Glendalough

The technical issue which was due to delay all of RyanAir's flights this morning was somehow resolved and Fiona's flight arrived in Dublin on time. Dad and I collected her and then after breakfast, headed back up to the airport to get the hire car for the next 2 days. On a whim I decided to get a satnav with the car. I had only used on before in the States (Michigan, Nov 08) and was curious if they had really caught on in Europe. I know route mapping was popular but when we were in Midland we were able to enter things like "toy store" and get results. When I got back to Scotland I tried a machine at the local Dixons but very few businesses had been googled by then, so the feature didn't really work and there wee few categories apart from address. I entered my mum's house and the route suggested was the same one I would take anyway, so I headed off with some confidence.
 After checking the paper map (M50, Junct11, N81, R756: I work with IT, I'm not stupid) we headed off with our packed lunches for Glendalough. So far so good the sat nav brought us out of Swords and headed south towards the airport and the M50. It wouldn't let us on the M50 though. I figured the maps were out of data as some of these roads are very new, the tarmac still warm. But no problem, it would eventually catch up. But no. Despite knowing we were on the M50 it was not happy about us driving on it, attempting to direct us off at every junction, ending in a desperate cry of "Recalculating" once it realised we still weren't going its way. Finally we made it to J11 and we decided to let it have its way. It immediately brought us through a housing estate but eventually we ended up on the R115. This would have been a lovely road to take had the weather been anything other than what it was - pouring rain, with low cloud. Sadly we were climbing in the Wicklow Mountains with poor visibility. I was quite disappointed - I knew the scenery was amazing but you just couldn't see that much. As we crawled along the road passing sodden cyclists it finally began to lighten. By the time we came across Glenmacness Waterfall I had to stop for a photo as it was finally clear enough to get an idea of the entire region.

Glenmacness Waterfall, Wicklow panoramic made from 35 photos

Once we arrived at Glendalough (and ate lunch) the weather did improve. We headed into the Visitor Centre where we were told that we could pay to see the exhibition and film, or just go outside and see the Tower and other monuments for free. He then suggested that as it was dry, to just go back outside and come back when it started to rain. Finding it hard to fault his logic we headed back out and into the "Monastic Village".

The tower and the buildings are quite impressive. The remaining structures are estimated to have been built in the 10th-12th century, but the site had been active since the 6th century. From a teasing point of view, it has a very good example of the early Irish space programme with turf fired granite rockets. As we walked through the site we were really taken with the cemetery. Some of the graves were quite old while some were surprisingly new - I hadn't appreciated that the cemetery was still active.
We then started on a half hearted walk to the lakes which are further up the valley. We didn't get too far before the rain started and we felt compelled to turn back, which did seem to appease the rain gods since the rain more or less stopped.
After visiting the visitor centre and watching the film we again turned on the sat nav and headed back home. The trip home still wouldn't let us use the motorway but since we knew where we were we didn't feel to bothered.

It's a light and tumble journey...

From the East Side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.
Simon and Garfunkel - At the Zoo

 Michele took all six of us out to the zoo today. It was great fun. I haven't been to Dublin Zoo in absolute ages.
The weather wasn't great, but really only rained hard on us once and that was while we were in the Gorilla house, so we just hung about there a little longer. Some of the showers were a bit on the damp side, but you just gotta bear it. As usual Ciaran played to his audience, but I suspect neither Bobby nor Ava seem that impressed with what he had to say, certainly they look dubious in this photo.
They really have done a lot of work around the zoo with new enclosures being implemented all the time. The new enclosures seem to mean less visibility of the animals but its better in the long term for their health.

The real clever thing is the family pass which meant it was at least the 4th time that Michele had brought the children into the zoo. They would come in and fo0llow different paths, in different directions so that they wouldn't get bored with seeing the same animals in the same order.Yet in all that time they had managed not to see the Red Panda. This is related to the giant Panda but is only the size of a cat, coloured like a fox, with a big bottle tail. Its also know an the fire fox though the browser uses a red fox as its mascot.

Its amazing how much fun the zoo is and no matter how wet and unhappy you seem, its always a good time.

Kilmainham Gaol

Ciaran and I took the advice of my cousin and headed into town to visit Kilmainham Gaol. It was our first real trip on the Luas and we were well impressed, though felt the signposting at the far end could have been better. This is a major tourist attraction but there were no signs from the Luas stop, only a general map of the city that had not been vandalised.

