Hi all, as winter seems to be dragging on I have had plenty of time to test:
Endura Flyte Jacket
Hutchinson 29er Toro tyres
Northwave Celsius GTX boot
All which have been amazing in the wet and cold weather.
I'll write some short reviews on these shortly.
But in general they have been awesome bits of kit an super happy with their performance.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Thursday, 21 February 2013
2013 - what's happening?
or at least planned.
I look back on 2012 and all in all, I can't complain. Sure some races didn't go to plan, but I did go to Alaska, Canada and France. I climbed fairly well even if opportunities were limited and I enjoyed the training for climbing and cycling. I met some pretty cool and nice people stuck up a mountain or on an airstrip, saw a greedy brown bear and complained about the UK weather, with everyone else.
Lets look forward.
In what is becoming a time honored tradition, I don't plan to make things easy for myself and in some ways the long suffering, yet amazingly supportive Nik. She deserves a medal or a new Yeti ASR5 Carbon. :)
So there is the normal assortment of 24hr races on the list:
24hrs of Exposure - 24hrs Solo UK and European Champs, as a Vet still on a single speed this year. May
Bontrager Twentyfour12 - Solo Vet. July
Gorrick 100, always a great race. May
WEMBO 24hrs Solo Worlds in the ACT, Australia. Well if I sort my entry this weekend. October
Amongst this lot things might get a bit bonkers, well there is a plan for it to be anyway. A couple of challenges set are the following:
South Downs Double - on a single speed. I think Rob Dean's record is safe.
Pennie Bridleway, in one push. This truly is going to either test me or break me and we might even start a book on it. This will be an attempt at the full length, not including the loops, roughly 560k's. It will be hard enough as it is. August
So that is the cycling big hits for the year, what about climbing. Well, there are a couple and maybe not as dramatic as heading to attempt Denali last year, but challenging for me just the same.
The first is to climb some more E3's and try a couple of E4's. There are a couple of E3's I have fluffed in the past, that will certainly be tried again. Small steps first.
Much to my own disbelief, there still seems to be unclimbed lines within the UK at a lot of different grades. So I will search out some of these and see what can be climbed, its the adventure and unknown that I like about such lines, it is really nice to climbed something that no-one else has.
I have found a few and indeed climbed at least one (Antiquity Direct, Skyline, Australia, Llanberis Slate, 2011) of the few I have found in the pass. They seem to exist as many other climbers want to climb the classics, the test pieces, lack adventure, etc...Who really knows?
Continuing this theme Dan Bergo and I are in discussions in relation to some opportunities to do the same, just on bigger rock faces abroad (not big walling mind). This really is just talk at present, but we are both keen as it appeals to the adventurers in us. I will certainly update as this progresses.
So what's first, well, get the damn garage finished. Bikes out the house and continue training and look forward to a fun year. Oh and enter the WEMBO race. Finally, be really especially nice to Nik or my brakes might not work. :(
I look back on 2012 and all in all, I can't complain. Sure some races didn't go to plan, but I did go to Alaska, Canada and France. I climbed fairly well even if opportunities were limited and I enjoyed the training for climbing and cycling. I met some pretty cool and nice people stuck up a mountain or on an airstrip, saw a greedy brown bear and complained about the UK weather, with everyone else.
Lets look forward.
In what is becoming a time honored tradition, I don't plan to make things easy for myself and in some ways the long suffering, yet amazingly supportive Nik. She deserves a medal or a new Yeti ASR5 Carbon. :)
So there is the normal assortment of 24hr races on the list:
24hrs of Exposure - 24hrs Solo UK and European Champs, as a Vet still on a single speed this year. May
Bontrager Twentyfour12 - Solo Vet. July
Gorrick 100, always a great race. May
WEMBO 24hrs Solo Worlds in the ACT, Australia. Well if I sort my entry this weekend. October
Amongst this lot things might get a bit bonkers, well there is a plan for it to be anyway. A couple of challenges set are the following:
South Downs Double - on a single speed. I think Rob Dean's record is safe.
Pennie Bridleway, in one push. This truly is going to either test me or break me and we might even start a book on it. This will be an attempt at the full length, not including the loops, roughly 560k's. It will be hard enough as it is. August
So that is the cycling big hits for the year, what about climbing. Well, there are a couple and maybe not as dramatic as heading to attempt Denali last year, but challenging for me just the same.
The first is to climb some more E3's and try a couple of E4's. There are a couple of E3's I have fluffed in the past, that will certainly be tried again. Small steps first.
Much to my own disbelief, there still seems to be unclimbed lines within the UK at a lot of different grades. So I will search out some of these and see what can be climbed, its the adventure and unknown that I like about such lines, it is really nice to climbed something that no-one else has.
I have found a few and indeed climbed at least one (Antiquity Direct, Skyline, Australia, Llanberis Slate, 2011) of the few I have found in the pass. They seem to exist as many other climbers want to climb the classics, the test pieces, lack adventure, etc...Who really knows?
Continuing this theme Dan Bergo and I are in discussions in relation to some opportunities to do the same, just on bigger rock faces abroad (not big walling mind). This really is just talk at present, but we are both keen as it appeals to the adventurers in us. I will certainly update as this progresses.
So what's first, well, get the damn garage finished. Bikes out the house and continue training and look forward to a fun year. Oh and enter the WEMBO race. Finally, be really especially nice to Nik or my brakes might not work. :(
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