The rugby fiend

The view from Bryn Alyn: the hill behind my village

This weekend was great. My former work colleague and friend the Rugby Fiend visited. His company is a real pleasure- the perfect mix of genuine conversation and bullsh1t. He is also the only man I know to have played international rugby for Azerbaijan. The beers flowed, good pubs were visited, walks to cliffs and over hills were made, high-speed 914 trips around country roads executed; and I think he got a feel for life up here in the Welsh slow lane ( he's a city boy you see- London). It was great for me to see a friend from my time down South; a good reminder that part of my life is not just history.
Sometimes catching-up is as good as moving on.

An atmospheric shot of the rugby fiend on one of our walks:

Heavy machinery for dismantling the quarry behind the village- looks very powerful and animal like to me:

Ahhh, the elusive Bluebell:

Maeshafn

Went climbing at Maeshafn crag last night. For those of you who're observant, you'll have noticed that's where I live. It took me 2 mins to drive there, which as Lee pointed out was 40 times less than it used to take me to get to my old haunt of Harrisons Rocks while living down south. I had a great few quick climbs- flashing an English 5c and 6a, making a great go of a 6b too. (flashing means climbing something 1st go without any prior experience of the route) I did the 6b moves in the end (4th attempt), but I'll have to go back and climb the whole route in one go soon.... I'm so lucky to have all this great climbing on my doorstep. Bought some new rock shoes today; absolute bargain, they look pretty too....


Climbing shoes are amazingly tight to enable the use of tiny ledges (the size of a 5p, or half a Loon), this is I think apparent when you see the shoe next to my Birk sandle (and no, they are not very comfortable!):

On the 6b move I used a foot-hold that was about 4mm by 20mm- at 1st glance it seems impossible whilst you're up there....

Last minute Saviour

Down in the local woods, on the edge of our village. Shots with the bluebells were out of focus so not included :¬(

Well, my one day off was starting to look like a complete write-off- too many chores, washing tidying etc had built up. The weather was rubbish- p*ssing down rain all day. So rather than climb indoors, which I didn't fancy at all, I opted for the "task" day. On my way back from re-cycling though, I happened to pass my friend the neighbour (the same one who saved my bad-finger-day). She was off for a walk around the local hills. And then the sun came out- and was some kind of message- so I joined her for a walk. It was great, and apart from having the heavens open for about 10 mins, the whole of our walk was in great weather. I then went to my folks for dinner (which was a super tasty Sunday roast- thanks Mum), and then on to the pub for my Sunday-night-session, with guess who- yep, my friend the neighbour again. This time though her partner joined us, and so much talk of mountain biking was made. All in all, a good day, thanks largely to My Saviour.




My Saviour, up at the highest point of our walk, 30 mins from the village where we live- very windy, and just finished raining- hence the shiny rocks.

Made me smile

Here are some bit's and bobs that have made me smile:

Very British- The London accents are somehow- just; right...
http://dogjudo.co.uk/
I know Blair linked to this but you might have missed "we like the moon"- quite the most bizzarely entertaining song I think I've ever heard...
http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/
I must have seen this 1st about 5 years ago- and low and behold, it's still out there. I know it's wrong, and I feel a little guilty, but it creased me up..
http://www.funlol.com/funpages/redneckfamilyphotos.html
Oh my, if only all car adverts were as politically incorrect as this one....
http://www.compfused.com/directlink/592/
Oh look; they are!
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=61
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=123
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=95
Mastercard:
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=183

One more, fancy some salmon?:
http://www.killsometime.com/Video/video.asp?ID=32

I want that one

I fell in love with the idea of Siberian Huskies a couple of years ago after reading The Cruellest Miles (tale about the event that inspired the Iditarod sled race). This chap is however the first one I've met close up. I was bowled over. He's magnificent! The only thing that stops me being determined to get one, is that they are apprently rather prone to wandering- not a good thing when you go out for walks. Doesn't stop me thinking he's quite the most beautiful dog I've ever seen. "Sigh", maybe some kind of cross.....