The jail itself is a scarily impressive early Victorian one. The original plan was that prisoners would be reformed, so the emphasis was on silence and solitude. The acoustics are remarkable. Single cells and no contact with anyone for the majority of the time (at least the first year of a sentence). However reality overcame design and like other prisons it was overcrowded. The limestone walls held moisture keeping it cool in the summer but damp and cold in winter. Gas heating was fitted later but only used for about an hour a day. Some of the crimes committed to get in seemed pretty tame (stealing potatoes or an apple) but once you realise that, especially for destitute children, it was a better option than the workhouse. In fact the governor of the jail campaigned to have the children's food allowance cut by 4 ounces to more closely match the workhouse and discourage children being sentenced just to 'beef up'.

Apart from being a real jail, it played an significant role in the fight for Irish Independence, especially the 1916 Easter Uprising. As the second city of the empire, many Dubliners did not support an independent Ireland and were not happy with the Easter Rebellion, spitting at and throwing waste at the prisoners as they were eventually marched to Kilmainham. However it was the cold execution of these prisoners over the following weeks which turned public opinion toward the rebellion. Perversely, during the Civil War the Irish Government also used the prison to house and execute Republicans, further cementing a dislike for the jail.

The main thrust of the restoration of the jail is in recognition of the role the jail had in the various uprisings. Cells where prominent leaders were held are all noted. Its certainly worth a visit.

One of the problems of creating panoramic photos is shown here. Can anyone see it?

Airshow 2010

Fiona and I headed out to East Fortune for the 2010 Airshow. Its the first airshow I've been to in ages and I had a really good time. In all honesty, it wasn't Fiona's thing and I'm sure I'm going to have to owe her something.
It was a pretty good day though. Having been out for her cousin's 21st, we started out form her mum's house, which took at least an hour off the get-up and go time, which made things much easier. The forecast was for clouds with light rain as the afternoon progressed, but we hoped there was enough margin for error to allow us to see the planes. The drive to East Fortune was quiet enough with not much traffic, even once you got near the airfield. The parking was simple. They were using the old runway and we were put into the first row of the second half (the intersection of the 2 runways) where the car would be easy to find on the way out.
We had two hours before the flight programme started so we looked around at the 'static' display. In a sense it was a little disappointing. Apart from vendors, there were no new static displays for the show itself, only the usual museum displays. That being said, there was still a lot to see in the various hangers and store rooms, including the first operational Concorde, lots of info on the R34, the first transatlantic airship which flew from here to Mineola in Long Island, and the usual array of restored planes. After wandering around for the 2 hours we headed down to the main display arena, bought folding chairs and settled in to watch the show.
In all, there were 17 displays over the next 3 hours, including an intermission where Fiona and I managed to get something to eat.
The displays ranged from a plane towing a glider which was performing with another plane, to the glider on its own, to the tug plane and the glider pilot (in a tug plane); to early jets displaying on their own; old and new biplanes with and without lycra clad wing walkers; and restored war veterans.

It is always amazing to see the control that these pilots have over the planes. Two of the planes, the Mustang and the Skyraider both developed mechanical faults which limited their performance, but in both cases they managed to adjust the show to accommodate this. (Both plance did actually fly and display, but restricted their actions to fairly simply passes - the Mustang had a generator fault and the Skyraider had an open landing carriage bay). Most of the other planes (with the exception of the Catalina and the Douglas) put on an impressive display and the wingwalkers went for a handshake - they just barely missed each other

Visually, the most impressive had to be the Wingwalkers (even without being able to see them close up). The idea of standing on your hands while travelling at up to 150 mph on the wing of an air plane is not my cup of tea. Even the noise of the biplanes - as the pitch of the propeller changed the wingtip would sometimes go supersonic with tiny sonic booms adding to the noise. Sound wise it was between the awesome roar of the Hunter's jet and the emotional Merlin of the Spitfire.

The photos here are (from the top) a Vampire, the Aerostarts in Yak 52s and Yak 50s, the Mustang, the Skyraider, the Spitfire, the Catalina, the Wingwalkers and the Hunter. Not showm are the Swift Team (the Glider and Twisters), Tigermoth, Pitts , Dakota DC-3, Kittyhawk p-39, the Starduster, the Bulldog, and the Tutor.

At the end fi the flight programme we thought we would have an opportunity to continue looking around the museum displays, but sadly everything was closing at the same time. In fact, in a remarkably short time the traffic was clearing the car park. So we never got the opportunity this time to see Concorde (although I have seen it here a few times already) Perhaps we'll have to make another trip back?
We did get the chance to shop with another few models being bought, though not of anything on display today - Ciaran tends to prefer Russian modern fighers.

We made it back to the car, now sitting alone, facing the wrong direction for the flow of traffic with streams of cars passing on the drivers side, making it hard to simply get back into the car. Taking the road less travelled "Local Access Only" brought us down the quiet roads into North Berwick where we had a nice Italian dinner before heading back to Strathaven to collect Fiona's car.

