snow joke ride

back to nottingham and familiar trails. tagging along with chris for one of his 'bike riding mondays', where you have to earn your cake. as usual i spent my time madly spinning behind, whilst chris pedaled along with a regal air about him. the only difference was the absolute concentration required by both of us to stay upright. we rode through hard compacted snow, dirty black snow, brown snow, yellow snow, soggy slush, icy ice, slushy ice, icy hard compacted snow and tarmac, blissful easy tarmac! it was a real slog of a ride but as chris said "only people who enjoy this, will enjoy it". we both sat with satisfied smiles in the cafe, having our cake and eating it.

up lift running

catching the bus outta chez-vegas this morning i was giddy with excitement. the snow had finally fallen on my door step. at last. letting public transport take the strain we alighted at baslow, with just a short up, the rest would be all downhill back to the house.....with a little bit of along too.

birchen edge was busy with fellow snow hunters but from white edge moor we made fresh tracks all the way down to linacre reservoir. i don't think either of us stopped smiling all day. lucky to live where we do, lucky to have working legs and willing brains and so lucky to be able to share the snow and the miles.

hot chocolate aches

buff rolled bandito style, thumb loops pulled down and everything tucked into tights. wind proof beanie on the bonce. three layers on top, two on the bottom, woolen socks and over shoes. sleeves tucked into lobsters, a sealed unit.

no traffic weaving today, just eyes peeled and ready for action. everyone is twitchy and nervous. warm water used to de-freeze, is now refreezed. yesterdays lunch detritus is now a fizzy pop frozen neve. avoid the the ice slicks and you're a winner.

hot air pours from my mouth. uphill steam rolls from my nose, like a slow angry bull winching to the top. downhill and snot falls onto the cross bar, immediately frozen. car doors welded shut with ice, wipers scraping on the glass. everyone is twitchy and nervous.

normally a 30mph coast, today i plunge between the terrace houses with fingers hovering on the brakes. is that ice or just a trick of the light? mind games as splinters of sun break through the trees. the bike lock fumbled with and the hot aches begin. too early for the campus cafe and too late to go back down the road. i'll have to wait another 2hours before i can redeem my loyalty card for a hot chocolate....

3 wainwrights, 2 ridges, 1 cheese & onion pastie

the trouble with getting what you wish for is, it often leaves you hungry for more. after saturdays local snow show i needed something extra. something steeper, something higher, something with a little bit of added excitement. something like a winter ridge, an elevated crest running from peak to peak. wainwright describes striding edge as a "succession of jagged fangs ending in a black tower", with a sprinkling of the white stuff this was exactly what i was yearning for.

a late night preceded the early start but reaching helvellyn's plateau catching the last of the sunrise was worth it. supping a brew and contemplating swirral edge while the thick cloud in the distance squashed the sun into a dirty orange streak across the horizon. i wish all days could start like this. spikes on, probably a bit over cautious but suddenly i felt very alone. slowly i made my way down helvellyn's northern arm. pausing every few steps to take in the view and take in a deep breath.

the cold air was still and the heavy silence punctuated only by steel scraping on rock. looking around i couldn't believe that just 5 hours ago i was tucked up in bed. this was the stuff my dreams are made of.

circling red tarn the full bulky mass of helvellyn comes into view. this is certainly its best side and like all good things it takes a little more effort to get. this might be the reason i love winter so much, views and hill tops are hard earned but the gains are immeasurably greater. everything looks more beautiful in the snow. everything.

counting striding edge's jagged fangs i knew what was coming. the final rocky tower is negotiated down a steep little chimney gully. a little more exposed than i remember from our summer outing but over all too quickly. just a short bank of ice to gain the top once more. lunch was had in white out conditions. the day just kept getting better and better.

a short stroll with map and compass in hand over to dollywaggon got me warm again. the snow was deep enough to run/slide straight down to grisedale tarn. another brew stop, another view stop. savouring the snow before the final descent back to the car, a cheese and onion pastie and a tired drive home.

winter teaser

i went in search of snow. i wasn't disappointed.

keeping on the edge, no point dipping into the valley, no view, no white stuff. just two toffees in my pocket, no map, no watch. feeling free, just myself and thoughts to follow. it was blimin' lovely out but would have been even better to share the miles.

*not about hills but if you're interested in the welfare reform bill this is worth a look

trench foot

we ventured out on sunday for what started as a run and ended in a recovery walk. yes, it was still 'quite' windy.

but we might have found the perfect mountain marathon training ground. there's a large piece of access land that's covered in small tussocky bogs, where the trods are few and far between, all just a 10minute drive from home. feeling lucky and excited that with a couple of road miles we can probably link up some footpaths and bridleways to get there. having dry feet may become very rare indeed!

calderdale ldwa- the hebden

a team building/cake eating exercise for marathon-schmarathon#2

22 miles
4000 ft ascent
6 food stops (checkpoints)
2 coconut slices
a handful of jelly sweets
1 peanut butter cookie
some malt loaf
a cheese sandwich
a piece of stollen
numerous cups of squash
and in the community centre at the finish; a bowl of veggie stew with as much tea as you like and a glass of mulled wine. followed by apple crumble and custard, in proper bowls with waitress service!