Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
Alan, Anna & Morgan live in West Wales and attempt to make the most out of life. Alan is a freelance website designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband. Anna works at Aberystwyth University and is a full time Mum & wife.
What a day!! The remnants of Hurricane Ophelia were on their way to the British Isles. Ireland was about to get hammered and the West Coast of Wales was going to take a beating too. The weather first thing in the morning was mad. At 7am when we went outside it was properly warm. At...
Read more »Well, that was a tough race! It all started well with just a short drive to the race venue as this week it was cyclocross Aberystwyth style. The recent 2-3 hour drive to a race was just my usual short 20 minute commute to work. No need for an early start and I should be...
Read more »This week saw the 150th Anniversary of the Barmouth Bridge. The town council were hosting a weekend of activities and events to celebrate the anniversary with the highlight being a themed laser and firework extravaganza centred on the harbour and bridge. The Machynlleth firework display and lantern parade, which we’ve being going to for the...
Read more »I have loads of wetsuits – I’ve lost count of how many. There’s at least: 2x C-Skins winter suits 1x Rhino short sleeve summer suit 1x O’Neill shortie 1x Excel 3/2mm Spring/Autumn suit 1x Snugg 4/3mm Spring/Autumn suit 1x Blue Seventy Reaction swimming wetsuit 1x TYR Hurricane swimming wetsuit 1x wetsuit shorts and vest for...
Read more »Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats have no idea what they are talking about. You can’t complain about a Monday like this. 8.5 miles Surf Ski. Set off from home, paddled through the chop into the estuary and over to Aberdyfi then did a tour around the estuary before heading home. Next up was a 26...
Read more »A cyclocross race on a Saturday this weekend so as not to clash with the car boot sale at the Carmarthen showground on Sunday. The weather hadn’t been great but it was looking OK for the race. We were however expecting mud. I’ve also noticed that the last blog post was about last weeks cyclocross...
Read more »Another good days racing thanks to the Welsh Cyclocross Series. This weekend sand was the order of the day as we rode through the forest and out onto the sand dunes at Pembrey Country Park. I had stayed in the van overnight as I had been racing my mountain bike for 6 hours on Saturday...
Read more »For some reason I decided to do the Tide to Tide mountain bike race again this year. I don’t know why as I’ve barely ridden my mountain bike since last year and I certainly haven’t done any long rides. Why then would 6 hours on it through the forests, dunes and along the beach at Pembrey...
Read more »After some epic surf conditions on Sunday, things eased off on Monday. I had lots of work to do so started early and was busy all morning. I did manage a nice trail run up in the hills instead of having lunch and then had more work to do and a meeting to go to...
Read more »Another busy day on Sunday for me – I could do with a rest now! After a drive to North Wales and back on Saturday for surf-skiing around the Little Orme, I was heading south on Sunday towards Herefordshire for round 3 of the Welsh Cyclocross League series at Foxley Estate. Cyclocross It was the...
Read more »I know I can paddle my surf ski here on my doorstep whenever I like, but it’s nice to explore different areas too. So, when Martin posted the following to the North Wales Surf Ski Paddlers Group on Facebook I decided it would be nice to join them. Myself, Rik Pethig & Mike Rudd are out...
Read more »I’m loving my Surf Ski at the moment and I’m certainly getting some decent use out of it, including a lovely surf ski from Borth to Aberystwyth and back. I know I was a little uncertain what craft to get earlier in the year when I first started paddling but at the moment it looks...
Read more »Wow, what a weekend that was! I left work on Thursday afternoon with a fully loaded van. Three bikes, kit for a quadrathlon, surfboards and my surf ski as I had a busy weekend ahead of me. First thing was a drive to my parents house in Gloucestershire where I had dinner and spent the...
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