Snoreometer: 1
One week till Snowdon and the end of this little adventure!
Slept well despite the rain in the night and woke up to a cloudy and damp morning. Caught the sun on my legs yesterday. Must remember to put sun cream on. There's nowt worse than a burnt ginger! MIDGE HELL!
Enjoyable ride for the first 18 miles or so alongside the banks of Lock Lomond. Have to send out an emergency call to Jim as my handle bars have become loose and I don't have an allen key on me. Jim doesn't have one the right size so we use a smaller one with a screwdriver shoved in with it. It doesn't quite do the job but it will suffice until I can buy one. A couple of miles later the battery on my ipod packs up so I'm left alone with my thoughts-scary!
Just south of Loch Lomond is Alexandria and Renton where i stop briefly at a cash point. There's some auld Scottish woman stood at the bus stop next to me, looking at me in my cycling gear as if I'm an alien thats just dropped out of the sky!
In Dumbarton I pass a Halfords where I purchase some allen keys & tighten up my handle bars properly. On the way into Glasgow it starts raining and it doesn't stop for the next 50 miles. How wonderful. From what I can see of Glasgow it is a depressing shit hole and the rain suits it. Row after row of crappy looking Council estates, run down pubs and snooker halls. Closed up shop fronts and takeaways. I don't really want to stop anywhere here and have my lunch and planned on having some where on the other side of the Clyde which I am cycling alongside. I catch the ferry across the river into Renfrew which is actually quite nice in comparison to the areas I've come through, and with an increasing hunger I stop for a bite to eat. The last 10 miles or so it's been stop, start, stop, start at successive traffic lights and it's really beginning to get up my nose. This doesn't change much over the next 10 miles or so either! Compounded by the rain, my tired legs, hunger and low sugar levels my mood is suffering. Half an hour or so later when my lunch starts to filter through to my muscles I pep up a little. Note to self, eat more frequently and at more regular intervals. Finally arrive in Troon and receive a text message from Jim saying he's in town doing some shopping and will be back in a couple of minutes.
Following a shower & change of clothes we decide to head into town for a pint and some fish and chips. Pint first, then the best fish and chips I have ever eaten from a place called the Wee Hurrie in Troon Harbour. If for any reason you are ever up that way I challenge you to have some and tell me I'm wrong!
Return back to the van via another pint to watch some very funny Bill Bailey, then bed with aching calves and thighs.
Distance 73.5 miles
Ascent 1800 ft
Top speed 28 mph
Average 11.8 mph
Time taken 6hrs 14 mins, not accounting for stops.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Day #02
Snoreometer: 1.5
Knees not too bad this a.m. I was a bit concerned about lefty last night. Lets see what they're like at the end f the day!I think I reach the highest point from sea level today. Weather is looking good and Jim's cooking a fried brekkie.
Start cycling alongside Loch Linnhe and I'm making good time as the going is fairly flat and at sea level. Cross the bridge at Ballichulish and just as I get to the foot of the Glen Coe pass I get puncture No 1. Front tyre. Don't bother repairing it just put a spare inner tube in. I'll repair it later when I stop. Now I've got a 12 mile hill to cycle up! The going is not too bad as its a steady incline. The scenery here is very impressive with mountains either side of me. Jim passes me in the van and I plough on. About a mile and a half later I spy the can at the side of the road & Jim taking photos of me as I labour up the hill. I put on an extra burst of speed and a determined look on my face for the camera! Stop for a cuppa and a sarnie with Jim, then crack on.
Puncture No 2.arrives shortly after. much swearing. After another 8 miles of uphill I finally begin a descent. Hitting speeds of 37, 38 mph. Keeping an average of 22-25 mph on the flats and it's a nice easy finish to the campsite downhill.
Cup of tea, shower, repair inner tubes, pub for a couple of pints, dinner, bed!
Knees not too bad today. Only a short little ride of 60 miles with an ascent of around 2500 feet.
PLAGUE OF MIDGES!!!
Knees not too bad this a.m. I was a bit concerned about lefty last night. Lets see what they're like at the end f the day!I think I reach the highest point from sea level today. Weather is looking good and Jim's cooking a fried brekkie.
Start cycling alongside Loch Linnhe and I'm making good time as the going is fairly flat and at sea level. Cross the bridge at Ballichulish and just as I get to the foot of the Glen Coe pass I get puncture No 1. Front tyre. Don't bother repairing it just put a spare inner tube in. I'll repair it later when I stop. Now I've got a 12 mile hill to cycle up! The going is not too bad as its a steady incline. The scenery here is very impressive with mountains either side of me. Jim passes me in the van and I plough on. About a mile and a half later I spy the can at the side of the road & Jim taking photos of me as I labour up the hill. I put on an extra burst of speed and a determined look on my face for the camera! Stop for a cuppa and a sarnie with Jim, then crack on.
