17°C, showers imminent.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 44.54km, time: 01:39:07, pace: 2:14min/km, speed: 26.96km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3100448860
In this field of cabbages stands one solitary, proud sunflower.
I’ve come back from my hiking trip in Scotland annoyed with my phone. I have an old 3G Samsung Mini 3III.
There are two main problems:
1/ the screen is unreadable in summer sunshine,
2/ sometimes, the notification sounds and switches on the screen. Sometimes, it does this every 4 seconds, sometimes even when the phone is switched off. Doing that, the battery is used up in just a few hours even when the phone is left on flight mode.
While I was away, the phone used half the monthly data on Google Services. That’s presumably some kind of software update. It did this while on flight mode with synch switched off.
This phone is about 4 years old, so it may be time to replace it. The criteria for choosing a phone has changed since:
The solution could be: a Motorola G6.
Next bit, pick a contract. Either get another SIM only contract and buy the phone. The other choice is a monthly contract that dovers the cost of the phone. Initially, I decided on the latter. Once I went through the registration, it was revealed that I’d have to pay more because I’m not a new customer. This is annoying because that penalises me for customer loyalty. At that point, I backed out and left the shop empty handed.
16°C, gloomy drizzle and blustery SW
I rode Kona Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 31.86km, time: 01:32:04, pace: 2:53min/km, speed: 20.76km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3087552775
Once I got off the track, it was obvious that the tyres were too soft. Topping up the pressure should be easy, right? The first two attempts left me with a flat tyre. Unscrewing the pump head also unscrewed and removed the valve. Annoying. Eventually, I got it in and it held some pressure, but no more than 20psi.
Its horrible riding with only 20psi, the rear wheel squelches and skids from side to side. It doesn’t feel safe at all.
Tried blnowing up a road bike tyre with the pump and it worked just fine. That probably means the problem all along was the valve is too short on this rim.
17°C, 3/5 sun brisk SSW dry.
I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 52.54km, time: 02:11:13, pace: 2:30min/km, speed: 24.02km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3086065537
A normal ride on the summer bike and a familiar route. At the lights in Tartleton, a puddle of yellow liquid. It didn’t smell but was viciously slippery after getting it on the tyres. What was it, it didn’t smell of diesel so maybe a vegetable oil?
I phoned the police about it, that liquid was dangerous if you are on two wheels.
17°C, drizzle and onshore breeze.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 44.31km, time: 01:50:20, pace: 2:29min/km, speed: 24.10km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3078674872
Same route as last time but with claggy weather. The biggest difference was my energy, I was quite enfeebled. The machines felt heavier and I couldn’t do so many repetitions.
This next photo is puzzling, it looks like the grim reaper out on the mud flats.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 6.29km, time: 25:40, pace: 4:05min/km, speed: 14.71km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3079817260
A quick evening ride to watch the sun go down. The sand flats go out miles into a big sky.
That was satisfying.
More rain, 14°C, followed by rain again.
Leaving Scotland is easier when the weather is bad, more so when the outlook is also poor.
With the tent packed (wet) by 7.30, I was ready. The most remarkable point to note of the trip is the lack of midges. I finished happy with my fitness, the dragging feeling from the first few days had gone. I came down from Lawers tired but not worryingly so. Physical tiredness can be a satisfying feeling. Every year I think to myself how fit I could be if I did hikes like these every week.
To review, I just counted up my Munro bag, it’s now 51 summits. The total for all, Corbets and so on is around double that figure. I have a cracked tent pole to fix and wet smelly kit to wash. The only annoyance has been my mobile phone. I’ll post about that separately.
Here is the almost traditional Tebay melancholy shot. I took this picture as an interval from my sketchbook. The trip is complete in the sense that I want to go back, hence the melancholy mentioed at the top.
12°C, rain, much of it heavy with brisk SW.
Moved to the Trossachs, this gives me a new area to explore and a shorter drive home than Ardnamuchan. The Ben Lawers range was recommended by the Fife couple. It may be that I don’t get onto the range of Munros immediately north of here because of the weather. Often in previous years, I have used the return journey to look for ideas for future trips. Maybe this stop will work the same.
Found a campsite on the shore of Loch Tay. This area seems more geared towards caravans and even this site is dominated by those hideous things. This place is a bit of a come-down after the fine views at the last site. Perhaps the hill-fog will lift in the morning and something exciting with appear.
3.1/ Ben Lawers and the ridge: first some stats, total 8h54mins (incl stops); total ascent 1518m, descent 1256m, distance ;
Summits: Beinn Glas, 1103m; Ben Lawers, 1214m; An Stuc, 1118m; Meall Garbh, 1118m. I skipped out Meall Greigh because of titimeme and the rain had started heavily by then.
Summits were gained quite easily, I felt fit. That dragging sleepy feeling had gone which plagued the day on Ben Hiant. Maybe I was held back by a bug or something. All of the summits were in thick hill fog and strong wind. I estimate 40mph gusts, I unfolded the poles after B. Lawers.
There was lots of geology, despite the terrible visibility. Schist was in abundance as were micro-folds. There were rocks with tight zig-zag folds as little as 6″ amplitude. I took no photos because of worries about tne effect hmudity or rain would have on tbe camera. Perhaps that’s why I got round so quickly.
The descent from the bealach at larig Innein was grassy and fairly easy. There were faint trails to follow down past an enclosure to a dam. It’s a small dam that’s part of a bigger system, presumably for collecting fresh water. These structures reminded me of those on Ben Cruachen. Burn water is collected into numbered inlets into a huge pipe that mostly runs beneath the ground. The pipe is black as is the concrete hese structures are made from. All over are rusty or white streaks from weathering. As I walked south, I played a counting game to pace out the way. This section is easy and I wanted to cover some ground quickly. Turning downhill, the track zig-zags once before I had to leave it to follow a derelict stone wall. Follow that and it leads you back to the car park. Sounds easy huh? In a way, this last leg was the hardest with deep gullys streams to cross and rough ground hidden by tussocks. That last 3 km took nearly a 2 hours. Was it the hardest or was I beginning to tire? Either way, it was a slog along long grass and heather. The trickiest bit was crossing gulleys that contain Burns which were partly hidden by bracken.
At the end car-park, a mountain rescue party arrived at the same time as me. Two women were lost in the mist, I overheard. They’d gone to B. Lawers and intended to come back the same way. They phoned for help in the An Stuc area. So they went north off the summit instead of SW. Oh dear.
Micycle 