Scotland's Secret Bunker

I took Ciaran and Cameron up into Fife to Scotland's Secret Bunker. This is the Cold War remnant that would have housed to Secretary of State for Scotland and about 300 other troops in the event of all out nuclear war. It was a bit of an eye opener.
The location was proper Hollywood - the opening scenes from Matthew Broderick's War Machine. This Scottish farm, with its remote out buildings, looks similar to any other one.

Nowadays you can see that the shutters are metal and not wood, but that would not have been noticeable while operational. You then go into the farmhouse (you don't see much of the farmhouse actually - you go in the door into a gift shop with a small staircase heading downstairs, behind a turnstyle), through the turnstyle and down the flight of stairs. Its a deep set of stairs, certainly more than typical in a house, with a long doglegged corridor heading downward in front of you.
The corridor ends in a large blast door. Once inside the space is quite impressive, though with a full complement of over 300 people I'm sure its not that big really. All in all, there are two levels, completely isolated from the ground for both electronic and shock protection, each level being the size of a football pitch. Total depth is 40 metres with accommodation, medical, broadcast on the upper level and the real operational stuff on the lower one.
With dorms operating on a hot bed policy - you climb out and someone else climbs in - it was good to know that even at the end of the world class was noticed - the more senior officials slept 4 to a room with SecStateScotland having his own room.
The staff had an 18 hours duty shift followed by 6 hours sleep with closely monitored and chaperoned interaction between male and female staff.  Though, with no water for bathing I'm not too sure how difficult a job that would be.
I think the lack of people actually working (there were a good number of visitors so the corridors all looked busy) makes the rooms seem bigger than they need be. With more bodies pressed in I think a greater sense of the scale would be obvious.

As it was, the few mannequins which were present always looked understaffed for the job.
Some aspects are quite odd -on the whole the bunker looks like something out of the cold war (which makes sense) but this bunker was operational until 1993, yet the tech is very 1960s or even earlier, making it look much more like a 1950's show. I appreciate that the tech is donated and there are still national security issues - there are some rooms which are still off limits due to national security issues -but it seems hard to understand this bunker being used in the late 80's, again comparing it to War Machine.

Rain Halts Play

When we woke up yesterday the rain was beating off the windows- the sort of day when you turn off the alarm and snuggle back under the duvet for as long as you can manage. Unluckily, it was the only day where we had timed appointments to keep - check out at 1200, Gorge Walking at 1430 and the ferry home at 1920. Between checking out and Gorge walking we had decided we would do our gift shopping and we would also look at the time-shares available within the complex.
Even with the short run out to the car with our gear we got pretty wet. I should have known something more dramatic was up as there was a lot of people arriving for the pool. While checking out another guest was asking about rooms for that night - it seems the ferry currently wasn't running due to gales and no decision would be made until 1300. I checked then about rooms and was told there was no problem as no new people were arriving until the ferry started moving again. Comforted by this we headed to look at the chalets.
 The rain stopped long enough for us to walk over to the chalets, chatting with the sales rep. We told her that we were going to do the gorge walk later and she looked a bit apprehensive. Before I could ask her anything my mobile went off. The gorge walkers had to cancel due to the state the rivers were in.

The agent said she wasn't surprised as there was a lot of water dropped since last night and most was running off. She pointed out "new" rivers down into the glen.
The chalets are quite nice, but expensive. Its a much better option to simply rent them by the day when you would like to use them, but they would appeal to many people. Ciaran fell in love with the 3 bedroom style - 3 double bedroom downstairs with an open plan living room dining room and kitchen upstairs, with a balcony out. Naturally, where they were meant a lovely view.
With no gorge walk we headed down to the ferry to see what was happening.
Ciaran did his bit of shopping, money still seems to burn him, and as we could see foot passengers joining the ship decided to head down to the terminal for an update. The staff were optimistic that sailings would be back to normal so we decided to head out to Glen Sannox to see what the water levels were really like, and then head back to the earlier ferry at 1640.
Once we started out the heavens opened and completely emptied themselves. With the poor visibility and the gale force winds I was really beginning to become concerned. Everywhere had an all over grey colour and the standing water on the roads made travel difficult. Fortunately with the narrow roads you tend not to travel very quickly anyway.
We arrived at Glen Sannox and apart from another family who appeared to all be wearing wet suits there was no one in sight. The rain was coming down so heavy that it wasn't worth the effort of getting out of the car to take the picture of the river. The other family also seemed to decide that conditions were never going to improve so they got into their car and headed away. Since we had no fixed agenda, we decided to wait a while.
After about 10 minutes the rain eased off and we got out for a look around. We could hardy believe our eyes - our happy little stream was a frothing monster, with the water level easily three to four feet higher than where it was only two days ago when we walked here on Friday.
When we were here on Friday we had noticed where the water level had dropped, from the rain on Thursday so we did expect a higher level, but never for the characteristic change which we saw. We now fully understood why the Gorge Walk had to be cancelled. After a while we headed back into Brodick and the ferry home.
Sadly, it was not to be as easy as that. Arriving at the ferry terminal, there was already a good number of cars waiting for the boat. Since we were technically early we had to go into the "unbooked" lane - essentially a standby category. The ferry arrived in and quite quickly seemed to have emptied itself of the Arran bound passengers. It seemed to take quite a long time to get the mainland bound vehicles onto the boat, with parts of lanes going on at a time. However, despite us being second in the standby lane, no cars from there were allowed on, but it looked now like the backlog had been caught up, and that if the ferry did go later then we would be on it.
Less than 20 minutes late, only 3 hours later, we were on board and feeling quite nervous. We could see the way the water in the harbour was moving, the tautness of the wind sock, and the absence of any flying birds to predict an rough trip back to Ardrossan.

