Mid-week climbing

The weather just proved too good and tempting not to take a day off mid-week and find some nice warm rock to play on. The forecast was for strong blustery winds high up so we decided to stick near valley level (as had others we saw at the crag) and so we found ourselves at Raven crag in Langdale. Dare I say it but it was almost too hot, on a south facing crag in full sun, cloudless skies and a warm wind!! Still it was utterly beautiful and lovely to be properly warm in this country!! We stuck to the single pitch routes on East Raven crag as we'd not been there before. Not amazing routes, not necessarily worth the stars they all get, not always got the most gear, but still pleasant. And definitely better than being couped up at work.

Looking down Langdale Valley

Lingmoor and Pike O'Blisco

Back to Trad

The weather this weekend was not overly conducive to climbing, but I think on reflection we climbed every minute we could have this weekend without actually doing too much in the rain. The wet stuff took longer to clear on Saturday than we thought, but we were at Shepherds crag in Borrowdale as it stopped raining. Consequently it was all a bit damp and lunchtime had long been and gone, but we got two multi-pitch routes in - Finale (HVS) and Ardus (MVS), before dark arrived.

On Sunday the rain was coming in in the afternoon, but we were out on the local Brantrake crag ticking virtually all the worthwhile routes on it before the rain came. Nice to be out on rock again, and along with the cycling, its making it more bearable to be not running.

Week 2

No much different to report from week 1! Lots and lots and lots of heel drops, no running and 4 days on the bike... 92 miles.

Weekend 1

 No Three Shires for me this year, but I wasn't too disappointed, the weather was certainly horrendous at home, and I’m sure was fairly wet in Little Langdale. P and I went to the wall in Kendal on Saturday to rest the legs a wee bit.

On Sunday we headed out on road bikes for a reasonable ride, out over Birker Fell, Broughton in Furness, along Consiton Lake on the back of the lake road, and back over Wyrnose and Hard Knott Passes. Lovely ride, and we escaped the showers.

Week 1

No running and 4 commute rides – total mileage 92 miles.

On yer bike

 Well I finally bit the bullet on my Achilles and went to see my physio – something I should have done back in the New Year. I got a telling off, then some reassurance and then the bad (but expected) news…. No running for at least 6 weeks (!!) and lots of exercises. I am allowed to ride though. So time to readjust…. 

Off colour

The day after my longer commute I felt tired. I put it down to a combination of a tough week at work, racing and the slightly longer ride, and had a nice rest on Friday. On Saturday I was planning to rest as it was the Lake District Mountain Trial on Sunday and I’d entered the Classic (was the men’s route). I won the women’s last year and had really been looking forward to it this year. But:

• They announced it was to be from Mungrisdale – cue lots of tussock and bog
• The forecast was appalling
• I felt exhausted and nauseous
• My Achilles was giving me more pains than normal.

So on Saturday I made the call that I was not going to race. I find it a hard decision to make, not turning up to a race and giving it a go, despite knowing that it is the best decision! I made arrangements with a friend to return the trophy and let the day pass. On Sunday, the forecasted weather did not quite get going although it wasn’t that pleasant out, and I felt a little better. Enough for P to persuade me that some exercise would be good for me, so we went out locally from the house for 17 miles of muddy tracks and trails, including a visit to the sea at Ravenglass where the route was flooded. We ended up riding through the sea (something we’ve done before on a night ride in the dark!). I felt better for the fresh air but more exhausted than I should have done for such a meagre mileage and slow pace.