The peril of heaving ones carcass out of bed at 0545 every morning means that we're always tired on Friday. This week especially so, by 2130 we were falling asleep on each other on the sofa. 10.5hrs sleep later we were raring to go. This is a lie. But, by the time I had crossed the Pennines and met Dyldog in Cheadle Royal, I had not only recruited steely fingered legal representation, but I had woken up.
We continue on in the van of which I am the temporary pilot (so as to save Dylogs beans for Adam Beyer). The rain bounces down as we aquaplane our way across Wales. On arrival we're waved through the toll house without paying. I interpret this as meaning we are recognised and accepted as climbers and therefore do not have to pay. I am very proud and in my head consider that the gatehouse man now thinks me a cave local. On reflection it may have been because it was raining. Or that it was winter. Anyway, the cave is busy. This is not what we need for the first session here since June. I dont mind it being busy if I am going to be awesome, but if I'm going to be shit, I'd rather minimise the amount of people who will bear witness. Perhaps I shall have Ru slap them with some LAW.
On friday I had sent the eyes at the back of the cave (doylo), to the back of the cave to investigate the seepage situation. And, it was exactly as he said it would be. Wet in places. Trigger Cut was dry, but Trigger Cut is also hard - too hard to be ticked on the first session back. Got on usual warm ups (end of LWT, LWT, Clever Beaver) and then young Tom (ex Foundry, now Manc) shows us a problem by the name of Clever Cleaver which involves climbing Clever Beaver and then moving left along the lip using the most mingingest of crimps. I'm ambivalent until told its 7b+, whence I engage the crimping finger and dispatch. Fingers feel a bit tender as a result of such overzealous exertion so soon in the day (remember, I am an old man now), and Trigger Cut is still a step too far.
Last june, when I was something of a regular - i could consistently lock the first move. In fact, i had sessions where I would be hitting the shot hole on every go. This time I could hardly pull on. Very disappointing. I dont honestly know what I am doing wrong. Rupert makes me feel better by not being able to do it either, but then finds a way. A way I cannot make work either! dammit! Dyldog on the other hand does the move every time, but cant do any of the rest of it. Team big guns are not performing well today.
If cutting edge crimping is not on the menu, then perhaps PE could be? Back in june I nearly did Broken Heart (affectionately titled Broken Log), so I move my pads beneath that. At first I cant do the first move, then I can, but not the second. A bit later and I do moves one and two, but not three and it all feels desperate. A bit deflated, I realise that LWT and Clever Beaver are about my limit for the day and so do a few laps on the traverse. The Dawes turns up. He's not there to climb.
When darkness falls and we crawl back to the van, I dont even feel that broken - not being able to do any moves has prevented me from exhausting myself. Accompanied by pouring rain we hightail it back to Cheadle, drop Ru off and find somewhere for tea. Dylog and I have a mediocre meal in a pub in Bramhall called the Millington. I drop him back at the van and disappear back over the pennines to a house full of cackling women on the way out. I stop in and say hello, chat for a half an hour and go to the pub with my laptop for some peace and quiet. Two pints later I return home, but they're still there, and the volume has increased.
On Sunday it rains and I cook things. This is a standard format for a Sunday. Today, the rain has stopped and the temperature dropped. During last week I had been arranging with Follicle to meet over here (in Leeds) to climb this afternoon. Well, with such perfect weather it could only be out. So I am going to flex the afternoon and head over to the cliff. On that note, a nod in the direction of Twitter and Faceache - thanks to my bleating that I might be going this afternoon Tim Stubbs and Vicky Barrett have been in touch and are on their way now! So, with Foley, Jim and possibly Ru (his faceache says he's either got Pesto poisoning or has bad fingas, hence the uncertain status) we have a mid week full team!
I have a strange injury at the moment, I wonder if you have ever suffered such an ailment? If you were stupid enough to forcibly prod a hard surface you could either bruise the end of your finger, or as I have done you can actually separate the nailbed from the finger, which leaves you with a finger which hurts to apply pressure. And as climbing requires exerting pressure through your fingers, so it is holding me back. I am pretty sure I did this at the board on Monday.
Yesterday was an interesting day in climbing terms. Well, it should have been. I had an exam in Wakefield, so, like a couple of weeks ago, I was going to go there, do that (passed! yyfy!) then go to the cliff. I'd lined up Dyldog and Lulog to join me and arranged to meet them there at projected exam finish time + 1hr. The roads were dry in wakey so inspite of the large amounts of rain that have fallen recently I headed north when I finished. The roads around Pool were wetter than in wakey, and the crag looked wet on top, but there were people climbing and so I had a walk up to have a look. Whole place was soaked, water pooling in the chip on the keel. I shouldered my pads and walked back to the car, diverting Dyldog on the way. They went to Stanage and met worm. It was raining, we all met at the Climbing Works where there was a men with guns competition.
So, its still very wet out there. My plans for the weekend have to be honest, come unstuck. Basically its raining everywhere and has been all week. Talking to County locals its been v.wet up there and its a long way to drive when you're not sure whether its going to be worth it. SO, I might not go. Dylog wants to go to the cave, and I am pretty keen. Especially as I should be going again (to the cave) on wednesday the 11th, so this would be my remembering how to climb in the cave session. But, it would be nice to go to the county. HMm. Better check the weather.