We sat out at the back, just in case. By some strange combination of luck and weather, it was actually one of the easiest crossing Ciaran or I have ever made. The wind seemed to come at the back of the ferry at just the pace we were moving away from it, leaving not a breeze on the deck. The strange sense of isolation gave the opportunity to watch the island retreat s we headed back across the Forth.
Finally got home at about 2120, in time for Something, something something dark side, which Ciaran had been looking forward to all week.

Small Circles

Another fairly easy day today.
After breakfast we headed back up the String Road to see if we could see anything more than we could on Thursday. Visibility still wasn't great, but miles better than Thursday.
This is basically the same image as from Thursday:

You still can't see the top of Goatfell but the rest is visible. This path heads out about 200m to a circular bench which overlooks Glen Rosa and Goatfell.
We continued along the String and headed off into Machie. There is an impressive stone circle but this time we headed off to see the stone circle at Auchagallon.

A little bit of forced perspective going on here as the stones are only a few feet high. It seems that these were more usually a kerbed cairn with the stones almost acting as retaining walls, but excavations during the 19th century often didn't put them back together the same way.
At this point the weather changed. Every time we would get somewhere it would start to rain. We would either wait it out and eventually give up, or just move on immediately. We did make it back up to Lochranza and had a look at the castle.

We continued along the coast, saw an outboard powered Viking long boat, and bough some cheese.
After dinner we continued the ritual and spent about 2 hours in the pool

North Glen Sannox

Had an easy start to the day. Nether of us woke up til after 0930, a bit of a problem when breakfast ends at 0930. Had to rush despite being on holiday. After breakfast we headed back to the room to plan the day. Weather wise, it not too bad a day. Its overcast but not actually raining, breezy but warm.
We cannot see the top of Goatfell yet so do not want to try something that dramatic but it does look like a nice enough day to try something else - like North Glen Sannox.
We headed into Brodick to get some stuff for lunch and then headed off through Corrie along to the car  park for the Sannox walk.
It was a nice pleasant walk with the weather getting better as we headed along. As with most paths on Arran this one was in great condition. It brought us through moorland and then forestry park, with the river running alongside us. Once we crossed the deer gate back into moorland we decided that the dark clouds coming over Arran were a little bit too ominous. We found a good spot and settled for our lunch.
While we we eating wee saw a large bird of prey. Lochranza distillery have some golden eagles as mascots - perhaps one of those?

The walk back to the car was uneventful apart from me going over on my bad ankle a few times. On the way back it threatened rain a few times but never came to anything.
Spent the rest of the day in the pools. By the time we got back to the hotel Ciaran felt he was due a swim so, after booking a Gorge Walk for Sunday lunchtime, we headed to the pool in the main hotel. So we swam there for just over an hour, headed back for dinner, once that settled, back to Spa pool for just under 2 hours.
While we were in the pool the threatening rain finally arrived. It was bouncing off the pavement  6 inches!

Drip Drip Drip...

It was quite a rough crossing this morning. Both Ciaran and I were a bit squiffy but fortunately neither of us crossed the threshold! It did slow us down though for the rest of the day.

No that there was much going on. Arran is lovely but is really an outdoor place and it takes a special sort of outdoorsy person to get out of  a nice dry car and deliberately get wet and miserable.
In between showers we went for a quick walk down in Broderick. Ciaran made a beeline for a small toy store and in among the other items found the MIG-29 he has been looking for. Then back via the Chocolate Store made him one happy boy.
We then drove South down the East coast with Ciaran practicing his orienteering skills but despite it not actually raining anymore, it never really cleared up. The drive back along the "String" the road through the middle of the island had us up in the cloud cover. Impressive considering we were walking above this last year.

