MUD, Glorious MUD!

A new take on an old theme

26th Febuary 2009

Just a quick word this week, got a thousand things I should be doing instead of writing here.
We (9 of us) set off from the Yorkshire Bridge pub in a heavy drizzle that had started on the run out in the van. With a gusty wind no-one wanted to go high, but thats difficult really when a) You live in the peaks b)Most of us like to go downhill, and not up!
We went up to Crookhill farm and along the ridge to the Hagg farm descent. I can't remeber doing this and feeling good about it, the climb is tarmac and steep, and the ridge is grass, windy and tonight muddy.
The descent at the end down to the Snake Pass road is a wide track but littered with rocks, the very edge is the place to go though, and seems to have developed berms on the outside that you can 'hook' into>
All made it down.
Across the Snake, and up the 'Beast', a horrible track used by off roaders that is just about immpossible to ride up, (although I belive Adam & Andy had a good try).
At the top we went back down! Theres a track running close to the other we have named L o t R! Its my all time favorite, and is a very quick off-camber root-ridden track. Part way down you have to go down the gears and brake hard to make a hairpin right. what lies in front is almost alpine, and is always wet, with large rocks, the end is fast single track that is slippery and hidden from sight.
At the bottom, I shook the 'Chezzy bears' hand - he enjoyed the race, I was just glad he didnt knock me off, he's a big lad!
Along the side of the Ladybower reservoir and up the logging track, and then a new descent through the woods. Boy was this slippery, everyone had a story to tell at the end, not least Phil who snapped his seat post off clean in the frame! Carefull of that apple corer now!
a quick trip across the dam wall and straight into the van, and - you guessed, to the Grouse. We met up with Ben here, he's off to South America for a year on Sunday, so we had to say farewell! Enjoy yourself Ben

Distance: 06 miles
Ascent: Mostly
Bike ridden: NS Bikes Surge
My performance: Not too bad 95%

A Long(ish) boat NO ICE!

Monday 23rd March

Finally after much searching I think I found the perfect touring kayak for my Dad.

When I had been looking for my self, I had come up with some possiblities that for one reason or another were not viable, this one though was due to cost, the 'Wilderness systems, Tsunami 120' is very expensive new, and I never saw a 2nd hand example anywhere in the UK.

Imagine my surprise then when I looked at Brookbank Canoe's web pages and found one there! http://www.canoesandkayaks.co.uk/



A nearly new Orange example, looking like it was in very good condition, a plan was hatched to travel the hour or so over to Stockport to veiw it, and try it out on the flat water of Sale Water park.



WOW! When I arrived in Brookbanks new facility I was stunned by the size of the place. I was like a child in a sweet shop! Wall to wall eye candy, every sort of bouyancy aid, spray deck, clothing, safety gear, paddles and Canoes/Kayaks. Once We got over this, we paid a deposit on the Tsunami, and set too trying it for size in the warmth of the shop. Well, what a comfortable and easy system for sitting, adjusting the footrests and generally getting a good fit! How annoying, I'm now thinking my Venture is a bit 'loose'.

So having adjusted things to suit dad we got it strapped onto the Punto, ever more annoyed now, the boat did not over hang the front or the rear of the car! (my 15' Venture Easky is riddiculous in comparison).

We drove the 10mins around the M60 to Sale. What a freindly and hassle free reception - thanks guys!

Its windy here though, Dad got some waterproofs on and a hat and dropped into the boat, off he went, straight upto speed, tracking dead straight in to the wind, and turned pretty much on a dime and returned with the following wind.

We had also borrowed a more suitable 'touring' paddle to try, so he swapped for this and went off again, there's only so much you can do to test a boat on flat water, but I could see the delight in Dads expression when he returned to the bankside. Jubilation, It looked like we'd be taking it home then!

I had a quick go now, but having not took a change of clothing, I had to be carefull how much 'testing' I did, I didn't plan on a swimming test!

Even more annoyed, I now felt that this Tsunami tracked aswell if not better then the Easky 15' and its forwards speed was just as good.

Turning appears to be very good, and needs very little 'edging' to get a quick responsive 'about' turn. I got tremeandous speed into the wind, and with the following wind I was flying along.

The boat has surprising 'initial' stability, very good and not at all tippy considering the fairly pronounced keel. Stability there after seemed spot on also, but that will require more experimentation in more suitable attire!



We got the boat strapped on the Punto again and set off back to Brookbank.

