Ramshaw Raiding....

This week I'm working in the Peak with the University of Derby students, which means I've had the chance to get out on the crags after work. Tuesday I headed down to Cheedale and ticked off a few routes on The Embankment all very pleasant.
Last night however was a slightly different story........ James (who I've been working with) and I headed over to Ramshaw.

Now I have been to Ramshaw a couple of times in the last year and well, I've been eyeing up Ramshaw Crack. I think I must have some masochistic tendancies! So last night was the night to give it a go. The evening didn't get off to the best start when I managed overbalance off Traveller in Time - I blame the lack of a warm up and howling gale.

The main event of Ramshaw Crack was, well to be honest really quite painful! We did tape up, no way I could do it without - although not enough for round one, which meant a trip back to the van for another roll of tape and some reinforcement. I decided to try it ground-up - first go was pretty good, got to the chockstone (wobbly) and tried launching up the wide section, removed large quantities of skin and fell off. Several goes later and with more tape and even less skin, I eventually managed to reach the top of the crag - which means I don't have to do it again!!

I thought the jamming rash looked bad last night - really grim today!!

Goliath films.

 Enjoy!

Getting involved with Goliath!

 Today I headed out to meet Lee Roberts aka LeeDog, at Burbage with some shiny big camalots tucked in my rucksack and prepared to do battle with the Don Whillans classic Goliath.
I had once seconded Phil Dowthwaite up the route a couple of years ago so couldn't claim an on-sight, but was hoping to give it a good go.

Lee went up first and got the camalot 6 well placed before, after a good tussle, being ejected into space (see left!) So then it was my go, I pulled on and immediately it gets pretty physical, got to the big cam, clipped it and carried on through some strenuos laybacking until it's possible to once more get a leg back in the crack and a toe heel, fist jam combo which allows another big cam to go in above. This just left the finishing it off bit..........whereupon I struggled up, got a bit over excited, and tried to reach for the top too soon and slapped for a sloper instead of a jug and of course fell off.

Next go up was worse, fell off really early, and then almost immediately I got back on and managed to get it all right and latch the jug at the top - can't believe how a route so short can make you so tired!


Lee then got back on and decided to go for the more traditional approach and spent quite some time grovelling inside the crack before retreating minus quite a lot of skin from his elbow, ankle, forearm..........

Good expedition cut short by a huge amount of water, some of it in very hard hailstone formation,  hurling itself out of the sky and soaking us all to the skin.
Little bit of film below from the short lived second attempt, will put some more on of the successful version on a separate post.

Now in Wales for a few days so hopefully I'll be able to get some routes done over here if they aren't all being climbed by the BMC International Meet attendees!

Flatness, Windmills and a lot of pedalling.....

 Okay, so we didn't actually see Windy Miller, but we 've definitely been in Windy Miller country for the last few days. Taking advantage of my parents apartment in Lowestoft (thanks Mum and Dad!) Ruth and I headed down for a few days to get some miles in the legs ready for getting involved with some longer rides over the next few weeks, including the Tour of the Roaches sportive.

We did see some great windmills, lots of pigs in fields, lots of beach and some incredibly flat countryside, disappontingly it was quite windy which made the 224 miles over 3 days quite hard work and my legs were quite tired.

Back home in the Peak now and ready to get back on the rock - a couple of hours down the Torrs today to get started......

Cross-training - remembering how to suffer!

Last night I went along to a Manchester Wheelers Club 10 time trial, the last time I did one of these was in 1993, a whole 18 years ago! Crikey that makes me feel very old.
To welcome me back to competitive (only gently) cycling I managed to be the 13th person to sign on at the event - not sure I believe in superstition but wasn't very happy all the same!

So I coughed up my £3 and lined up for some lung burning, leg cramping suffering and pain.
26.35minutes later I was practically vomiting but safely back from my 2 laps of the quite windy circuit. It definitely wasn't one of those "float" nights they talk about!
My personal best at the peak of my cycling obsession was somewhere between 22 and 23 minutes - alzheimers setting in I can't actually remember the time!

These time trials happen every couple of weeks during the summer so I think I'll be heading back to try and improve.......

Looks like the training is working......

Well it seems all this climbing must be doing something for my rock climbing - I managed to finish off my very first 7c yesterday - Comedy at Kilnsey. After a day last week trying the route and getting too knackered to redpoint it I headed back yesterday and managed it second redpoint - very chuffed. No pictures of me actually climbing as Ruth was a bit busy belaying and knew she'd get shouted at if she tried to multi-task.

Maybe the 8a dream could happen one day?? Just need to find the right route - ie. one that isn't all about tiny crimps.......any suggestions greatfully received!

Check out the swans!! (Andy is going to kill me for sneaking this one in after he wrote the post! Ruth)

The time has come to train.....

The summer seems to have arrived a bit quicker than I had hoped, which means I need to be climbing better! All the sunshine is totally amazing and I've been getting out quite a lot over the last couple of weeks. Pretty psyched to sport climb at the moment and get strong and fit, so I've been sampling the delights of Cheedale which is right on my doorstep and has a good selection of low 7's for me to get stuck into. The main crags are all pretty dry, although a brief visit to the Cornice did show that it's still really dirty and dusty.

Further afield I've had a couple of days up in Yorkshire, Jonny G and I headed for Malham to start with but ran away with our fingertips blistering after 1 route and headed instead for Kilnsey (we weren't too popular with Ruth as she was out on her bike and it meant an extra few miles for her!). Perfect conditions for climbing at Kilnsey, in the shade and needing a warm jacket for belaying and a t-shirt for climbing. Just a shame it's all so steep and hard!! Not a fully successful visit but made some progress on a route and feel armed to go back and finish it off next time - and it's all good mileage.

The most successful bit of the day as far as I was concerned was the use of Jonny's CU Belay glasses - they are awesome - no sore neck at the end of the day, and I don't care if they look ridiculous!!

The more observant may also notice that the mop has gone - I'm hoping the weight loss will have a positive effect and not a Samson weakness effect!