A Simple Life of Luxury

Another weekend has gone and as usual we manged to keep ourselves amused here in West Wales. Saturday morning was spent doing chores and then collecting firewood on the beach.

The wind picked up in the afternoon and Steve arrived so I headed off to the beach with him and went windsurfing in fairly standard ‘Borth conditions’. There was a big windsurf demo going on at Aberdovey but we decided to sail in the waves on Saturday and head over to Aberdovey on Sunday.

Sunday dawned fairly windy so after watching the Grand Prix Steve and I headed off on the 45 minute drive to Aberdovey, which is actually about a mile away as the crow flies. There wasn’t a huge amount of wind there so we had breakfast and finally got into our wetsuits around midday. There was lots of new windsurf kit to try and we were soon all on the water and having fun.

Believe it or not I’ve never actually sailed from Aberdovey before. I have sailed across from Ynyslas, but never actually parked and launched there so it was a new experience for me. The wind was a little gusty, the tide was strong and the water flat so it wasn’t the best sail or the most exciting conditions but it was good to see so many people out. It was good to catch up with lots of friends who rarely venture this far from civilisation too.

None of the new kit really caught my attention and although all the kit was nice, there was nothing there that really grabbed me and made me want it. Probably a good thing as I can’t afford it anyway! It was good to see some of the pro’s in action though. I have no idea how they do some of the tricks they do and no illusions of ever being able to do them myself, but it is impressive to watch.

We’ve just got back from a nice weekend away visiting family in the South West. We went this weekend as there was a windsurf demo day at Axbridge Reservoir. Although this isn’t the sort of place I would normally windsurf my brother moors his boat there so we though it would be nice to meet him there and play on his boat too.

As it happens there was very little wind. There was just enough for jays boat though so after he had a quick sail in it I jumped in with Morgan and went for a little sail too. I hadn’t been in a sailing boat for years and even then had only sailed one once or twice, but I soon worked it all out and did manage to sail out, backwards and forwards a few times and then sail back to where I started from all without getting me or Morgan wet!

We then sat in the sun watching people on Stand Up Paddle boards playing around and a few people just about get planing on windsurf boards. It’s a shame there wasn’t more wind so that I could have gone windsurfing but it was a actually nice just sitting in the sun chilling whilst Morgan played in the water with Harry.

Certainly a nice way to spend a relaxing morning.

After yesterdays successful work-life balance day I couldn’t let it slip today so managed yet another good day. I didn’t get up quite so early today, in fact for a change I managed to stay in bed until about 7am. I think yesterdays epic cycle ride must have tired me out! So, after some housework I settled down to work, went through my e-mails and then had a meeting with a client. By 11am he sun was blazing and the wind had picked up so I headed over to the beach and had a lovely windsurf session with just the right amount of wind and plenty of sunshine.

Back home and another hour or so of work and then off into town to buy a few toys for Morgan (An inflatable canoe, wetsuit and float coat). Collected Morgan from nursery and then headed back to the beach to take him ’surfing’.

OK, so maybe the balance was more towards life than work today but I’m not complaining about that and I am doing a little bit of work this evening as well!

I knew it!… If I spent some money on some new toys something else would break requiring more expense.

I’ve been needing some new tyres for a while so I took the plunge and used my £5 voucher from Wiggle to buy some new Continental Mountain King tyres for my bike (a bargain at £15.99 each!). I’ve also been in ‘need’ of a new 5m sail and some other windsurfing equipment so I’ve order a 5m Gun Hammer, a new mast extension and some harness lines from Gun Sails and have arranged to send my broken booms back for replacement under warranty. Of course, with my ‘key rider’ discount and the usual good value from Gun these were bargains too.

I then went out for a ride on my mountain bike last night and returned needing a new spoke, a wheel re-alignment and some new brake pads… I shall take my bike in for repair tomorrow. Hopefully none of it will break the bank though and I’ll soon be back up and riding with a bike that feels like new and out windsurfing with some new kit… I like new toys!!

I had a meeting with some potential web design clients today, so drove all the way to Llandysul. Unfortunately when I got there I discovered they had been trying to phone me as the person I was supposed to have the meeting with was off sick so the meeting was canceled.

