I liked that car...

I liked that car, it’s the best car we have ever had, brand new and shiny, loaded with gadget and toys to play with. When it first arrived i wasn’t so sure but having lived with it for about 6 months i was really starting to like it.

Christ, what was that bang? It sounded like a car had veered off the road and crashed through the front of the house, the clock said it was 2.10 am and Debbie was telling me to go and have a look. I jumped out of bed and ran to the upstairs landing when i heard a shout “Police, stay where you are”. Bloody hell fire, what had i done to deserve an early morning raid? Had the police discovered i was hiding a box of staples i had taken from work, maybe it was the “tax free” cigarettes i had purchased for Debbie?

I have never liked being told what to do and usually make a point of doing the opposite so i ran down the stairs to challenge this trespass in my home. Only there was no sign of any police, in fact there was no sign of anyone anywhere? The house lights were all on and the place was freezing cold, i noticed my keys were missing from the front door and that’s when i heard a car start.

Nissan make a good car but the Qashqai is a strange beast, its neither one thing or another, they call it a “Crossover”. More like a cross dresser, looks like a 4x4 and an SUV mixed together. We have the Qashqai+2, as the name suggests, it has 2 more seats than the standard Qashqai, but you get the same cosseting ride, impressive refinement and a long list of standard equipment.

I could see the Qashqai’s lights come on so rushed to the kitchen for some key and dashed out the front door, only to see our Qashqai being reversed off the drive, now i can run pretty well but i’m not as fast as a car, however i am game and sprinted out of the front door, bare footed and only wearing my boxer shorts with a determination to cause some serious damage to the cheeky sod who was trying to nick our car. (the lease companies car really).

Luckily the car was indeed faster than me and i was left standing in the road dressed only in my boxers watching the Qashqai disappear into the distance. While i was playing silly games, Molly my 14 year old daughter rang the police and reported the theft. While we waited for the police to arrive i took a look around to try and assess what, if any damage had been done to the house.

I have been a motorcyclist for 30 years and could never believe that driving a car could be pleasurable, but Nissan have done such a good job on the Qashqai that i actually enjoyed driving it. With a 1.6 Diesel engine it was never going to be a flying machine but it could certainly pick its feet up and cruise comfortably at 90mph on the motorway.

Bloody animals had thrown half a concrete flag through one of the patio doors in my computer room, ran through from the back of the house to the front, taken the keys from the front door and escaped the way they came in, leaving a trail of destruction behind. They had removed a window from the conservatory and there was broken glass everywhere from the patio door, bloody hell fire, this was a real mess.

And that was that, good bye Qashqai.........

An old poem

I came across this poem about 12 years ago during a period of my life when things were not going well, it amused me. All this time has passed and it still amuses me.

I PICTURE MYSELF NEAR A STREAM

BIRDS ARE SINGING IN THE COOL CRISP MOUNTAIN AIR,

NOTHING CAN BOTHER ME HERE, NO ONE KNOWS MY SECRET PLACE.

I AM IN TOTAL SECLUSION,

THE SOOTHING SOUND OF A GENTLE WATERFALL FILLS THE AIR WITH A CASCADE OF SERENITY

I CAN EASILY MAKE OUT THE FACE OF THE PERSON I AM HOLDING UNDER THE WATER

A philosophy professor

This has been doing the rounds for many years, i like it because it makes sense. 

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2" in diameter.

Then he asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar of rocks. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the spaces between the rocks. The students laughed.

He asked his students again if the jar was full. They said yes, it was. The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is your life.

The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - anything that is so important to you that if it were to be lost, you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale. They are things like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life.

If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.

Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing.

There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the car.

Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just pebbles and sand.”

A Home Run

I am lucky enough to work close to home, in a straight line its only 4.5 miles, however i also live on the edge of the West Pennines moors. Having missed my Sunday run i decided to make tonight's Home Run a little more worth while.

Windmills on Knowl Moor

Windmills on Knowl Moor - again

Green Booth Reservoir

The Track to Waughs Well

Lee Quarry

15 Miles and plenty of smiles, i am very lucky to live around here, there is so much good running.

Norfolk running

Norfolk is extremely flat; i spent a week there and didn’t see any hills what so ever, however the country side is stunning.

The thing about running on flat paths and roads is - no rest, running up hill is hard but you get to have a rest when you are running back down again. 14 miles on perfectly flat tracks turns out to be a hard slog.