Puncture No 2.arrives shortly after. much swearing. After another 8 miles of uphill I finally begin a descent. Hitting speeds of 37, 38 mph. Keeping an average of 22-25 mph on the flats and it's a nice easy finish to the campsite downhill.
Cup of tea, shower, repair inner tubes, pub for a couple of pints, dinner, bed!
Knees not too bad today. Only a short little ride of 60 miles with an ascent of around 2500 feet.
PLAGUE OF MIDGES!!!
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Day #1
Snoreometer: 2
Alarm goes off at 05:00 as we want to make an early start in order to take advantage of the best "weather window" for the climb.
Get going around 06:20. No one about. Plan is to go around behind the mountain & use route not populated by the tourist masses, but this depends on the weather. The start of the ascent gets us sweating, and then it strats to rain, great.Stops raining, great! the cloud cover is low & we can't see a lot of the mountain, but we reckon the cloud should lift.. We reach the point where the tourist trail splits from our route so we press on with our original plan and walk alongside a small Loch towards the North face of Ben Nevis.
Absolutely no one around, oh, except for those 3 blokes building a new path up the valley! Cross a stream and head up the side of Carn Deag Mor. Hand over hand, very steep, negotiating boulders and scree. enveloped by cloud. Reach the ridge and the cloud clears partially to give a view of the glowering North face of the mountain. We continue up to the peak of Carn Deag Mor and are given a view of the Arete. Our approach to Ben Nevis is a high ridge which looks as sharp as a knife edge! Have seen no one since the guys with the digger. We saw no one before the digger guys and we can see no one else on the mountain at all!
Start our way along the ridge/arete climbing hand over feet amongst boulders, trying to pick a path without falling 1000's of feet on her side! We are enveloped by cloud, can't see where we're going or where we've been. Stop for a bite to eat in the saddle of the ridge and the cloud clears. Afforded great views of the Munroe's in front of us & the valley behind.
Push on again, getting to the end of the ridge & begin the final ascent to the summit up a very steep boulder field. Grabbing hand holds & pulling ourselves up. Seems to go on forever up into the cloud. Finally we make out the shape of the old abandoned observatory, trig point and the first other people on the mountain apart from us and the digger boys. A lot of people!Must be 40 or so in groups, wearing group T shirts displaying the various names of charities they are raising money for. Get a couple of picture of the summit in the cloud, scoff a sarnie then begin the descent.
this side of the mountain is completely different to the side we came up. Firstly the landscape is a lot more barren, flat and less interesting to look at.Secondly there is a well defined path for you to follow, where as on the North side approach there is no path at all to speak of.Thirdly there are hundreds of people! We're passing dozens of people heading up the mountain and we can see dozens more below us on the path heading in both directions.
Going downhill is hard work. They have constructed the majority of the path from different sized boulders so you are constantly twisting your knee and suffering jarring shocks as you step down from one boulder to the next. It is also mentally tiring as you have to concentrate on EVERY single step so you don't a) put a foot wrong and break an ankle and b) don't fall of the side of the mountain! The descent seems to go on forever and I'm finding it a lot harder than when we were going up. My left knee is hurting more and more. By the time we eventually reach the bottom my knee is really quite sore. I hope it's going to be OK tomorrow for the bike ride.
Total ascent and descent time via the Carn Mor Deag Arete 9 hrs, 16 mins and 23 seconds. it will take me considerably less time to down my first pint!
Alarm goes off at 05:00 as we want to make an early start in order to take advantage of the best "weather window" for the climb.
Get going around 06:20. No one about. Plan is to go around behind the mountain & use route not populated by the tourist masses, but this depends on the weather. The start of the ascent gets us sweating, and then it strats to rain, great.Stops raining, great! the cloud cover is low & we can't see a lot of the mountain, but we reckon the cloud should lift.. We reach the point where the tourist trail splits from our route so we press on with our original plan and walk alongside a small Loch towards the North face of Ben Nevis.
Absolutely no one around, oh, except for those 3 blokes building a new path up the valley! Cross a stream and head up the side of Carn Deag Mor. Hand over hand, very steep, negotiating boulders and scree. enveloped by cloud. Reach the ridge and the cloud clears partially to give a view of the glowering North face of the mountain. We continue up to the peak of Carn Deag Mor and are given a view of the Arete. Our approach to Ben Nevis is a high ridge which looks as sharp as a knife edge! Have seen no one since the guys with the digger. We saw no one before the digger guys and we can see no one else on the mountain at all!
