Back in the Saddle

It was 12 weeks to the day since I fell of my bike and bust my ribs and I had been putting off starting riding again. The weather man predicted that today would be the last fine, warm day of the autumn so I resolved to face up to the challenge and it was with some trepidation that I clipped into my spuds and pedalled along the waggon way at Cawthorn Basin. I had decided to ride from there to the top of Cotes Hill and back.
Getting to the top of the hill was quite straight forward apart from rusty leg muscles and confidence was returning. I started the return journey and soon  picked up speed down the rough farm track, suddenly the rear wheel caught a rut and skidded and the bike turned sideways...oh oh here we go again...I pulled the bike over, pedalled hard and we were back on line and bouncing down the track with a big grin. The demons had been faced and vanquished and I finished off with some exciting single track back to the car.  

Mountain Biking

Nick has got enthusiastic about mountain biking again and has being doing some rides with his work colleague. We went for a ride from Darley Bridge at a slower pace but it was far from easy. Much of the ride was on minor roads and tracks around Elton and Youlgreave but it was raining and the limestone was very slippy making it very difficult to grip on the uphill sections and very unnerving on the downhill sections.

It was around 18 miles but it did take us around 3 and half hours due to a section of bridleway, Gratton Dale, which had become very muddy. It was impossible to peddle as the mud and foliage wrapped around the brakes and forks and we needed to constantly stop to try and disentangle it all. At one point it was impossible to even push the bike.


Enjoyed it though, (much more than trying to add this blog).
11th October 2009

Curbar Edge

Paul and me decided to re-visit 'The Brain' area on Curbar edge not having been there for some years. We had lovely autumn conditions, warmish sun and cool rock in the morning and started off with The Brain (VS 4c) which I led to warm up. This climb was an old favourite but seemed a bit more of a struggle than it used to be however it went without incident with an enjoyable exposed finish up the arete.
Then we tried the nearby Birthday Crack (VS 4c) this had an intimidating overhanging start but we thought at VS there should be holds. Paul led off but was stopped short at the overhang complaining that the crack was too wide to jam adequately. I tried but fared worse than Paul. We set up a top rope and both failed again then slunk away disheartened to the Barons Wall area.
Here Paul bouldered out the start to Barons Wall (5b) then I led Wall Climb (VS 5a) and Paul led Calver Wall (VS 5a) both of which gave good value for VS. By now the sky was grey and a cold wind had sprang up and the call of the cafe was too strong so we called it a day.

Birkness Maintainance

Up to the lakes this week-end for a maintainance meet at the FRCC hut at Birkness the main tasks being to divert a leakage path in the woodstore that was causing damp in the cottage and to lay some hardcore on the driveways.


The main tasks were all about completed on Saturday and after some clearing up on Monday morning Colin, Bev and myself enjoyed a walk up Fleetwith Pike in the sunshine and were rewarded by widespread views over the Lake District fells.


On our return we were met by the sad news that one member of the work party had died in his sleep during the night.

Bouldering

Bouldering at Apparent North on Stanage today. Rain showers were sweeping down the Derwent valley but the crags were in sunshine. I decided that either I had lost a bit of strength and ability or that the problems where undergraded as I struggled with the 5a ones and failed on the 5bs although I had cruised a 5b climb on Thursday. Anyway I completed 10 problems then de-camped over to Burbage where I did the Chant (5a) and, after much huffing and puffing Wednesday Climb (5b) which improved my confidence levels.
Finished off the day with a walk round the Burbage valley, back via Carls wark and Higgar Tor.

Midweek Stanage

Colin and me set out for Stanage on Thursday afternoon to meet up with Colins son David and his mates and to take advantage of the early autumn sunshine.

As expected the crag was quiet and I led Central Trinity and Easter Rib, the friction was excellent but it was cold belaying on top. When the sun lost its warmth we finished off by soloing a few routes on Rugosity Wall.

Med Trip 7

We arrived back in Antibes without further incident and set out for a final days climbing. We decided on La Trinitie because it was north facing and cool. This was a choice popular with the locals, three other teams were climbing including a party of schoolkids, not bad for a Wednesday afternoon. The crag was set up as a recreation facility with parking, graded paths and steps to access the crag and and picnic tables and rubbish bins were provided. This approach could benefit some crags in the UK although it would not be appropriate in most cases.

The climbs were steep and crimpy and took a little getting used to but we managed eight routes between us up to 5b.

Med Trip 6

Time constraints meant that we could not make it to Corsica so we returned to Antibes via Santa Margherita, Loano and San Remo. On the way we checked out the crags at Riva Trigoso but grey skies sucked away our enthusiasm and we arrived at Santa Margherita in pouring rain and thunder and lightning.

Between Santa Margherita and Loano we were accompanied by a small pod of dolphins which played around the boat for about 15 minutes to our great delight.

Med Trip 5

While at Portovenere we climbed at Muzzerone which is about a one hour walk from the town centre. Muzzerone has 18 separate limestone crags with different types of climbing and varying levels of access.

The most popular and accessible area is the Parete Central where we climbed first before doing some routes at the Cava Degli Anelli. The climbing at the Parete Central was similar to peak limestone, steep with sharp holds while at Cava Degli Anelli the rock was much smoother and rounded. Both areas gave good climbing and I led 5 routes from 5a to 5c while Bev led two 4c routes and Colin led a 5b to finish.

Med Trip 4

From Santa Margherita we sailed to Portovenere & La Spezia. The sailing conditions were excellent with a smooth sea and strong winds which allowed us to reach speeds up to 9 knots. From La Spezia we were able to access the Cinque Terre (5 villages) which has a famous walk from Monterosso to Riomaggiore calling at Vernazza, Coriniglia and Manarola.

The first two sections of the walk winds through vineyards along the terrace walls and through shady ravines and is very picturesque however after Corniglia it is less so and the final section from Manarola is along a constructed pathway marred by grafitti.

Officially only this final section was open to walkers but the locked gates and barriers were easily circumvented and we managed to complete all the sections.