Quantocks Mini Mini Break

Just got back from 2 days in the Quantocks - the outcrop of sandstone we've only ever whizzed by in the past en route to Exmoor.

We were missing out - not too many people, given that it was bank holiday weekend and sunny, very attractive woodland on the lower slopes, pretty villages and a heather topping to the moors on the summit.

The ride on Sunday was glorious - 13.4 miles - challenging in places - loose rock on both steep up and downhill sections - lots of streams to ride through. It started off from Holford through woods that remided me of Exmoor and Dartmoor landscape - twisty oak and beech with streams. We climbed around to the south slopes then up to the summit - views across to the Bristol Channel. Finished up with a long long satisfying descent taking us back through the woods.

YHA on Saturday night - we escaped our teeny tiny room for the pub in Kilve - really enjoyed our meal and Husband loved the proper cider. I slept really well but Husband was woken by crying baby in next room several times.

We're not very enamoured with the changes to YHA's - assuming our one night in one was typical. Appealing to families makes it less friendly in a way - less likely to get chatting in the kitchen as family members seemed only to talk to each other.

Brief visit to Watchet on the coast on Monday morning - good to see the sea.

Monday's ride was from Hawkridge Reservoir - just south of the Quantocks. 11.6 miles took us 4 hours! Very up/down route with some fun bits that (again) challenged my lack of technical skills. Muddy & churned in quite a few places also meant a lots of walking.

Flopped out on the shores of the reservoir afterwards for pasties and ice cream.

Good break!

Swimming is like buses

I don't do any for ages - then it's 2 days running! Little bit of swimming in the sea this evening as we were at the beach at Highcliffe - excellent evening organised by M & A. It's difficult to beat:

• Summer evening
• Beach
• Swim - enough to be able to say that I've been in the sea in the UK once this year!
• Barbecue - but kept simple
• Good company
• A few beers (but not for me as I was driving)
• Sunset, moonrise, waves lapping the sand....

Splash

Just when I thought the label "Swimming" was to be outdone by more exotic activities like street dancing and paddling....

Did 40 lengths tonight with Husband.

Anger Management

It's not been an easy week - but as I've been finding over the last year, exercise has been helping me keep at least a little sanity going!

Skating with G on Monday - still loving it! The ice had just been cut and was so fast - even my slaloms weren't grinding to a halt. And I reckon G is getting so close to executing the seemingly impossible 3 turn...

Body Combat on Wed gave me a much needed opportunity to punch and kick. Hard. I got changed en route to the gym as I was late out of work and the M27 was solid - almost impressed myself with my ability to change into gym gear, hardly flashing anybody in the process!

We were going to have a wander in the woods tonight but Husband's ankle was playing up. He made tea whilst I ran instead - very mood enhancing seeing the fields, the sunset and a couple of deer. I ran well (I think - wasn't timing) and felt that my stride has lengthened, my speed's increased and my stamina is good. I shouldn't let myself get so cross with stuff - I can go running from my home & see beautiful landscape, get home to Husband - what more do I need?

Sea and Mud

Ran 3 miles to In Laws' beach hut this morning - I love this route as I get to see the sea at several points, traffic's light and the hills are challenging. And I get to finish up with a fried breakfast overlooking Meadfoot Bay, watching the Tall Ships. I jogged along to Muse - which felt appropriate as it's their part of the world.

Did a bike ride with Husband in the afternoon - 12 miles from Labrador Bay car park. Some technical downhills that he loved (and I hated/walked) and lots of sharp uphills that I loved (and he hated) - so democratic! Good views of the Teign Estuary towards the end. I seem to have got over my irrational fear of pedalling through big puddles. The mud was so different to that at home - no clay so much less claggy, tyre sticking going on.

Little bit of walking yesterday - dodging showers around the garden at Coleton Fishacre (NT 1930s property built for the D'Oyly Carte family http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-coletonfishacrehouseandgarden/ ), around Torquay harbour (which somehow included buying a t-shirt in a little boutique) and then along the river & up a hill to get to a restaurant in Dawlish. Very good meal and lots of booze - so any calorific output more than obliterated by calories in.

Tardy Blogger

I've been a bit remiss of late - nearly a week since I last blogged....

Bike ride from the house on Friday night - much more fun than the gym. On Saturday, I had another brief ride - Eastleigh & back to get some shopping.

