Monthly Archives: Jul 2017

Silver, day 3

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Bright run 22°C, light wind
Carl and I took two groups of Silver for training onto a small plateaux at the eastern end of the Brecons. Our two groups were spot on with navigation through farmland and higher up on the open access land. One participant gap struggled to keep up with her group. She was badly overloaded so I elected to empty the most unnecessary kit from her backpack. She is only slightly built, but carried a very heavy bag. Even I was considerably slowed down with the handfuls I took.

The search for water: Carl took the two groups to the top and I headed off west a short way to collect water. We would get through a lot today and it’s unlikely there’s be more at the top. With my little filter, it took about 20 minutes to fill 3 litres.
SilverTraiingD3

The descent and a casualty: we all reached the bottom with few problems. Our gold group were there sitting cooling off. One girl looked wrong. Pallid, cold and clammy, she had clear signs of heat exhaustion. the group had not got enough water on the  ridge. This would be the end of her expedition but she has enough to complete her practice.

Finding the bunkhouse: I hate Satnavs. they don’t do anything to inspire confidence. This one tried repeatedly to direct me over bridges over the River Usk that were too small for the minibus.

Brecon Beacons (day 2).

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14°C, rain all day. Some heavy.

late start with much to do in the morning.  It turned into a QMD. I stopped the clock at 6h 50m.when I got back to the minibus.

late finish but not as bad as last night.
Carl and I dropped the Silver trainers off and I set off to Pen-y-Fan summit to intercept the two Gold groups. Incidentally, I had a fright on the way up when my map blew away. Fortunately, I had the bag off at the time and could set off in rapid pursuit. It hadn’t gone very far, much to my relief.
The summit was easy enough with a sandstone staircase for the last bit. There is a substantial cairn at the top with a plaque.

Other schools were using the ridge for their Gold Practice runs too. Group after group headed east from an independent Girls’ school near London. They seemed so confident and upbeat in the harsh weather. One of their guys on the checkpoint thought he’d seen a group of four go by so after sandwiches, I headed east. I was quite anxious that I’d miss them and it would be a wasted journey when Carl might have appreciated help with the training group.

Behind Cribyn, I found them. They were happy but cold. Only 2 had gloves, 1 a hat and 3 no waterproof trousers. Abi was especially cold in her cotton tee-shirt. Lend out 2 pairs of gloves and a merino base layer to them. I was so pleased to see them and be able to help out.

This gold group thought that the other Gold group can’t be far behind. Two of those had packs weighing in at 20kg  which made their likely position beyond the first summit. So, off I went.
The phone rang to say that Gold group 2 weren’t even on access land. They had problems. It was better for me to intercept one of the Silver groups approaching Fan-y-Big. About turn and go east again!

SilvFanYbig

Silver Practice group’s first ever mountain summit.

This silver group were on the Bwlch before Fan-y-big and in good condition. Not far in front, Gold were on the summit so I could catch them. From a distance, they were visible in the hill fog making the correct descent near cliffs in the mist. A very capable group, apart from their kit.

Both groups made good descents once I’d finished the photo shoot.

Once again, I marched west, this time to catch the 2 Silver training groups on Pen-y-Fan. However, they’d returned forcing me to find a route down on the next ridge. there is a fabulous path across the north face of Cribyn.

Silver, day 1

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19°C run and clouds, little rain.
Some chaotic organisation and a very late finish today. My Silver training group began the climb to Fan Fawr in the Brecons. The incline came as a shock to them, they carried full packs which were sometimes, overloaded. They really need to be ruthless when packing.
silvTraining1
We never made it to the summit but did do some good navigation tuition- contour, aspect, zig-zags, hand-rails, attack-point and walking on a compass. They need a different range of skills to those used in farmland.
All of them did enjoy the view on this ring-contour. After, we set off north aiming for a path junction. They made the classic mistake of steering right because of the slope.

The day, however, turned into a late one. Rain drew in and the Silver Practice group arrived at their camp near dark. Carl and I drove back and forth with stuff for various groups. Then it became obvious that their campcraft was inadequate. They were tired and miserable putting up a tent in the dark with lights were poor. The rain started about this time. I couldn’t put my own one up because it was locked in the van.

