Sunday came and was superheated and muggy, with drizzle here and there for good measure. Bottom line? I couldn't be arsed going out and suffereing in shit conditions.
Today was even hotter, but it looked like rain tonight so I went for a run. I did my 7km route, if the app is right (which I doubt) I did it in a shade under 30 minutes. Whatever the time I was hot and very tired.
4 weeks or so until the cross bay challenge. I pray it's cooler on the day or I'll be dead before I start!!
I felt pretty tired this morning after the Cadshaw Crush Fest. It rained all morning, but by 9am it brightened up so I opted for a look at Silverdale.
On my way up it pissed it down again. Brill. I decided to give Trowbarrow a go. Walking in I was surrounded by a cloud of mosquitos, and when I got there the Shelterstone was seeping. It was nice to see that some kind soul had taken a shit next to to Vitruvian Man, makes the landing even more fun. Asshole. I had a couple of half arsed goes on a damp Pit Problem, no chance. Vitruvian was also wet- the right toe hook was piss wet. I had a few goes at the Crouch method- right foot on and slap. I was getting the hold but failing to keep the right foot on the wet hold.
I looked at the Buccaneer, getting the lip but not getting anywhere near holding it. One to come back to.
I was annoyed by this time. I drove home, ate a Twirl and growled for 10 minutes. Then I went for a run. I managed 13km in 1:14:51, average of 10.4km/h. Still a bit to do in the next 4 weeks before the Cross bay death run.
After work I headed to Cadshaw to meet up with BeardyBeast and the Ginnster. BeardyBeast had brought some ladders for the arete project. We wandered in to the Red Wall, aware it was humid and still.
Red Wall wasn't in good nick. Everything felt greasy and nasty. Basically, I did Brian Jacques and Jump Arete and BeardyBeast did Jump Arete. He also suggested a different sequence for RoB going right had to the left hand sloping crimp then throw to the high edge. This felt a bit easier, 7B, but also felt more like a crap version of Brian Jacques avoiding certain holds rather than being the centre of the wall. The Ginnster didn't do Brian Jacques, his fear of success got in the way. The midges ate us.
We used BB's ladder to clean the "bnreak" on the Arete Project, then failed to make any progress on it due to grease. One to come back to. Did I mention neither Pasty Lord nor Beardy Beast did Brian Jacques?
Once anaemic from the midges we wandered back to the Small Quarry. BeardyBeast and I did Great War of France, or whatever the hell it's called. The Ginnster didn't, he did a variation that used big holds 10 feet off line. Then he fell over. We all looked at the Atom Rush, which felt greasy, off balance and a bit committing (sloping landing dontchaknow) so that wasn't done today.
After this we headed home. What an evening. Quite amazing. Although the Ginnster fell over. Fairy Steps tomorrow?
Drizzle this morning, so once more the Aeon plan was shelved. I wonder where may be dry when it's drizzling, somewhere overhanging with some tree cover maybe.
Cadshaw was indeed dry. A bit greasy unfortunately, and very much midge infested. The crux today was not so much pulling harder, but resisting the onslaught of the midge. My envisigaed project felt hard again, I wasn't getting very good links on it today, although I did each move and refined the footwork. Then I noticed a foothold I hadn't looked at before and realised my original sequence for Jump Arete sitter was back on.
It took quite some time to do this, but then when I did it felt OK. Although I tried to then film the start from a different angle and took ages to do the move again. I had originally thought this would be 7b/+, and seemingly R-Man had thought similar. Since it felt OK today, I'll go with 7a+ for the moment.
After this I managed to repeat Brian Jacques via R-Mans's original sequence, which is about the same difficulty as the Lanky sequence once you get the body positioning right.
So there you have it- another project done, and only 2 more to go at Cadshaw- I just need it to be less greasy.
On a seperate note, the new Peak guide arrived on Friday and it's brill- inspired to get back and try some stuff! Oh, and I'm ober half way through War and Peace now- hurrah.
After work I headed to Cadshaw for another crack at the projects. I was disappointed to find that the wall felt very greasy. There were also a lot of midges, and they were hungry.
After a while I was still pinging off the sloping edges. Finally I linked from the sit to the foot swap before the dyno to the jug, and fucked it up. I never got as far again.
With better conditions I know I can do this. The moves feel harder than anything I've been on recently, including Aeon/ Poison etc, and there's a few of them.. At my limit- well, beyond it until the day it all clicks into place.
Thanks to everyone's comments/ e-mails/ texts recently. It is appreciated.
I had 90 minutes at Fairy Steps today, bit of a wind down after days of house clearing and getting forms/ certificates sorted.
I tried this when BeardyBeast crushed it ages ago, couldn't touch it at all. MOre recently on a day when I saw Johnny G in his car near Trowbarrow I managed all but one of the moves. Today it felt sweaty and greasy. I got the moves done individually, including the one I'd failed on before (the slap to the final sidepull form the undercut). I had a go at trying to link it. I managed to get from the start to the undercut but the next two moves are going to be the stoppers for me. It's a pretty powerful problem, but I think i can do it. Like Poison, it's one I just need to work at to link it, and then get my 7C tick in 2011. Hmmmm.
