Thorn

Dry days- 112
Days of rain- 99

Today I headed out early and went to Thorn. To start with it was cloudy and cool, I was hopeful for decent conditions. I note the 3 car bay now has a "no parking" sign. I wandered up to Pit Stop, having a look at the direct through the roof. With a wedged right foot I was getting close to the good bit of the break by taking the left and off and popping up with the right. NO cigar today though, although I did lose a decent amount of skin.

Next I headed up to Monster Minds, which seems a cool problem. I did all the moves but the slap to the RH ear- every time I tried this I got cramp in my right calf when trying to heel hook!! It's still sore now. I wandered up to the crag, skin being pretty rubbish by now I didn't bother putting my boots on, although I did admire A Moment Of Clarity:



I went to try Bad Moon Rising but I found the flake was in a right state, eroded but more worryingly flexing significantly. It's only held on by the area on the left and I doubt it'll last much longer- therefore I walked on by and went to The Mothership area. I had a look at Yule Jewel, how the hell you pull on I still can't fathom. By now it was hot, I was tired and my skin was suffering. I did a load of the easier problems, then headed home. 2 more days at work then I'll have no plans for most of August, thanks to LaSCA and their paperwork.

Cross Bay Challenge

Today I did the Cross Bay Challenge- the half Marathon across Morecambe bay. I can't recommend it enough. Unique environment, lively running surfaces which vary a lot, wading through channels etc. Awesome!

I felt pretty good for the run. I was a little over an hour at the 7 mile point, so sub 2 hours was on. At 12 miles I was at 1:48 so it was still on. I tried to push it, the surfaces got more wet but thenthe finish was there. And I was very pleased to get it done in 1:59:30!!!

So what next? Hmmmm, maybe a longer distance?........

Sore skin

Dry days- 106
Days of rain- 97

Tonight I went to West View with the BeardyBeast, Pasty King being in Belgium. I was there a good 40 minutes before the Bearded One, so warmed up and then looked at some of the stuff I failed on last visit.

I managed to do two V6s first go, then flashed a couple more V5s. Beardy Beast flashed everything. Once he'd done everything twice we had a chocolate break, then I struggled to do more problems. I ended up climbing for 2 3/4 hours, and my skin is trashed.

Half marathon in 3 days. Knee's a bit sore, but hopefully it should be OK. 2 1/2 hour target to hit!!

Grit Rash

Dry days- 105
Days of rain- 96

Damn this weather!! Today I was going to go to Thorn as the forecast was for dryness. I was out quite early and when I was driving up the M6 at 9am, in the drizzle. It dried up as I headed North but on the way over to Thorn the cloud was down on the tops. I realised the walk would be a waste of a day, so plan B had to be formed. Options? Well 1. exposed Lime, which means either Farleton or Newbiggin. Option 2 would be free standing grit- Thorn or Windy Clough.

I went for option 2. It drizzled a bit on the walk in, so when I got to the rocks they were wet. But not as wet as my shoes and socks. Balls. I sat and late my lunch (at 10:30) and waited. It stopped drizzling and after a while the rock dried off. As an aside the rock up here is getting quite worn, the slopers sdeem either over brushed or well used.

I had a crack at Country for Old Men which was pretty much dry by this point. It took a good number of goes to get the move- it's basically a one mover from two shit edges to a good flatty. I found I needed to use a foot jam for all it was worth to even pull on. After this I moved up to Live Evil, although the arete hold was damp. This went quite quickly, so it was time for a look at Mr. Owl ate my Metal Worm. It took me a while working out a sequence between the crack and the finish- eventually I just did it as a flop move. It took a handful of goes to link it, the last move spitting me off a couple of times due to scrittle.

I was getting tired by now, but I had a look at the two mat boulder. I did the 6b+ wall second go, then failed on the wet groove. At this point I sacked it off and headed back to meet the Doc for a coffee. On the way there were a few pheasant chicks in the verge, but as I passed mother pheasant flew out of the hedge and under my wheels. Orphans created I guess, and I feel a bit bad about that but there's not a lot I can do now.

Windy Clough Revisited from GCW on Vimeo.

Il pluet

Dry days- 105
Days of rain- 95

Well, the weather crapped out and it's been really wet the last couple few days. Whilst this is nice as it has been too hot and humid, it has the disadvantage of my projects being wet for a while now.

