A week in North Wales

Just back from a lovely week in North Wales. We went to Llanberis - the Mecca of mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing. We spent a day at Coed Y Brenin mountain biking - I did the Cyflym Coch route and then spent a couple of hours with my feet up lazing in the grass reading Popco by Scarlett Thomas while P went off on another two trails. I got the best deal, undoubtedly.

We also spent a day hiking up Snowdon - we took the Pyg Trail up and the Miners Trail down - in hindsight this was a mistake and next time I'd go up Miners and down Pyg - Miners is a far gentler pathway up and Pyg is apparently the hardest. The strangest thing of all was that my hands began to swell up on the ascent and didn't finally return to normal until late in the day well after we'd got back to town. A quick Google search tells me just what I'd suspected - the warm weather combined with walking and swinging my arms while wearing a heavy back pack all combined to stop the blood flow from my hands travelling back to my heart. Added to which I was drinking plenty of water which would have diluted the electrolytes in my blood.
Science!

The best bit of the holiday was without doubt the climbing of Flying Buttress which is a Very Difficult (or VDiff) route on the Dinas Cromlech crag in the Llanberis Pass. It was my first outdoor climb of the year and P's first ever outdoor climb and his first multi-pitch too. The sun was shining, the air was warm and the climb was wonderfully easy, apart from the final pitch with the nasty polished chimney which resulted in me making rather a lot of odd noises and swearing quite a bit too. The worst bit of the entire day was the walk/scramble up to the crag and back again. I hate scrambling. I know you're supposed to stay upright and walk but I always seem to end up sliding down on my backside and moving very, very slowly. Just stick a rope on me and let me abseil down!

Anyway, back now and onto more mundane things - exams to mark and poetry to submit, read, write and review.

I promise to write a long review of a wonderful poem written by Maria McCarthy (Medway Maria) which is long overdue.

I also promise to write about the poetry collections I've been reading and buying lately.

Later.

A long break

Two months since I posted last...that's appalling and I'm truly sorry if you've missed me!

I've just come back from a week in Scotland - taking the air at Ayr (sorry...).

Recently I wrote an article for a magazine all about the good work that the Forestry Commission is doing up in Scotland to help support rural businesses and rural pursuits. In the last year the Scottish economy was boosted by around £9,000,000 as a result of the huge interest in mountain biking. Scotland is now one of the world's best places to go both mountain and downhill biking outside of North America - in particular the 7Stanes - seven Forestry Commission owned sites in Dumfries and Galloway.

So last week I had a crack at the blue route at Glentrool and it was quite easy, I'm pleased to say! In fact I did it twice and didn't get off and walk at any of the downhill tricky bits. All of this sufficiently buoyed up my confidence for me to believe I could have a go at the red route at Ae, also known as the Ae Line.

Foolish woman.

It says it's 25km, but the day we did it a large chunk of the route was blocked off as they're harvesting the trees. So they'd constructed an extra route in order to keep everyone 'entertained'. The first bit of this new route was a half mile hike up a wooded hillside.

Well, that's okay, you'd think...er....no. Hillside is perhaps a bit of an understatement....a mountainside covered by a carpet of pine needles would perhaps be a better description. The hike was almost vertical and certainly impossible to ride a bike up! It was also very dark in there as the fir trees produced a Hobbitesque atmosphere - sound deadened and only a weak yellow light made its way through the arboreal gloom.

The next section was a little more opened out but still deep in the forest. Fortunately this section was flat...well, if you can call a path littered with ancient trees and stumps flat. I could barely get a single bike wheel between the fallen trees yet clearly other more experienced (mad) and braver (barking) souls had skipped and jumped on their bikes from bough to bough.

I walked and lifted my bike over the hazards. I'm sure the ride is now around 30km - the Forestry Commission recommends anything from 1.5 - 3 hours.

It took me nearer to 5 hours.

5 hours of terror, pain, exhaustion, shredded nerves, excitement, exhilaration, adrenaline, crying, screaming, laughing and a large bruise on my backside caused when I had my one and only stack.

My fall from grace....

I've described the route as being like a roller coaster on two wheels...in a quarry with a side order of Lord of the Rings and an Ewok village. Scary stuff.

So, was my fall a huge stack taken on a table-top jump? A huge drop off? A steep bermed curve perhaps?

No. I was in the woods on a gentle bit of single track....I'd just had a short walk as my nerve had deserted me and one side of the track was a rather steep drop down the mountainside. I got on my bike and ever so slowly tipped to the right - the same side as the steep drop. I fell in a heap with my head much lower than the rest of me, my legs still entangled in the bike frame. I narrowly avoided sliding all the way down the grassy drop....how? My backside decided to fix itself to a large and very hard rock. The bruising is particularly nasty and not fit for photographic reproduction.

Once I sort through my photographs I may post some of the more challenging parts of the holiday!

Recap...continued

I'll try to keep the details of the holiday fairly brief as it's all in the past now and I want to talk about the present...

So after visiting Zion Canyon we spent the day at Bryce Canyon which is utterly breathtaking and up so high that it's rather chilly too. All the canyons and red rock formations are stunning but I did find that I reached a point where I was at visual overload - it was amazing to look at but I was past caring and wanted a large glass of wine...which come to think of it I never did get around to having, which is criminal quite frankly bearing in mind we spent some time in California too...hmmm...I shall simply have to make up for it now I'm back in the UK (and coincidentally going out for a drink later with The Flatterer! And a female friend of his...it's all platonic, so don't get yourself worked up into thinking that I have suddenly found a 'Love Interest'! Ha! And really, if I had do you think I'd be broadcasting it to all and sundry on the internet? Well, don't answer that one....).


Tomorrow I'll post details of Las Vegas and onwards....

Going Away....

Later this week I’m off to the States with my parents and the kids – an epic road trip starting in Billings, Montana and ending up in Los Angeles, with a quick stop off with family in Detroit before returning to the UK. I’m hoping that while I’m away I’ll be able to post the occasional blog entry and certainly keep up with friends via email and as I’ve even been able to sort out a cell phone for the US I may be able to phone some of you too…

I have sort of mixed feelings about the trip: on the one hand it’s going to be great to get away, visit a beautiful part of the world, go climbing in some amazing places, spend time with the kids, with my parents, go horse riding, white water rafting and generally be on the go the entire time…But on the other hand I’m going to be spending the entire time with my parents, the kids, all up close and personal and I won’t have the usual outlet of seeing and talking to my closest friends on a daily basis….I know I’m not gone for ever, but I won’t be back until the beginning of August and right now that feels like a very long time….

But life is all about experiences and adventures and I’m about to go on a big one! Added to which, this time I’m in charge – those of you who know me well will also know that being in charge pleases me….Not that I’m bossy or anything you understand…..But in my experience things just tend to be much better organised when I’m in charge….Now please stop rolling your eyes.

For those of you whose addresses I have I shall endeavour to send postcards, otherwise, check back here for an update on the road!