I worked harder on Sunday than I think I ever have before! Went sea kayaking with Husband with a group from Keyhaven salt marshes near Lymington for my birthday treat.

We've done it before - Abel Tasman in NZ was fab and we enjoyed kayaking over a Roman city in Turkey on our honeymoon. I tried to focus on getting my technique better - learning where to place the paddle blades and how to manoeuvre something that really wants to go in a straight line.

The weather was a bit mixed - but the sun came out - eventually - and so did the wind after lunch - harder and earlier than expected. Husband fell out of his boat getting into it in the afternoon and twisted his side nastily. He tried to carry on, but the pain was too much & he had to pull out. He then had the deep joy of lugging a kayak about a mile to get to the nearest road so he could be picked up later.

Meanwhile, I paddled on - should have been easy as it was with the tide, but it was against the wind which was a stronger influence. And wind over tide = choppy! Hard, hard work - the instructor ended up towing one girl!

I love being out on the water and I enjoyed the challenge of paddling for 6 hours-ish in tricky conditions. Saw lots of birds - egrets, geese, oystercatchers, lapwings and curlews. Good views of Hurst Castle & the Isle of Wight.

I'm keen to go again but (understandably) Husband is less keen. I'll just have to book myself onto a trip on a day when he is otherwise engaged!

And boy, how I ached on Monday! Especially my thighs! So weirdly, I skated really well. We did stepping into forwards from backwards - which wasn't a problem - and continued to work on backwards chassis.

Body Combat tonight was ace - first time in 2 or 3 months. Cheesiest music was Alice Cooper Schools Out and I also enjoyed My Chemical Romance towards the end. My abs complained about being worked for the first time in ages...

Booty Stuff

I had my first Street Dance class tonight - I can't believe how much we had to remember in order to get through 1 little chunk of a Pussycat Dolls track! I think I enjoyed it - went with V after work. I don't think dance was what I was doing - I was desparately trying to do vaguely the right thing in the right place. V on the other hand - well, she does do a lot of dancing - Street is her dance fix during her normal Dance School's holidays. Will be returning next week to shimmy, spin and try not to fall over my feet!

Gym last night - did 5K in 28:08 on the treadmill which I was chuffed with. 20 mins on the x trainer as well.

Loathe to move on - vanity!

One weird consequence of smashing my face up in a mountain biking accident nearly 2 years ago is extreme vanity. Many more positive impacts - it marked the start of evaluating my life's priorities & a greater appreciation of important people in it - but I'm definitely more vain than I was! So it's with a heavy hand (paw?) that I type this blog as it will obscure a rare photo of me in my biking gear looking good!

Back to activity. Skating with G was fab last night - different instructor which is good as it's going to take 12 weeks + for me to get through level 6 - 3 turns are the big big challenge. It was brilliant to catch up with G.

Running in the rain tonight with L after work. We felt very smug & heroic at getting going in the downpour - although it did ease off a bit later on.

Anniversary Weekend and more...

Middle Sister, BIL and D came to stay for a few days last week - brilliant to see them & I love D calling me "Lady Dragon". I went running with J on Monday - haven't run with her for about 2 years & it was great - good chat & it was nice to show off the countryside close to the house. On Tue, Husband took BIL out for a bike ride - introduced him to the joys on Hampshire mud!

Went to Harlech with Husband for the weekend - our anniversary. We manged to be in one of the UK's few rainy areas on Saturday - so we played tourist instead - Harlech Castle, a copper mine with weird iron oxide stalagtites/mites and getting blown about on Criccieth seafront. So a little bit of walking - certainly not enough to justify the big breakfast!

The weather cleared up considerably on Sunday so we went to Machynlleth where we did the Mach 2 ride - 24k but it took us 4 hours! Took an additional 45 minutes to work out where to start as Machynlleth tourist information was invisible! We eventually found the ride leaflet in a newsagent. Serious climbs (compared to Hampshire) and fabulous scenery. I'm now sporting a classic t-shirt and mitts tan on my arms and some great midge bites. I also have 2 burnt fingers - I should believe my Husband when he tells me that disk brakes get very hot after braking all the way down a big hill (rather than testing this out and having to soak my burnt paws in a nearby stream). [Husband hijacked blog & typed the last sentence btw].

We did enjoy the weekend - but have agreed that North Wales is just a tad too far for a weekend - we both seem less tolerant of long drives than we used to be.