.

Traffic jam, Lumbutts style

A steady climb in bottom gear from Lumbutts around Rake End on mode bumpy stone set paths before dropping down steep rocky trails, passing bikers pushing up the other way and a collie dog intent on herding me, down into Bottomley. This stretch from Hebden Bridge to Bottomley was quite rough but much more flowing and enjoyable than the first part, especially the traverse under Stoodley Pike and the views down the valley.

Bottomley Canal crossing

I pushed up the steep path out of Bottomley, plagued by flying ants and strange flying insects with long dangling legs that kept trying to hitch a free ride to the top of the hill. Gerrof me legs! I found a fly free spot at the top to have a marmite and cheese bagel from the pack and a brief rest.

The bit from Summit to Watergrove reservoir  to Broadley can't have been that interesting as it all passed in a bit of a blur. I remember a nice memorial garden just above the res with a good view out to Rochdale and a bike barrier too narrow to fit a pair of mountain bike bars through (thoughtful!).

I did stop to chat to a fellow biker who held a gate open for me. He'd been practicing a line in what looked like some old mine workings and was chuffed to have finally cleaned it. We talked about the local biking scene, the MTL and he recommended both Cragg Quarry and Lee Quarry as good biking venues with short punchy technical lines. Might be worth a trip out sometime.

Looking down to Watergrove reservoir

Down into Broadley and it was time to stop and refuel at the corner shop. A bottle of water went in into the pack and a flapjack and a tin of Vimto went down the hatch getting ready for the big climb up Rooley Moor.

*burp*

Passing through the amusingly named Prickshaw and up Whimsy Hill, past Bagden Hillocks and Clegg Ding on the long, slow, bottom-gear-and-spin climb up to Top of Leach summit on Rooley Moor. Small fist sized rocks cause the front wheel to twist as they send you in a different direction, usually into more of them that rebound you away like a pinball buffer or into some really draggy sandy gravel that takes even more from your legs. I passed a chap on a bike who grumbled that I wasn't going to give him a tow up! Nevertheless I made it to the top clean and was quite happy to get the biggest and hardest climb out of the way.

Perspective issues. The bottom reservoir (Cowpe) is about 10 times larger than the top one.

Passing through Cragg quarry and the angry bees of various trials bikes doing their thing I dropped down into Waterfoot. Here the ride got very urban as you climb past terraced houses, along a quiet bit of bridleway (more gates) and down into Lumb. The section towards Water and Clough Bottom reservoir is marked on the map as "allow time for numerous gates" but there weren't any more on this stretch than I had encountered already!

There are many, many gates on this ride.

There's a bit of a pointless diversion as you cross the A671 to keep the horses away from the traffic; if you are on a bike then just follow the road and pick up the bridleway later. Just above Holme Chapel is a memorial stone to Mary, Lady Towneley who campaigned for better bridleways. Obviously a horsey sort of person (as in liked rather than resembled) I wonder what she would think of hordes of sweaty mountain bikers tearing around the place.

The monument reads:

The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears.
Lady Towneley MBE 23.2.1935 - 13.2.2001
Pause awhile beside this monument and remember Mary, whose vision opened up once more these ancient routes so that you too can refresh your spirit as the wild and romantic terrain of the Pennine Bridleway unfolds before you.

After pausing a while and eating some jelly babies I dropped down into Holme Chapel and climbed up to Long Causeway. This last stretch feels like the wildest and least touched by human efforts despite the odd reservoir and wind farm.

Down to Cant Clough reservoir and the last of my sandwiches with the sheep looking on in envy. I knew they wanted that last brioche roll but it was mine!

As soon as I hit the track up to Gorple Gate I got a little boost of spirit, knowing that I'd set out on something that I thought was pretty tough and managed to make it round. A steady climb in a lower gear than last time I did it and before I knew it I was looking down over Gorple with only the last rocky descent to do.

Bumpy paths and rocky roads were the staple of the ride and the last descent to Widdop was no exception with my biceps feeling like they were about to be shaken off completely. Despite this tiredness I still managed to get a Strava 2nd best and a PR on this segment. Not sure how!

The midges were out when I got back to the car having taken 8 1/2 hours with breaks to complete the loop, a time that I'm very happy with given the distance and terrain. My Strava log for the ride is here.

I went home and treated myself to a massive Domino's pizza and a pint of tea after sluicing off half the moor off my legs.


Thoughts on the day

The weather was great for this kind of endeavour, a light cloud covering was keeping the temperature down and reducing the risk of sunburn. No wind to push against, although I wouldn't have said no to a playful, cooling breeze at some points.

A lightweight merino top was all I needed and the windproof stayed in the pack. I was mindful to keep drinking from my water bladder throughout the day and I'd loaded it up with some Nuun tablets to make sure I didn't run out of salts. I slurped my last bit of water from my bladder as I was coming down to the car so perfect timing. It subsequently took me half a day to rehydrate properly though, I was definitely in water debt!

The marmite and cheese bagels were a savoury delight as usual.

The route is OK with some really good bits like under Stoodley Pike and from Long Causeway to Gorple. However fighting through numerous gates and being shaken to bits at various points took a bit of a shine off it. A good day out nevertheless and a tough physical challenge. I might be tempted to do it the other way round for comparison but there are other bridleways in the Dales that are clamouring for my attention.

Dales MTB, Circuit From Hebden #mtbtuesday

Finally I've managed to take the mountain bike up into the Dales! Karl and I headed up to Hebden outside Grassington (at the suggestion of Damian at work) for a short circuit on the moors.

Plenty of parking at the start in Hebden and before long we were winding our way up alongside the beck through a pleasant mini valley, criss-crossing the stream a few times leading to some soggy socks (everyone's favourite). The route spat us out at Yarnbury, site of the last Fellsman checkpoint so some fond memories from my last visit to the area!

This route takes you through the abandoned lead mines above Grassington, a landscape that you could conceivably use for testing moon landers. Old 50s concrete and rusted corrugated iron vies for place with old spoil heaps from the shallow drift mines. I'm quite fond of derelict industrial landscapes in a way, the setting of this one is particularly jarring.

I've heard Grassington was once considered the roughest village in Yorkshire due to the number of lead miners in the area; a far cry from the tea shops in the village that bills itself as the Heart Of The Dales. The history of the village makes for interesting reading.

The track over towards Bycliffe / Mossdale Scar is a steady away climb on a good surface and would have been fairly quick had we not been hampered by a strong cold headwind and horizontal rain. My waterproof has given up the ghost and I got pretty cold at one point, having to stop and fish the buff out of the pack. Ice cream headache makes a James miserable! The rain and wind eventually subsided as we descended.

The descent down into Conistone is nice and steady, fairly easy going with no suprises. Karl let me have a go on his new On One Fatty and I can certainly see the appeal. It's like riding a sofa through the rough stuff - very civilised, stable and goes exactly where you want it to. Grin inducing; I can see me purchasing one at some point. It made climbing back onto Herman seem like a bit of a shock, he does have quite a harsh ride by comparison.

The rain and oncoming darkness meant we skipped the planned trip up Mastilles Lane and headed back down the road into Grassington and back to Hebden. Cold, wet and muddy by the time we got back to the car, it felt more like autumn than summer. On with the heated seats and back for marmite on toast and a hot shower.

More Dales riding pls!

She said yes!