Home for a week

Country Lane

Wind farm in Eat Somerton

West Somerton

The Post Office - Winterton-on-Sea

The Beach at Winterton-on-Sea

The Sea at Winterton-on-Sea

Watching

The Welsh 3000's

The Welsh 3000,s are all the summits in Wales that are over 3000 feet.

The welsh 3000s were a spur of the moment thing, i spent evening printing route maps and having done most of the summits many times i was quietly confident of a good day out.

The weather forecast predicted fair weather overnight and through the morning to lunch, with cloud and rain coming in during the afternoon. With this in mind i set off up Snowdon on the miners path at 5.30 hoping to get the majority of the run done before the weather came in.This was my first time on the miners path and ...... its really more of a motorway than a path... mind numbingly boring.

 90 mph on the A55 with the cruise control on my mind wonders to the weekend ahead, I’m not keen on heights and the prospect of my first visit to Crib Goch, on my own, is playing on my mind. I wish that twat in the Rangerover would get out of the way and stop playing silly games. Refocus Dave, nearly there.

I’m trying out my new head torch, another eBay bargain purchase and its 1200 lumen, almost square, beam appears to be just the job. I can see much more of the miners path motorway ahead, my mind wonders again.

Fed up i decide to ignore the prick in the breeze block ahead and pull in to the left lane to undertake, a puff of black smoke from the car in front tells me the game is on. Under take performed and on the brakes. I look across and see the driver is a middle aged woman who has obviously had a hard life, so i decide to let her go. Its been nearly 12 years since i lost the plot this bad and it doesn’t feel good.

Finally the path starts to climb and the night retreats, up ahead i can see Snowdon covered in a dark blanket of fog. Ummm, Crib Goch in the fog, nice. I pass a few dozen “3 peakers” and push on; I’m getting into my stride now.

We left the A55 at junction 13 and found the car park where Debbie would pick me up at the end of the run on Sunday afternoon. Conversation was strained.

Snowdon summit was wet and windy, the gusts were becoming a concern so i got a move on, Crib y Ddysgi summit appeared out of the gloom and i descended towards the traverse across to Crib Goch, conscious of the wind gusting harder and the rain joining the party. Was this really a good idea? I dismissed this though as doubts about the coming ridge and my ever present fear of heights, especially on exposed ridges...

Debbie drove from here and the atmosphere in the car was thick, i could feel a headache coming on and new i had slipped from the path, it had been a while, it had been almost 12 years.

Crib Goch was living up to the hype, wet rock, driving rain and a gusting wind that was really starting to scare me. I pushed on following the narrow path, trying not to look down and scare myself silly, i scrambled over a couple of small rocky summits, remembering something i had read on the internet i new the summit would be close now and soon came across it. Bloody hell, how am i supposed to get around that thing?

I had as clamber around on the wet rock and decided the right hand side offered the safest route, off i go, happy that i will find the path around when i get down a little lower. Wrong. I couldn’t find a way around, the rock got looser and the wind continued to push the rain into my eyes.  Back up to the summit again and time to make a decision, keep looking for a way around or go back. I sat behind a rock out of the wind and decided to have a look at the map, i’m sure i could work out how to do this, I’m an experienced fell runner, I’ve spent so many days in these mountains doing this, all i need to do is keep it together.

We arrived at the bunkhouse, the atmosphere still strained, my head pounding and my mind in another time zone.

Unfortunately i hadn’t zipped up my map pocket and both map and glasses has vanished, oops. The rain was getting heavier and the gusting wing was not helping, time to head back to the main tourist path and down into Llanberis. Today was not going to be my time to complete the Welsh 3000.

The Mary Townley Loop

The Pennine Bridle Way - Mary Townley Loop is a 47 mile circular route which forms part of the purpose built long distance National Trail bridleway for horse riders (and their horses), mountain bikers, walkers and runners, this high level route encircles Todmorden, Bacup, The Rossendale Valley, Whitworth and passes close to Hebden Bridge. It crosses Heptonstall Morr, Black Moor, Worsthorn Moor and visits many of the valley bottoms.

On my travels i have run the route in sections and even managed the whole route a couple of times and it really is classic northern industrial landscape in all its glory. The route is well sign posted and the trails are mostly well maintained and easy to follow.

The plan is to run the whole loop, with a small diversion up to Studley Pike, by moon light and perhaps a head torch. It will be difficult to complete the whole route in darkness with perhaps the last hour or so at dawn.

There is a great web site which has plenty of good information about the route.

http://www.idonohoe.com/mountian_bike9.htm

When -  before winter sets in.