Just at the edge of this picture the land falls away about 100m down to the valley floor and then rises over 200m to overlook the road by about 100m. Not visible today.

After we checked in we headed off to Brodick Castle for lunch and the tour. Its a residential castle - I prefer old ruined ones - but full of impressive items. Some of the grandfather clocks are from 1680s and still working and keeping time!
We later headed back to the hotel and dinner. We then spent the evening in the pool - 2 hours in total and came out totallly prune like.
Back in the room, eating sherbert lemons and watching Big bang Theory
I think we'll take it easy tomorrow and see what the day throws at us. Weather not supposed to be good.

Just Typical

Despite the weather being pretty good for the past 2 months, why is is that the four days I play to be away being active outdoors have a forecast of:

Our boat leaves at 0945 Thu and departs at 1920 Sun.
I think we will be staying on easy low level walks this year - is just too dangerous to climb when the cloud cover is so low.
At least we have the pool and sauna to return too...

Royal Highland Show

After being cooped up in the hotel all week at least week's Produced water event, the best thing for me was a day out in the open air with all sorts of farm animals.
Fiona and her gang allowed me to tag along on their annual trip to the Highland Show in Ingliston in Edinburgh.
Again its was a  beautiful morning but an early start as we left Troon at 0830 to head east and try and avoid the worst of the traffic.
We made good time and weren't too badly affected by the traffic and met up with her pals by 1030. We then headed around the young farmers exhibition then onto the crafts and then quick through the horses and into the cows.
The horse were all in stalls facing outward so you could see them but with the low light not take great photos (unless you used a flash, which I didn't want to risk) The cows were all in rows but facing inward so really all you could see were cow bums. Some on the ends could be photoed but again i decided against the use of a flash so none came out great...
I just like the contrast between the tiny calf and the bull...

There were a lot of Shire horses with carriages, both single and double axle ones. And since they were outside they didn't need the flash. Seeing these huge animals is well impressive, especially working as a team. They only had single pairs so it never got as dramatic as the Budweiser hitch of four pairs, but you certainly know when a team is coming.

As with all shows there is also the new farm machenery. Its amazing how complex and high tech some of these machines are - GPS and satNav to ensure full even seeding. The tradional colours of blue for Ford and red for Massey Ferguson don't seem to hold the balance any more with a good selection of colours across the board. There what even looks like the Brokeback  Barnyard entry:

Until you realise its for Breast Cancer Awareness.

What really amazes me is the increase in size of these machines. the green Kramer could probably park under the Pink beast

A jar of Jelly beans

Just back from a week in Aberdeen at our annual Produced Water Workshop. This was the event held over from April due to the ash cloud.
It was a busy week - Tuesday Alick and I provided a training course on oil in water measurement; Wednesday and Thursday were the Workshop itself; and Friday was our Produced water Club meeting.
It was quite an interesting meeting but the one thing which no one mentioned (on the record) was the Gulf of Mexico. It will be interesting to see what happens there once the immediate problems have been addressed and it will be interesting to see how it affects the way the rest of us work.
One thing which was consistent though the 4 days was the jelly beans. Someone in the hotel's management though tit would be a good idea to put out individually wrapped Jelly Belly jelly beans on each table. Sadly they look like hard sweets and not too many were eaten by the delegates. Whatever were left were 'rescued' and 'liberated' by us. By the end of the week I had over a litre of the beans!

Airborne

Ciaran suggested we go out for a cycle ride yesterday - he's finally beginning to realise that life is not all xbox.
He actually suggested a long though easy run along Cycle Route 7 from the house north through Irvine to the harbour, back along the same path, past the house and down to Barassie beach, along the front, out to the end of the runway at Prestwick and back via Fullerton Woods. All in all about 25 miles. We decided to bring lunch and invite Fiona along.
It was a lovely day, though a bit cool when you were out of direct sunlight. The sun was enough to burn though if like me you avoid suncream.