I had an insight last night whilst pushing my fingers until they creaked. This insight concerned the use of weight belts and vanity. I have to be completely honest, it wasn't an insight i was directly blessed with, rather the proxy of Le Sage gifted it, having first denounced my expert weight belt advice dished out to Roddy on UKB. I'd advised that wearing a weight belt changed your centre of gravity, and thus the way you moved and so discounted them as valid movement training. Joe points out that whilst i have trained with a weight belt on, i have never done so for more than about 10 seconds, because I hate to look crap. I put it on, try something hard - fail, want to look good and burn you/whomever off and ditch the belt as fast as it was put on.
Which leads to a secondary insight - the power of products. Joachim Foldy makes me laugh. He is (like me) a marketing mans dream. We persuade ourselves that our need for a specific item is life threatening, and we will move hell and high water to get it, becoming completely obsessed until it is in our possession. Take for example his Digital SLR - desperate to have it, obsessing about lenses, ISO ratings and what have you, yet how often does he use it? never. Just before he went to Font he decided he had to have a camcorder - and that will be the next thing that doesnt get used. And hilariously, last night on the text, the latest thing is a weight vest! I am as bad though. I clicked through to eBay to look at Adam Lincoln's Patxi esque weight vest. But, thankfully for me (!) I am skint, so I managed to talk myself back from the brink. The problem is, we want to be where the party is. If you are doing it, so must we. I think its because we dont get to climb as much as we would like thanks to jobs, non-climbing wives/girlfriends, being a shameless consumer (delete as appropos).
Talking of which - they have all just been (are still in) to Font. Dyldog, Lulog and Edlog are still there. Cnuts. Char has made a little video which has a great oompa soundtrack and has the unfortunate side affect of making Adam out to be a hero. Can only assume this is clever editing :
http://www.vimeo.com/7246614 Finally, I went to Rubbercon last night. By the time I got there it was dusky, but far from the hour of power it was 14 degrees and breathless. I tried, I failed, I gave up and went to the works. It is now fully dark at 1715. There really is no point trying after work. Well, there is, but only if you finish at 1400.
I am finding the blogosphere particularly depressing at the moment. The field is not level - noone else seems to have a job and so they're all out climbing all the blummin time. How are they doing it? surely not everyone has a massive trust fund? Adam bloody Lincoln's got a TT yet he manages to nip up 8b's in the week, in between 'snippets' of work. What is this job that comes in snippets and why dont I have one? Adam, if you are reading this - I'm only jealous. You cock ;-)
Rupert and I once consoled ourselves on the walk out of Cheedale that at least when we were 45 we would have nice houses and lives outside of climbing, but none of these guys seem to have any such concerns. And, the current 80's revisited thin trend is pissing me off too. It feels like cheating. Ah well, the skeletor approach may yield dividends in the short term but now its winter, flu is on the way, and no amount of down jackets will keep you warm bonio!
According to the symptoms calculator thing which exists online, I very well could have had swine flu. That last post was pre the last session I ever had. Which was log. Knew indoors would be too much like hard work, and outdoors was sunny, so to Burbage I went - with designs on Velvet Crab. That indoors would have been hard work gives you an insight into what I was furiously attempting to deny. I was feeling run down. I harbour the belief (mistakenly) that if I dont admit it, then I wont get it. Well, I didnt, but I did. Can only have contracted it at that wedding I suppose. So anyway, that was last Monday - the 12th. I finally managed to climb again last night, and besides sweating profusely as soon as my carcass was hefted from the mats it went ok. At least, thanks to my ailments I am quite light. Most of my friends are either in Font or going, so I didnt expect to have any company, yet was pleasantly suprised. When I arrived I joined Worm for some of a white circuit, then had a half hour with Harry Pennells before hooking up with Ed Robinson right at the end. Ed goes to Font on Friday/Saturday to join the party. I hope he can bring home the bacon. Its about time this underachieving mild mannered strong man lived up to his potential. I also saw the Goosemaster general, Jerry Moffat and Britain's most promising female campus board hero - Vicky 'yam yam yam' Barrett. Thats it. I know no more.
This will be a short post. Thursday I climbed on the board, Friday I managed an hour on West Side Log. Its hard. The problem isnt that i cant pull on the holds, its that I cant use them in the right order, or with my feet in the right place, so I cant do the problem. Am pretty keen though, and its pretty roadside, so is a good one when I have limited time.
This weekend we had another wedding, which was for our friends Rick and Robyn, and in Bramhall. As is de rigeur at these things, I consumed in excess of everything, and tip the scales at 11st10 last night. Jesus. I wonder if I can book a winch to meet me at the Climbing works?
This week I'm at the board tonight, wednesday and then Friday we go to Hastings for another boozy weekend. Its a festival of fire (or something), so expect me back with singed eyebrows and smoke taint. One day I will get back to full strength. But not perhaps one day soon.
This weekends climbing highlight (!) Was a snatched 10 minutes at hobby moor on saturday, in the rain. I was on the way to atherton where I was going karting for my friend Rick's stag do. Karting was ace. Absolutely ace. I was better at it this time and managed to finish second overall. This meant a gruelling 20 lap superfinal which I was last through most of, but drove out of my skin to catch up before diving up the inside on the second to last bend to finish second. Back into manchester after that to drop the rest of them off, then she and I headed back to sheff for julian's 40th.
Sunday was a well nice day but we were tired and whilst I managed an hour on my bike, that was it.
So, this week - today I am on a course in wakefield, when that finishes I'll be heading to the board. Wednesday climbing probably at the board again - course is all week, so I'll not get time to get outside this week. And, at the coming weekend we've the wedding that the stag was from! So opportunities look scarce!