Start our way along the ridge/arete climbing hand over feet amongst boulders, trying to pick a path without falling 1000's of feet on her side! We are enveloped by cloud, can't see where we're going or where we've been. Stop for a bite to eat in the saddle of the ridge and the cloud clears. Afforded great views of the Munroe's in front of us & the valley behind.
Push on again, getting to the end of the ridge & begin the final ascent to the summit up a very steep boulder field. Grabbing hand holds & pulling ourselves up. Seems to go on forever up into the cloud. Finally we make out the shape of the old abandoned observatory, trig point and the first other people on the mountain apart from us and the digger boys. A lot of people!Must be 40 or so in groups, wearing group T shirts displaying the various names of charities they are raising money for. Get a couple of picture of the summit in the cloud, scoff a sarnie then begin the descent.
this side of the mountain is completely different to the side we came up. Firstly the landscape is a lot more barren, flat and less interesting to look at.Secondly there is a well defined path for you to follow, where as on the North side approach there is no path at all to speak of.Thirdly there are hundreds of people! We're passing dozens of people heading up the mountain and we can see dozens more below us on the path heading in both directions.
Going downhill is hard work. They have constructed the majority of the path from different sized boulders so you are constantly twisting your knee and suffering jarring shocks as you step down from one boulder to the next. It is also mentally tiring as you have to concentrate on EVERY single step so you don't a) put a foot wrong and break an ankle and b) don't fall of the side of the mountain! The descent seems to go on forever and I'm finding it a lot harder than when we were going up. My left knee is hurting more and more. By the time we eventually reach the bottom my knee is really quite sore. I hope it's going to be OK tomorrow for the bike ride.
Total ascent and descent time via the Carn Mor Deag Arete 9 hrs, 16 mins and 23 seconds. it will take me considerably less time to down my first pint!
Monday, 26 September 2011
Traveling up #2
Snoreometer-1
Jim's snoring last night wasn't as bad as promised/threatened. More disturbed by the rain drumming on the roof of the camper van all night. The rain persisted through the morning. Lets hope it's not a sign of things to come...
Left the camp site at 08:40. Apart from me, Jim was the next youngest person there! Stopped for lunch near the top of Glen Coe where I got a view of my first major cycling ascent as we descended into the valley.
Arrived at the campsite in Fort William and got our first view of Ben Nevis.
BBQ'd fish for dinner followed by a short walk along the river and bed.
Jim's snoring last night wasn't as bad as promised/threatened. More disturbed by the rain drumming on the roof of the camper van all night. The rain persisted through the morning. Lets hope it's not a sign of things to come...
Left the camp site at 08:40. Apart from me, Jim was the next youngest person there! Stopped for lunch near the top of Glen Coe where I got a view of my first major cycling ascent as we descended into the valley.
Arrived at the campsite in Fort William and got our first view of Ben Nevis.
BBQ'd fish for dinner followed by a short walk along the river and bed.
Traveling up #1
Yes, yes, yes. I know. Taken my sweet time getting around to writing this up haven't I? Well here it is.
Left Mums house in the camper van at 14:00. Felt sad leaving the kids and Sara. Harrison had tears in his eyes but made me proud by being a brave boy and not crying. I almost did however!
We hit the motorways and with traffic being light we made good time. Stopped for a cuppa at a service station in Burton in Kendall
We arrived at our camp site just outside Carlisle at 20:00. Jim cooked dinner then we cycled to the local pub 'The Near Boot@ for a couple of jars. Mum has packed a couple of earplugs for me as apparently Jim snores like a train. I'll be giving him ratings on the Snoreometer so watch this space...
Left Mums house in the camper van at 14:00. Felt sad leaving the kids and Sara. Harrison had tears in his eyes but made me proud by being a brave boy and not crying. I almost did however!
We hit the motorways and with traffic being light we made good time. Stopped for a cuppa at a service station in Burton in Kendall
We arrived at our camp site just outside Carlisle at 20:00. Jim cooked dinner then we cycled to the local pub 'The Near Boot@ for a couple of jars. Mum has packed a couple of earplugs for me as apparently Jim snores like a train. I'll be giving him ratings on the Snoreometer so watch this space...
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Tired
I'm tired. Tired of constantly training. Tired of thinking about training. Tired of cycling 80-90 miles every Sunday and not seeing my kids. Tired of looking for time to do the training. Tired of looking at food packets to see how much calories/carbs and protein they have. Tired of having tired legs. Tired of having a sore arse. Physically tired. Mentally tired. Tired of being tired.
I'm a bit tired.
I'm a bit tired.
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