I went to Wet Poo yesterday afternoon, conscious of the fact I haven't climbed for what seems like an eternity. I made the schoolboy error of rushing in and climbing lots of problems and not resting, resulting in a perpetual pump that lasted the two hours I was there. Add this to the heat in the climbing hall, and it was a recipe for crush.

On the positive side, I managed to flash most of the V5s on the right three boards, and flashed one of the V6s. I have to say this set feels softer than previous, so I'll take that performance with a pinch of salt.

I'm off work today and tomorrow, but the forecast is gash again so I may not get anything done. Plenty to be going at on the job front- need to sort out what I'll be doing in a couple of weeks, plus all the paperwork that is required. I may go for a run later, I'll see how I feel.

Projects Remain

Dry days- 104
Days of rain- 91

I had a spare couple of hours this afternoon and having been reminded of Healey Nab I decided to head up there.

It was hot. Really hot. By the time I'd walked up to The Nab I was sweating. I did the usual problems, then failed utterly on R-man's Double Dutch. Then I set to work on my project right of DD. I had always tried it by going LH to a sidepull, then pop to the top. Today I tried it as an all out dyno- undercuts to top. I was getting pretty close, but it isn't skin friendly and eventually I had to leave.

I've finally done the Cadshaw video, here it is. My own Cadswallop and Olly Mueller's Cadger. Good problems.

Cadshaw castle Rocks Bouldering from GCW on Vimeo.

Munros and Pounding the Streets

Dry days- 103
Days of rain- 91

Back from a long weekend away. The Doc and I went up to Scotland on Friday, having a wander around Glasgow on the Friday, finding out all the nice shops etc that aren't there anymore, and going for tea at the Ubiquitous Chip, and a pint at Jinty's afterwards. Saturday we met up with MadMac and family, and wandered up to the Whangie in the blazing sun, then takeaway curry.

Sunday the Doc and I took advantage of the Grosvenor's cooked breakfast before driving up to Arrochar for a wander. The midges were out in force, and the Doc wasn't too impressed at this. We headed up the Cobbler path, then over to the direct path up the ridge to Ben Narnain. The weather wasn't too bad, cloud base below the summit. After the summit, we headed back down to the bealach to the Cobbler in the rain, then headed back down past the Narnain boulders (which looked so so).

Today I was back at work, and finished at 18:30. When I got home I went for a run managing 14.7km in 1:26:37, averaging 10.2kmh which I was quite pleased with. 12 days until the Cross bay Challenge!!

I may head to Healey Nab tomorrow, the Ginnster went there today and CRUSHED!!!!

Rain and Running

Dry days- 100
Days of rain- 88

It pissed down today, thunmder too. After sorting children tonight I went for a run, did the local 7k in 37:54- I seem to be getting the average up to 11kmh.

The Ginnster went to Cadshaw. I await tales of amazing success and general awesomeness.

Horse Flies

Dry days- 100
Days of rain- 87

Last night I went to Cadshaw again. Red Wall was greasy, and Mighty Mouse tore my skin. The Midges were bearable, but the addition of a cloud of horse flies was not. needless to say I ran away pretty quickly, and headed over to Cadshaw Castle Rocks.

I filmed the short arete sitter I did a while ago as well as Cadger, one of Ollie Mueller's problems from back in the day.



I carried on up the slab above this to the higher break, with a sketchy sequence higher up. With this it became a nicely sustained font 6B, with evil polished holds. I'll get the video up at some point.
I tried the left side of my arete sitter which will be a one move wonder, but I couldn't pull on so went home.

It's rained a bit today, but still hot. Let's see what the rest of the week brings. Should be up in Glasgow for the weekend, may wander up a hill.

Motivational Awesomeness Innit

Dry days- 99
Days of rain- 86

I was going to go out today, but it's hot and energy sapping. Psyche was low and when push came to shove, my get up and go got up and went. I'm useless when it's hot, it makes me tired and grumpy.

The weather is supposed to break by Tuesday, so I may brave the midges tomorrow.

I'm off to lie down.

Mighty (Mouse) Failure

Dry days- 97
Days of rain- 86

I went to Cadshaw tonight. There were so many midges it was hard to breathe. I totally failed on my RoB-Jump Arete project. I made some progress on the Arete project. I did all but one of the moves on Mighty Mouse too, painful though it is. After an hour I was so bitten to death that I ran away.

Still projects to do.......