 After we ate we headed back along route 7 towards Troon and down to the beach. North Beach was reasonable quiet with the wind surfers out and the barbecues just beginning. South Beach was a mes though - I haven't seen that many people down there in ages. Despite the cycle path (why do some people insist on walking on the only bit specifically marked out for bikes?) we made cautious progress past the throngs to the top of Fullerton Drive where Ciaran called a stop due to a dodgy water bottle. When we started up again Ciaran should have brought us over the bridge and then back along to the path to Prestwick but he forgot.Straight away about 3 miles snipped from the cycle. We continued on into Fullerton woods and had a break up by the swing park where Fiona came to the rescue with a bag of sweets.
After finishing the pack we headed off again with Ciaran and I enjoying a simple chase when suddenly disaster struck. Ciaran decided to brake suddenly, too suddenly for me. I hit the back of his bike and flipped over him and it landing on the verge on my right shoulder with the bike pretty much still on me. It was all quiet for a moment while we got our breath back and took stock.
Luckily neither of us was hurt but were both bruised and shaken. Initially Ciaran was concerned that I would be mad but the potential seriousness meant I was simply grateful that we were ok.
Even his bike survived though mine didn't quite. The front tyre was completely flat, blown by the impact (I hope. I haven't had the opportunity to get it looked at yet). Fiona and Ciaran headed off to get the car then collected me as i walked the last mile and a half home.
Ciaran's ankle is sore though he had to be reminded later that evening when he was jumping up and down; my leg is badly bruised and my shoulder is quite sore, though I don't think anything serious. Oddly my hand is quite sore,along my little finger of my left hand. Hopefully the bikes will be OK as we are taking them to Arran with us at the start of July...

Ice Cream at the Loan's Gala

Today was the annual Loan's Gala day, and in what seems to have become the local tradition the Cubs and Scouts were out raising funds - the Cubs by selling ice cream and the Scouts by breaking plates.

When I say Cubs and Scouts I am being quite loose with the term. Dave and I  only saw 3 cubs the entire day. The Scouts fared a little better with Colin having 3 scouts around.
We have an easy plan - sell ice cream to the punters. We also have cans, but we focus on the ice cream. We used to also do popcorn - that was an earner until the popper broke down a few years back. The scouts offer 10 golfballs for 50p to fling at the crockery pinned to the back wall - a great stress releaser.
Despite being stuck in the tent for the entire day, it seemed a great day. The weather was quite nice, though a little breezy. Just the sort of day that needs an ice cream cone. The event started at 1300 and for the next 2.5 hours straight we sold our entire stock. First to finish were the flakes for the 99s. But we could offer chocolate sauce as an alternative. Then the cones ran out and we had to proceed with disposable cups. But finally the last of the ice cream ran out and we had t let the queue know.
For the next hour we sold out stock of cans - the burger van were selling theirs for £1 but ours were only 80p so 2 scouts with a cooler stood near the top of the burger van queue and emptied the cooler twice.


Dave just emailed to say we made almost £160 profit ! Well done us.


 

Falkirk Wheel

Since it was a lovely day Fiona, Ciaran and I headed out to the Falkirk Wheel. Ciaran and I hadn't been for a while and Fiona had never been there. As the wheel joins two canals, be decided to bring the bike with us and get some miles in on the level paths.

The wheel is pretty amazing (even from a non technical geeky point of view). Originally, a series of 11 locks were required to get traffic from one canal across the 35m height difference to the other, a process that would take most of the day. Now, the wheel will do it in about 4 minutes (well only the first 24 metres), for little power use.
Traffic from the Forth & Clyde canal come into the basin via a lock. They then enter the gondola which will then close, sealing the boat and its water in. At the same time the upper gondola has its own boat or is simply full of water. The clever bit is that provided the water level in both gondolas remain equal, the weight in both are equal. (Archimede's Principle).Power is applied to simply push the two balanced gondolas around. Once at the top the gondola hatch open and the boat sails out onto the viaduct. This is still 11m lower than the Union canal due to the Antonine Wall, a Roman wall built to keep the Scots away from the soft Italians.
To avoid the wall the canal goes under it and the adjacent railway line and opens into a pond where two of the original locks had been moved to, allowing access to the Union canal.

We had a pleasant cruise on the canal with a trip up and luckily back down again on the wheel. Despite it being such a tourist attraction, that was never in the original plan. use of the waterways has been increasing over the years and when the Millennium Commission asked for proposals for improving the use of the canals, reconnecting the 2 canals was suggested.

After our little boat trip and our lunch, we collected our bikes and headed along to the Union canal (so we climbed at least 35m) and then headed towards Polmont. There was a reason why we chose the Union Canal - its a contour canal so, apart from the 2 locks at the end of the wheel,  it should be totally flat.
Off we headed and it was totally flat, but was flat by cheating. One bit which it should have gone over or around, it went through, leading us into the 630m Falkirk Tunnel.

 This was dark, wet and slippery, and we took the advice about dismounting, despite the handrail. We hadn't gone too far on the other side of the tunnel when we realised how late it was getting, considering that we still had more than an hours drive home after we got back to the car.
By the time we got back to the tea room we were pleasantly tired so we soon packed the car and headed home.
All in all a great day but only 12miles cycled. I will need to get my distances up in time for Maggies next year.