Dinner with Gran

My Gran's ace. I'm staying with her whilst I train to trim hoofs. Not every eighty something-year-old is happy to have a 30 odd year old youth living with them (youth is a relative term- I've no wife, kids, house, still listen to my music too loud and drink too much :¬)

Tonight after work, it was my turn to cook (she usually does, and loves it too). My meals tend to be pasta based- time is of the essence. So after Lee showed me his new drill (it's a man thing powertools: his is a Hilti from Lichtenstein- the best you can buy- it's for putting bolts into cliffs for climbing http://www.hilti.co.uk/holuk/modules/prcat/prca_popupproductpic.jsp?OID=29657 ) it was time to cook.
Anyway, I did my usual, but tonight's was particularly tasty, so I thought I'd share the ingredients with y'all:

Cheese and tomato tortellini

fried in olive oil:

I large red onion
4 cloves of garlic
8 cherry tomatos
1 dozen pimento olives
splash of chilli and lemon olive oil
spoon full of pesto
squeeze of lime
splash of merlot
Few leaves of fresh basil
Coarse black pepper

Takes about 20 mins to prepare. The rest of the Merlot went down well ;¬)

Back on Arthur tonight

End of the day, crag bathed in golden light

Paul weighs less than Lee, so when Lee falls off...

Lots of cloud and some rain about, just not on us...


After dropping my bike back at the shop for them to repair the mistakes they'd made servicing it, I was late to the crag. I decided that instead of starting my own route (takes time to get a rope on it etc), I'd just have a play on Ten. To my surprise (and Lee's and Paul's) I completed the 1st move from cold 1st attempt! I then spent the rest of the evening trying, and failing to repeat it! Not that it matters, it was good training, and did my confidence the world of good :¬)
I am now absolutely shattered- time for bed
Some more shots of Arthur above, and the quarry below...

It got better.........

A finger update for those who are deeply concerned......
It's much better and withstood the days climbing without tape (unlike Tuesday, when it still needed protection). I still wouldn't like to abuse it too much, but it's definitely functional. Amazing how fast the body heals (my mum's aloe vera was helpful in speeding things along- thanks mum)
Apparently my brother's just split his little finger open about two thirds of the way along its length- he had paramedics out and the works, but alas, no gory photos, yet.....

(make sure you check out the link on the Marin post- the new one with helmet cam :¬)

Craig Arthur

Is the name of the cliff where I climbed today (above- climber in red on left). Great- I redpointed "Dead man's Creek" (redpoint: technical term that means I climbed the route cleanly a few times safely on a top rope, before leading it clipping the rope as I went- 6c, which for me, is ROCK hard!) Very pleased. I then worked out a solution to a super hard start to another climb called Ten. (Lee and Paul below on the start of Ten)


Was very pleased to suss it- as climb is 7b+ (MEGA hard!).
Lee's spotted a disused quarry with some great unclimbed routes: looks like a great project for the summer. (below) If you're the first person to climb a route, you get to name it. After finishing the days climbing, we went to scope it out.....



Then, to top the day off, I discoved that my bestest friends from Austria (I love you guys!), are finally back on-line, after many months of silence in their new home. Ace! So I did what I had to at a time like this; jump on my bike, and cycle to the next village to have a couple of celebratory pints. Pretty fine. Ahhhhhhh. (if only I had more than one day off.....)

Marin trail... (with photos and new link for video)

Sometimes events conspire to give you a great experience. Today was one of those days. My finger is much better, though definitly not great- so mountain biking was high on my agenda rather than climbing. The weather was better than expecteded, and Lee was off to do some obscenely hard climbs at the biggest cliff in the area. mmmm, not for me; so I called my dad, and managed to convince him to come on a 17 mile mtb trail with me (the Marin trail). Given that my dad has a dodgy ticker and has hardly touched his bike in 2 years, he was totally game, and did a stirling effort, powering around the trail in great form. He's not had as much fun in years (biking at least ;¬) and I'm certain that he'll be keen to go again. We enjoyed perfect weather, and had a great ride. Next trail; Penmachno......

Check out the link below! Near the top on the left, below the red writing, "Helmet Cam"!
http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/gwydyr_marin_mountain_bike_trail.html


http://www.mbwales.com/gwydyr_forest/maps.htm
http://www.mtb-wales.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=424