Sheldon Fell Race

Last night was the Sheldon Fell Race.
Not a difficult race really but it sets off like a rocket as the first quarter of the route is downhill. I had set this race as what I call my checking my progress race. Unlike a lot of runners who pick out the larger more popular races to work to and try and improve their time from previous years, I tend to use the shorter faster races to see how I am doing. Last year I was 6th and just over 28minutes so at th start I wasn't feeling confident on beating that. The hooter set us off and I just ran as fast as I could with the usual suspects around me. By the time I reached the las part of the race which includes a short wicked climb I was really hurting. I managed to just about run up the climb in a fashion and t the finish I was shot. 6th again but 2 minutes quicker. Simply answer for this is the fact I weigh less than I did last year. Ive recently cut down my weekly mileage and started eating less. It seems to have worked over the last few races that I have done but I am not sure about the long fell races where I have always seemed to need a bit more meat on my bones. Time will tell and I didnt even have a bag of chips on the way home last night.
Its a lovely race is Sheldon and is brilliantly organised

Bevelling Hot

With the recent hot spell I though Id take a picture of one of the more difficult summer jobs in our factory. Plate bevelling is hot work, very hot work. Nice in winter but def not in summer.

The plate beveller never stops. From 6am till 5pm it goes up and down the track cutting the bevelled edges o our wearblades. I have had my share of hours on this job. Its quite a physical job and you have to be careful what your touching.

My Mercian

Its taken a while but custom build bikes do. Its just how it is. I collected my new Mercian today and blasted out 40miles on it and then sat down just looking at it. When I was a youngster to have a Mercian was like entering into an aristocratic world of road cycling. All the best roadmen around here owned on. Most like me had to make do with a Raleigh Arena or say a Banana team copy bike. Well I saved my pennies and now have my own Mercian.
Not quite as quick as my Rourky as its made of slightly heavier tubing and doesnt have Cosmic Carbone wheels but the ride went well and with the smaller frame size which is just over 51" it gives me a little more of a touring style of ride. You have a little more toe overlap but after about 10 miles I was used to it.

The famous head tube badge

Reynolds 631. You wont get a more comfier ride than this steel.

Clover

These are the first pictures I have taken of my new bike. My Mercian Strada Speciala. hand filed clover leaf lugs.
I might just kiss it goodnight

Skiddaw Fell Race

Well last year it was very hot but this time around it rained very hard. It was quite windy as well. The race was cut short at the gate just before the summit plateau so I was back a few minutes before I expected to be. I came home in 21st place, managed to actually run all the way to the gate as well. Last year in that heat I had to walk a few small parts of the climb but this time I was detemined to run all he way up. Anyway the summit wasn't to be but still it was a great race in tough conditions. If your planning your first Lakeland Fell race this one taks some whacking.
I turned at the gate and still couldn't beat Kenny Stuarts record. Hey Ho

Heading back towards the drop down past Latrigg. This is the point your legs start to say NO NO NO.
A brilliant race.

Dont fence me in

An unusual job for us. The call to fabricate and install what can only be described as a very large fence. Part of some other work that we were doing came out of the blue but it required erecting very quickly as the client needed to secure the site.

Basically stand the panels in a trench and concrete them in making sure they are level.

There must be at least 200 odd panels to fit in place. I wanted them to be all different colours.

An unusual thing was that the crane operator came up to me and said I've worked with you before. Turns out he was working on the M40 motorway years ago with me. Small world. That must be 20 odd years back.

More fence panels !!!!!!!

So an odd job but no matter something different.

Duddon Fell Race

This is a long Lakeland fell race that I have wanted to have a crack at for a number of years now and just by chance this year everything had fallen into place to make it happen. The Duddon is about 18miles long with a lot of climb thrown in. Not sure exactly but about 6500ft.
It was a very hot morning in the valley and as we left Seathwaite for the long slog I was roasting. My plan was a very steady start and I would dearly have loved to crack 3 1/2 hours but in this heat it was going to be tough. The drag up to Harter Fell didnt seem so bad, Hard Knott passed by but the sting in the tale was to be Little Stand, all be it the climb up to the damm thing. I had been warned of this climb by a lady who had done the race previously and I knew that she being a very experienced fell runner that I was in for a shock. A shock it was. I shoved down that awful blackberry gel and some water but in the heat it was a crawl to the top. Most of the way up I was chewing grass. Very steep and the lady that warned me who had said " Actually Darren you will be hurting was sooooo right. It did hurt but there you go.
I reached Little Stand but did not find a very good line off it. Having to slide vertically down the rock in places and I certainly lost two or three places at that point. More reccying needed.
Wrynose Pass soon came into view and I actually managed to run up to Swirl How summit. The ridge run back to Dow Crag seemed to go on forever. I struggled onto White Pike but had a stroke of luck on the last climb. The first lady, Jane Reedy who I have raced against a few times gave me a masterclass in running up to the summit of Caw. I managed to stay just behind her and shamefully did no help on the climb at all. We came off the top virtually together and ran down to the finish. I finished in 21st position in 3 hrs 35ish.

The Long Duddon fell race. another one under the belt for me.