Finally, I got my own food on the stove about 12:30. For me, it worked out better to eat before pitching my tent. In bed by 1am and lights out be half-past.

75 miles in comfort.

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22°C, light breeze and some sun. Dry.

I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 118.89km, time: 05:10:08, pace: 2:37min/km, speed: 23.00km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2317797326

Adjusted the saddle before setting off, so glad I did. The ride remained comfortable right to the end. Still, the seat-post needs replacing. The seat goes out of adjustment too easily leading to backache.​

I spun alley today and I’m sure that’s why the long miles were comfortable. Oh, by the way, that’s 75 miles in old money.

Kingfisher on the canal loop.

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19°C, sunny and still.
I rode The Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 25.50km, time: 01:27:27, pace: 3:26min/km, speed: 17.50km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2314941230


Somebody had time to spare. This pile of stones was not there last time I came by.
Better than that, I look a phone call while out and had to interrupt when a Kingfisher flashed by. It was so fast but the ultraviolet glow was unmistakable. Excellent!

Bronze Qualifying 2017-B

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22 – 26°C, hot and close, thunder threatened but didn’t materialise. 

Qualifying Expedition:

Day 1: very warm and (almost) inevitably, most groups struggled.
I manned the checkpoint at Weag’s Bridge. Emma and I headed south to intercept and hid near a dry sites crossing. One group went by oblivious to us. We then snuck up on the next group having a sit-down rest. The last group didn’t arrive for ages. We sat by a big tree while we waited. From there, we could see their approach from about 1 kilometer. Eventually, they appeared on the horizon. They didn’t seem to see me sitting in the grass by the side of the track. Even when they stopped for a moment, two of them facing my way. They still didn’t notice me smirking at them.
I picked up 3 groups in the minibus. We saw some rather poor navigation decisions during this day. One group circled Wetton village unable to find their route. Problem is, they did their orbits on the road. Overall. The performance this day was quite poor.
Day Two, a Tuesday. Much better, some groups finished quite early and no minibus rescues were needed.BronQual17

Day 2: Better, no serious mistakes were made and they completed in reasonable time.
To celebrate, in the early evening we got the fire-pit going and let the kids toast marsh-mellows (sandwiched between chocolate biscuits things).

The dark and angry cottage.

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21°C, white cloud.

This summer’s expedition didn’t require any rescues but one group said they’d lost their walkie-talkie. We drove into the village and parked for near the footpath for a short time.​

A grumpy note! I accept that it was possible to leave the minibus in a carpark. My only problem with this note is the opening childish sarcastic content. If you want my sympathy, don’t throw away any respect with that stupid suggestion about my abilities. Besides, why would anybody need a map, there is a big sign to the carpark across the road. You don’t have exclusive rights to the road outside your house, that’s not how the law works in this country.
A different approach would have easily won my sympathy and probably, an apology. But if you’d come out from hiding in your house, I would have nothing to say to you. Your choice.

Bronze Qualifying 2017- A

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from 17 to 26°C, not much rain, some hot and close days.

Group A; This group had really hot weather on their practice expedition.  On those days, they really struggled. Their stamina and concentration was really low. On Monday and Tuesday, they were problem free which supports my idea that it’s hot weather that really gets these kids. They become really slow and make mistakes with navigation.bronzeQual_1

Wednesday; it took three trips in the minibus to ferry the kids to Ilam for the pickup. The coach arrived on-time carrying the second half of the year-group who were ready to start their expedition. As you can imagine, there was much faffing about organising bags and the loan of boots to those who arrived in unsuitable footwear. Many more had decent boots on but wore trainer socks. Chris bought socks later to lend out.

 

Mixed canal and road.

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Bright sun and westerly wind. 19°C.

I rode the Kona Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 77.83km, time: 03:51:47, pace: 2:59min/km, speed: 20.15km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2302108298

Today, I broke the saddle. It’s the same break that they always have- immediately behind the clamp on one rail. I never really liked that seat anyway. Later, I rode along a canal from Rufford to join the Leeds-Liverpool canal.​


Another fault has developed recently, the gear change is worse and adjustment makes no difference. The barrel adjuster is at its limit. In fact, it’s beyond. The adjuster is screwed out entirely. Unfortunately, it won’t screw back in. Perhaps the thread is damaged.