Trim the Tree

Next door have got the tree people in. the trees are too big for the garden and are putting a lot of pressure onto the fence and the roof of my shed - usual problem the people who planted them forgot that they grow to be quite a bit bigger then when they are planted.

So we've had two guys here this afternoon with chainsaws "trimming"
The scene before:(taken in July and August '09)

The impact on the garden is amazing! The extra light makes the garden almost unrecognisable.

Of course, now the grass will grow back here...
Naturally there are downsides. The magpies living in the trees have been forced out. They are currently trying to force out the magpies living in the trees to the front of the house, with some amazingly loud battles going on.

On the road again

Out on the bike for the first time since the Maggies Event.
Ciaran and I headed out along cycle route 7 to the bottom of the runway at Prestwick Airport. It was nice to be out but I noticed that the bike didn't survive the ordeal of the Maggies event quite intact. Firstly the cycle computer's battery is done, probably been switched to scan while in the house. More worrying is the broken spoke and buckle in the rear tyre - I will need to get those sorted before too much additional damage is done.

Monster Killer

After 5 months of training we finally had our Maggies Monster Bike and Hike last weekend. This was the 30 mile cross country bike ride followed by 8 (Bronze), 22 (Silver) or 43 (Gold) miles hike along the Great Glen from Fort William all the way to Inverness for those Gold challengers. The money raised is for Maggie's cancer caring Centres. As a company this is our 5th year of participation (and only the 7th for the event).
There were 10 of us in the end - 4 doing Gold, 4 doing Silver and 2 doing Bronze (though 1 was unofficial and was tagging along with his dad), and our support team of 3.

 After leaving the office with our 2 vans we had a fairly uneventful drive up to Fort William (only 1 wrong turn and I wasn't even driving). We checked into the B&Bs, went to registration, attended the Pasta Party and the safety briefing. We then bought some beer and headed back to the B&B to prepare for the next day. The plans were made, the instructions isued, breakfast ordered and beer drunk. So we headed off to bed.
Saturday morning was somewhat damp while we were having our 0700 breakfast. The Golds were starting at 0830 so they were already gung ho and chomping at the bit to get started.  Since I wasn't starting til 1000 I wished them luck and then went back to my room to shower.
All too soon Ken and Walter were back to collect us and bring us down to the start line. Since the Gold starts were hoping to complete the bike run in 2 hours, Ken and Karen couldn't wait with us for the start as they had to get to Fort Augustus in case the others did hit their target time, but Walter took good care of us.

The weather was a mixed blessing - it was cool and overcast for the cycle (it actually rained on the earlier starts, some of the showers quite heavy) but would clear and brighten for the walk; but get cold overnight. The problem was the wind. It was a cold northerly breeze which would be in our faces for the entire event and cause wind chill overnight temperatures of -10C. Personally, it was the in our faces bit that really bugged me - apparently its only the second time that the wind during the event has not been favourable.

Finally it was time to head for the start, and with a piper leading us off, we started.
Almost immediately I had a problem - the strap from my helmet had worked loose and I had to stop and fix it. This dropped me back to the last person on the road, but i then hooked up with Mike and Bob who despite working with the organisers, were tacking the event. between the 3 of us we were able to work our way up the field as it was spreading out until I could catch June and John. Gayle had already been left behind and Colin had headed on ahead. As this was what we had expected we accepted it and settled in for the remainder of the cycle.
The cycle started out quite well. The first 6 miles were flat along the canal, and despite the headwind it was the sheer number of other people that limited movement. We then were on country road up until the first water point at about 10.5 miles. After this point we were on forest track. It wasn't great quality surface - rutted earth with hard core where the holes were too severe to cross. The main concern was how wet it was. Although it wasn't raining the earlier cyclists (about 600 of them - there were 961 in total) had churned up the surface quite badly. There were more climbs this leg (about 150m in total) but the descents were the real issue. At one point I was descending with brakes applied to control my speed. I soon noticed that both wheels were locked in a river of mud and I was still accelerating. With a nervous shout i let go of the brakes and went whistling past June and John and was able to recover before hitting anything. The final section was the worst however. It was proper off road cycling.  A dirt path about 2 feet wide with rocks hidden in the deep mud. This was what they never told us about. This is where we walked especially on the first bit with switchbacks and impossibly tight corners. My road tires really couldn't cope and unless I got a run at it it had t walk up and I was slipping. The constant on and off was then causing my calves and thighs to cramp.
At least we had the final 5 miles in along the canal. This would be easy and normally it was. For us it had a headwind and we struggled to make any progress at all. At least my legs felt OK but by now my toes were numb and I had to take them out of the toe clips. It was also about this time that i regretted not buying that gel over seat for my saddle.
The three of us finally made it into Fort Augustus with a total time of 4:39:38. My trip computer recorded it at 4:12:51 which of course takes into account the 2 water stops and me fixing my helmet. After meeting our support team and hearing about the gold and Colin we three got something to eat and I went for a massage and soon we were ready to head out for the walking part of the day.
At 15:45 we headed out for the 8 miles to Invermoriston.  I was concerned about keeping up with June and John but we had earlier agreed that they wouldn't wait for me as they were going further and had to consider that. Still i was concerned that after a few minutes we hit our first steep climb and i was being left. As I climbed my calf muscles would cramp slowing me. At the top of the climb they had to adjust their packs and I soon caught them. Having forgotten my route map I wasn't quite sure how far we had come and was disappointed to find it was only about a mile. We soon headed off together and as we came to our first descent my thighs began to cramp.
Soon June and John were ahead of me again and were slowly leaving me. The rhythm of the walk then started - I could walk easily on the flat but my calves would cramp on the climbs and my thighs on the descents, each time slowing me until I got onto the flat again. I could see J&J ahead of me, never too far ahead. The walk was not that bad an experience (apart from the cramps). I was concerned about my feet but they were fine. My major disappointment was the scenery - we were in forest for most of the time and I really counld see much of anything - but I knew what was just on the other side of the trees. Forget about seeing the monster I was lucky to just see the loch! Luckily just past mile marker 35 the were some felled trees and the vista opened up. Now that was more like it:

 Sadly by now I was beginning to suffer. I thought there was a water station 4.5 miles in on the walk. I was certainly past that and there was no sign.Luckily I only had to get to marker 38 and I had already passed 35. Finally around a corner I saw the water station with the notice 35.7 miles covered, 4.2 to next station. Someone's math was not right and the marshals at the water station knew it. Its only another hour and a half they assured me. June and John had just left a few minutes before I arrived. After refilling my bottle off i went on the last 4.2 miles. After another hour walking I came across the first bench on the entire walk, being used as a cheer point by another marshal. He assured me that there was barely 1.5 miles left, but I decided to sit for a few minutes anyway before heading off on the last little leg. Having seen the map and knowing where I was boosted my speed and in 30 minutes I was approaching the Bronze finish.

Naturally, there was a ramp up to the finish but by now I was feeling quite elated, especially as John and June were still there, just about to leave. i was able to wish them well for the next 15 miles.
My official time was 3:40:20 for the 9 mile walk giving me  a total time of 9:26:14 for the entire event (including a 1:06:16 bike/walk handover stage)
I went in for another massage and my calves were quite sore by now. I went in for a massage and told the masseuse my number, 501. She then asked my name and as my elation hadn't quite passed, I replied "Levi's" to which all the others started to laugh. When she realised she'd been had she reminded me that a massage could actually be quite painful. Sadly for my my calf cramped while she was massaging my leg and she ended up spending about 20 minutes sorting it. She later declared that my legs were "very angry", presumably with me.
Since Invermoriston is  a self supporting station I had to get the bus back to Fort Augustus where Walter was waiting. He had news of Gayle - she had a particularly bad cycle and came in dead last but quickly changed and headed out on the walk. She was still planning Silver but probably wouldn't be allowed to start due t the time of day. We would go back to Invermoriston and wait for he to come in. There was a little bit of confusion over who was still out walking but finally everything was sorted and Gayle arrived in at 2130 with her total time being 11:24:28.
The three of us then headed up to Drumnadrochit for the Silver finish and Gold start.
Soon after we arrived the 4 Gold team were heading out for the final 17 miles. They seemed in good spirits but wee John (yeah we had 3 Johns and a June) was in a little discomfort but wanted to continue.

 This was at 23:00 for them after 14.5 hours. I wished them well because I knew that as soon as Colin came in we would be heading back to to East Kilbride.
After some false info Colin did make it in at 23:48 for a total time of 13:46:04. By now it was pitch dark and the orange route arrows were not really visible any more. Having considered this the organisers arranged for glow sticks to mark junctions. Sadly local 'yoofs' decided it would be cool to move these causing some problems in the dark. Following Colin's problems we contacted J&J and advised them to be careful.
Colin, Walter and I then got into the support van and headed back to EK, finally getting back down about 0500. I then had to re-attach my bike rack and load up finally getting home about 0600.
By this time i could barely walk.

The Gold team would continue until 0530 Sunday morning before finishing the Gold Challenge together with total times of 20:58. Wee John however didn't make it that far and had to be stopped on medical reasons at one of the check point through the night. He was hospitalised to observation and released later that night.
June and John continued with the Silver challenge finishing at 01:45 sunday morning for total time of 15:43