Frustrating as traveling to such meetings eats into any profit I make from such a project, but if I want to get the project then I shall have to make the trip again sometime soon.

All was not lost though as I had my GPSr with me and there were geocaches nearby that I had yet to find so I decided to do some geocaching in the time I had spare.. The first was a short walk from the canceled meeting so I set off on a pleasant walk along the banks of the river Teifi. This part of the river is used by canoeists and there were lots of slalom gates hanging over the river. The cache ‘Canoe Find it‘ was found easily before I headed back to my car.

Geocache number two was Tristan’s Cache, a cache overlooking a village in the middle of nowhere! It seemed like a nice place to live though, ‘proper rural Wales’. Geocache 3 was one that has been on my to do list for ages ‘Of Gorse you can see the sea’, located on the coast path just south of Aberaeron. Again the cache was found easily and a travel bug I collected from Tristans cache was dropped off.

The wind was blowing and the sun was shining so after walking along the coast ath for a bit watching the waves and whitecaps, I couldn’t resist a windsurf session so I rushed home and went out for a quick sail from Borth.

Not a very productive day workwise, but at least it wasn’t a complete waste of a journey.

I haven’t long got back from an outdoor weekend in Wales.

First I drove to Liverpool and Anna, Morgan and I stayed in a Travel lodge for the night so that I could drop Anna and Morgan off at the airport early in the morning so that they couldget the plane to the Isle of Man. I then drove to Dinas Dinlle near Caernarfon where I met Steve so that we could go windsurfing. The wind was pretty strong and in the end we went out at Foryd Bay for some shelter, but even there the wind was too much so we headed off to the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel instead.

We then went for a nice walk around Llyn Cwellyn and found a few geocaches before signing into the Youth Hostel. here I realised I had lost y credit card so after a few frantci phone calls I had cancelled the card and made sure no unauthorised transaction had been made. I then had to borrow some money from Steve so that I could fill up with Diesel in order to get home.

After dinner in the pub at Rhyd Ddu we got some sleep ready for an early breakfast and an attempt on the summit of Snowdon. We had an easy walk up the Snowdon Ranger path and back down the Rhydd Ddu path before walking around Llyn Dwyarchen and then up the steep path to the summit of Foel Rudd. Dinner this evening was in the Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel.

The next day we woke with rather sore legs and after breakfast we headed off to Dinas Dinlle for another windsurf. We started to rig but the wind dropped so we did a geocache whilst waiting around for a bit and then headed off to Betws y Coed where we had a look around the shops. We then went to Llanrwst and had a mountain bike ride around the Marin Trail. Our legs weren’t really up to too much, so we had a nice easy ride around taking in the scenery as we went.

Steve then headed off home and I went to the Betws y Coed Youth Hostel where I was staying for the night. After a chat with the others staying there, a little walk and dinner in the Swallow Falls hotel, along with a phonecall to Anna and as it was mothers day my Mum, I headed off to bed ready for another early start the next day.

Monday dawned with some snow flurries but generally cool and sunny so I had breakfast and then went to the Marin Trail again and despite the very tired legs forced myself around the trail again, before heading off to Liverpool to collect Anna and Morgan from the airport.

All in all a good weekend, the hostels were good, the windsurfing was a little frustrating but the walking and mountain-biking were top class (If I get time I shall write about these in more detail). North Wales is quite a playground really. I think Steve enjoyed himself too, and thanks for lending me some money Steve otherwise I would have been stranded!

Along with the rest of the country we have been enjoying some gorgeous spring weather recently. Clear blue skies all day long and some of the most amazing sunsets and sunrises with spectacular oranges, pinks and purples. It has been quite cold too, especially at night which leads to a local phenomenon of a katabatic wind, affectionately known as Ivor here in Ynyslas and Borth.