I had a few things I wanted to try on, a couple of Touring cags, They feel great when you get them on and all togged up hood and all, but I felt that for now, (as I want to practice rescues and rolling etc) the money would be better spent on some dry trousers. I got some Nookie Extreme, they feel great and make you feel more comfortable getting in the cold winter water voluntarily.

I got a paddle float, a waterproof phone case, and a towline. So I'm slowly adding to my inventery of kit ultimately needed for sea paddling.

Here's to some future adventures!

I'll have a long-boat with ICE please!

Saturday 14th Febuary 2009

Early on Friday morning I suddenly thought it was a lovely sunny day, snow melting and fairly warm, what a nice day for a paddle!

I sent out a text to my Dad to see if he fancied a trip to Carrsington water to test the boats, nine with the extra weight of the new safety kit and cooking gear etc that I will carry on future trips, and Dads because he hadn't been in the bigger Micro 250 we proposed he would use for trips.

He agreed, and I picked him up at 0830 to load the boats onto the new van, what a pain that is, just can't reach the height with the boat on my own!

We set off for Carsington, and on arrival saw some patches of ice! I hope they let us on now, I hadnt expected ice it was all melting everywhere else!

We went to pay the launch fee, a reasonable £5 for a day pass, and the very concerned looking lady at the desk said she would have to check with 'health and safety' first. Answer:

Come back in an hour! The sun was shining, so helping to melt, and there was a small motor boat ice breaking also, sounded good, so we went for a coffee.

Carrsington is a relatively new reservoir opened in 1992, it serves Derby, notts and leicster. It has a very comprehensive watersports centre running courses in most sports, but as usuall the power boat fanatics get the run of the water, with kayaks and canoes only allowed within site of the centre, I understand why, but with such a lovely setting and the massive surface area it would be great to get out a little farther.

When we returned to the centre after coffee the answer was a firm NO, the ice was not melting, and was actually re-freezing, and on looking up, I realised that the sun had dissapeared behind the clouds, damn!

I gave Rother Valley Country Park a call at Sheffied, and discovered that they were also frozen, so, we got into the van and as we set off.... the powerboat course that was booked for that day was just beggining, in the kayaking area they had just cleared! Now we know!

As we descended the hill towards Matlock town, I realised that we did have 2 river boats ( the shorter Micro 230 was in the back of the van) we could actually try the River Derwent at Matlock white water course. Its not my Dads favorite place, and with the melting snow, it could be out of our skill range anyway, but we could have a look.

As we reached the road junction at Cromford, Dad suddenly realised that we were now right at the start of the Cromford canal! A plan was hatched, we'd have a look, and see if we had a right to launch.

None of the signage in the car park said anything about usage, and there didnt appear to be much depth to the water. We did notice that there was a note saying for more info go to the cafe'.

We went there to find a trio of adolescents standing around behind the counter, and when I asked the young lad 'do you have any information about canoe launching on the canal' I got 'Err NO'.

A girl behind the till was more helpfull and sent us 2 miles down the road to High Peak Junction cafe, here there was a peak park employee, who when asked the previous question just looked at us as if to say 'its freezing, why would yopu want to go on there today?'

We paid a ridiculous fee, (£1.50) and went back to the Cromford Warf to launch. The canal runs right from the carpark edge and we got an amazing range of strange looks, and comments as we got ready to launch, there was ice, but only at the end.

Getting into a kayak anywhere can have its challeges, yo can: Get in on land and 'seal launch' - not recommended in a 15' boat in a canal!

You can get in on a beach and use you knuckes to 'gorrilla' into the water - no beach!

You can put the boat into the water, and then lower yourself in trying not to fall inbetween the boat and the bankside.

The Canal proved to be interesting, still water is new to me, (and Dad) and proved to be slipperry stuff! I got Dad in 1st by kneeling on the edge stone and pinning the kayak to the side whilst he lowered himself in. Easy!

Now for the tricky part, with no-one to hold the boat to the edge which was about 10" higher than the deck of the boat I had to be quick whilst Dad 'nosed' his boat up against mine. I did it, without wet feet.

Safely on the water we set off, me in front. when I glanced back Dad was spinning and struggling with the Micro 250. When we bought it on Ebay it was listed as a 240, and upon collection I noticed it to be a 250, it is noticably bigger in all directions, but more importantly, it has no keel and instead a flat planing hull. Our micro 230 has a fairly deep keel, and tracks quite well if the paddler doesn't lean back.

I pulled into a shallow gritty beach where the bank stones had dissapeared, and swapped over boats, the question now was wether Dad could handle the 15' Venture. There where to be no sharp turns here so he would be Ok, I set off in what seemed like the shortest boat in the world, and immediatley found the thing to be very 'slipperry' on the surface of the water, every paddle stroke, had me spinning from left to right on its axis.

I swapped paddles with Dad ( my new 215m touring being far too long)

this made things a little better, but what effort required just to keep moving forwards!

Dad was away, for once I struggled to keep up, instead of being out in front.
We paddled down to the end of the line, where there are some repairs being made to the canal, I did a little ice breaking with the blue 'tug' boat. It seemed a little anti social so I turned around and we had some coffee outside the cafe.

By the time we'd reached the car back at Cromford, dad had 'seen the light' and was considering a touring boat of some sort!

So it looks like the next few weeks will be spent looking for the correct boat, and a good bargain!

SNOW,SNOW and more SNOW (AGAIN)!

Thursday 12th Febuary 2009

Still no biking, this week six of the biking crew went Go-Karting (indoors)!

All of the six who went were a competetive bunch, and when we had gone through all the safety briefings, someone asked ' what would be a good lap time for a punter then?'
The reply was 22 secs is a good time 21 secs very good lap record 19.73 secs!
The gauntlet was down! Soene was going to either beat the 20 secs mark or be thrown out/injured trying.
The race consisted of 20 laps warmup/qualifying, and then a 30 lap race.
during qualification Jeff broke the throttle cable, so ended up with a less responsive spare kart, then Cub managed to dislodge the chain from the drive sprocket, the guys at the centre did a sterling job of putting it back on with a spark plug spanner and brute force! Well done lads!
We pulled up at the starting grid, and the marshal put us into our starting order, I was dissapointed, but not surprised to see I was only 5th quickest.
We were all at 22 secs or there abouts so on the pace, apparently the concrete floor of the track doesnt get warm enough to go much quicker in the winter.
When the lights went out for the race start, the front 3 went off like lightening, and I was right up the back of jeff for 4 laps, nowhere to get past, and shouting at him to 'come on'. Next thing I know, he's away.... miles ahead, and I just couldn't close the gap.
I did eventually catch up, and as I did he backed off so he could have a dice with the others as they 'lapped' him. I kept on pushing and started to catch the others, as I did a massive shunt from behind knocked me into the barrier, and then another kart hit me in the left side. A battle now ensued!

With the aggressive battle under way, the lap times got better, but the driving standards did not! The race was over 3 laps later, and we all got out rather hot inside the helmets and overalls
Looking through the results afterwards in the pub, showed that I set 4th fastest lap time in the last 4 laps of the race, (when we were battling) 21.57secs the quickest being 21.21secs. Well done to Ben, Andy and Cub for fast laps and consistency, Had the slow to respond spare kart but managed to get away from me, when asked what he did to change the pace 'I stopped braking, and just rolled into the corners'! So thats the secret. a big well done to Scott who had only been karting once before, and not with us lot.

As for me? Well I'll never master smooth cornering, all the years sliding rally cars into (and out of) corners has left me with lightening reactions but a tendancy to brake late and throw the kart sideways, leading to a loss of forwards speed, and a slow exit, usually rammed upto speed by the guy behind!
Injuries? Slightley dammaged ego, a bruise to the left ribs, and cramp in my fingers for a while afterwards.

Cheers Jeff, an excellant alternative to biking in the snow!

SNOW SNOW and more SNOW!!

Thursday 5th Febuary 2009

Well, what a week. after deciding to do some local jobs that were outstanding I thought I'd have an easy week.

How wrong! I couldnt get off the road with a vehicle until Wednesday morning, I built 3 different snowmen, and sledged with Connor 3 or 4 times at least an hour each! I was bruised and battered!

When Thursday finally came, there were calls for the bikers to decided between sledging, (very dangerous with such competetive people) or an urban bike ride, still dangerous, (the ground now polished by the wheel-spinning vehicles) or a 6 mile walk around the Grouse Inn

Our bike rides normally end here, lovely real fire and owned by Sally & Mark, who along with their equally lovely staff are most welcoming (even to muddy bikers!)

Most of us opted for the walk, (2 ran!??) you know who you are! On leaving the car park, we soon found the snow to be deep and untouched, upto 12" as we crossed the field, our legs were heavy to say the least as we climbed up unto White edge, upon top we could see for miles in the clear crisp night.

a wee dram of whiskey from a hip flask led us downhill to Curbar edge and the Froggat Edge and back to the Grouse for some refreshments.

No bikes, no accidents, no damp wet bums!