It works in a similar fashion to a sea-breeze in the summer, but in the opposite direction and with more force. At night the temperatures in the hills can drop significantly, often reaching minus numbers and maybe even down to minus 8-10ºC. The sea however remains at a fairly constant temperature and is currently around 9ºC. That is a huge temperature difference. The sea warms the air above it which then rises, and cooler air from inland moves in to take its place, creating an offshore wind. As the sun rises in the mornings, it rays reflect off the surface of the sea further raising the temperature of the air above it which drives the wind even faster. This is the exact opposite to the summer sea-breeze effect, but the larger temperature difference increases the effect making the winds stronger.

On top of this, Ivor, the katabatic wind has gravity on its side (unlike the sea-breezes in the summer). The cold air in the hills sinks into the valleys and flows along them just like a river would. Gravity, coupled with topographic funneling in association with winds driven by a temperature gradient can produce some pretty startling effects here, with winds in excess of 20 knots when everywhere else is calm. If this also occurs on a day when there is a general E-NE wind direction then we often gets winds in the 30-40 knot range. More than enough for most people and perfect for those of us who windsurf and Kitesurf.

So much for the forecast of 20cm of snow, we haven’t even had a flurry yet… Lets hope we get some tonight as Brad is coming to visit and is bringing his snowboard with him!

I didn’t sit around waiting for the snow though, I went for a little run around the block and then a nice windsurf despite the cold temperatures. Funnily enough no one else was out so I had the place to myself. I didn’t stay out long though, not because of the cold but because I had taken too big a sail over to the beach with me so was a little overpowered. It wasn’t as windy as yesterday when the Borth weather station recorded a maximum gut of 54.5 knots… Yes, I was out windsurfing yesterday as well!

Brad is bringing his mountain bike with him, so even if we don’t get any snow (I’m not expecting much) then we shall have a day in the hills whatever.

You may have noticed a lack of entries about my new fitness regime for a few days… Don’t worry, I haven’t given up on it before the end of January. I decided to take a few days off running after a little groin strain last Wednesday, but did have a fairly active windsurfing session on Friday afternoon. I met a local student Andy at the train station after he’d caught the train complete with all his kit from Aberystwyth and for a change went out windsurfing from the middle of Borth Beach. I don’t very often sail from here as it means driving down with my kit rather than my usual walk across to the beach with my kit on a wheelbarrow, but I’m glad I made the effort as it turned out to be a really good sail. Well powered up and with some nice waves to play on. Anna and Morgan even stopped off on their way home for a little watch.

We were then away for the weekend so my rest from the training continued. I have however attempted a little run today, but after about a mile there was a bit of discomfort in the strained muscle so I thought it would be best to stop and walk home… I did get my heart rate up to a ridiculous 211bpm though! I shall try anice easy bike ride this afternoon instead I think.

Anna probably won’t forgive me for mentioning this, but her fitness drive to get ‘fit for snowboarding‘ is supposed to start today… I wonder what exercises she’ll be doing?

I had a tough day at the office yesterday… Started work at 4am and worked until 10.30am, stopping to help get Morgan off to nursery and Anna off to work, then the fun began. A good windsurf session off the beach here at Ynyslas. The windsurfing itself was good, lots of wind and some decent waves, and then the weather got interetsing too. First the sky went very dark indeed and we were surrounded by thunder and lightning (I got off the water as a 4m carbon mast is likely to attract the lightning and I don’t fancy finding out what happens if it hits it whilst I’m attached!), then some really strange looking dark clouds swriled overhead and we were hit by a massive hailstorm, then the wind dropped off, so I packed up and headed home.

As soon as I got home the sun came out and the wind picked up again - typical. A little more work, collected Morgan from nursery and went to watch the cranes at the estuary where they are doing some directional drilling to install a new electricity link beneath the estuary.. I’m not 100% sure what the cable is for and if it will affect our electricity supply, but we’ve been having more than our fair share of power cuts again recently (common at this time of year), so some improvement wouldn’t go amiss.

I then psyched myself up to brave the weather and go out for a night ride on my mountain bike. Only a short one, but it was good to do it. I won’t bore you with the stats from my GPS Heart Rate Monitor again, but as with every training session I’ve used it for so far, my maximum heart rate was 172bpm again!

Just for James (as he requested it in his comment), here are the summary stats: