Sunday, 9 February 2025

Today’s episode of challenge menace has been brought to you by the letter K and the numbers 12 and 82

Spoon, now aged 12

This week started with my daughter ‘Spoon’ turning 12 and then my oldest buddy ‘Roger’ turning 82. Celebrated with a Maccies and a pedal respectively. So much to celebrate!
My oldest buddy Roger, now 82!

Usual Zwift, walking and running throughout the week. Nothing major to shout about. However, the weekend turned out pretty awesome.

Saturday saw me complete my 79th ParkRun and my first at Sandwell Valley. I finished 46/161 with a time of 27:22. This was a nice course which was mostly track running around a big lake. Hilly in places with a run over the M5 bridge.

K is for Kayak Kamikaze
Following my ParkRun, I went Kayaking with the Phantom. This was the first time I had ever used a kayak, although have used a canoe before. We paddled about 4.3k on the stretch of canal outside of the Hopwood pub. This was my gift to the Phantom for his 60th birthday. 

The Phantom (aged 60)
On this adventure we saved a swan trapped in debris that had been attacked by a brutal, ferocious, savage, violent, dangerous, ruthless and vicious swan. The poor swan was really trapped but we managed to set it free. The unkind, unpleasant, unfriendly and nasty swan not only attacked the trapped swan but also hissed at the Phantom. I’m sure it wasn’t hissing pleasantries. 

The only downside to this kayaking malarkey was my wet rump, despite my wearing of waterproof trousers. Following the kayak adventure, it only felt right to have a drinky-poo at the pub. I think that Mr ‘Odge and I should hire a double kayak and have a practice before our Rat Race adventure in September.

Ooh, I wonder what adventure awaits...

Sunday, 2 February 2025

Invasion of the Bothy Snatchers


Couple of Zwift spins throughout the week. But on Friday, I was in love. On Friday, Phantom and I headed to Grwyne Fawr bothy in the Brecon Beacons as part of an opportunistic recce. My buddy Mr Odge got me a book entitled 'Bothy' for Xmas and this sparked the interest to spend a night here. We decided to 'check it out' before a potential group visit. Pleased to report the planets aligned and Phantom and I successfully navigated our way to said bothy.

The bothy is considered remote and is tucked away in an (allegedly) deep and dark corner of the Black Mountains. The bothy took us just over an hour to reach from the car park at the base, even with our heavy back packs. So many trees were snapped and fallen at the start due to recent inclement weather.

The bothy was not difficult to find at all. Once a dam was in site, we knew we just had to follow the reservoir. Before we could shout 'Grwyne Fawr', the bothy came into sight. How awesome it looked and how excited we were! There was no 'real' path to the bothy and it was wet, rocky, steep and challenging underfoot.

Have no idea what this says
Left a post card of my mother (storm trooper) as proof of visit
Left a post card of my mother (storm trooper) as proof of visit
We so hoped the bothy would be empty when we reached it and had decided to set off early for this reason. Bothy anxiety was quickly erased once we knocked the door and peeped inside - it was empty. Yay, we had 'bagged the bothy' and soon set about setting up our sleeping bags in the mezzanine bedroom area (reached by climbing a ladder).

This bothy was tiny, about the size of a small closet. Even so, it had 4 chairs around a tiny table on the ground floor with a wood burner to boot. Previous visitors had left baked beans, loo roll and similar goodies but we had enough goodies of our own. A couple of shovels and 3 brooms were also at our disposal. 

Around lunch time we had our first visitors. It was a couple who were hiking round and about. They did not wish to stay in the bothy overnight, rather just have a sit in the bothy to eat their lunch. They gifted us with a Victory sweet before heading off.

After lunch, decided to go for a swim in the freezing reservoir. Oh man, this water was cold! So pleased I braved the waters though, I did not wish to leave with regret. Sadly, This was the last time I would ever swim in these shorts - I melted them later in the evening, trying to dry them out on the wood burner.

Later in the day, after our feast of Huel and pork pie, we had more visitors. 2 brothers came by and had wanted to sleep in the bothy overnight. The one brother took a look inside and agreed there was not room enough. The other brother never said a word. The brothers camped in a tent just across the stream and I could feel their disappointment. The chatty brother visited us after he set up camp and gifted us some wood burning fuel. Sweet!

Later still in the evening, a solo hippy girl passed the bothy and the brothers. She had no interest in the bothy but could be seen camping in the hills. She had an awesome spot high above the reservoir. 

Phantom and I were chilling out, eating (fry up) and drinking (whisky and brandy) when we had 2 more visitors in the evening. A head peeped around the door and asked 'room for 2 small ones', there really wasn't. These visitors soon scrambled away in the deep dark night.

The night was amazing. The wood burner kept our bothy super warm. Taking a look outside blew us away with the incredible starry sky we could see. Amazing and awesome in equal measure!

He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power. Psa 147: 4-5
The night was super cosy. In fact, maybe a little too warm. I was wearing merino PJ's and was tucked inside a sleeping bag liner, inside a down sleeping bag (the one SJ made) inside my Alpkit down sleeping bag. Was tempted to remove my woolly socks but didn't. Phantom complained about my snoring and I complained about his!


In the morning, we celebrated our bothy stay by drinking the Milky Way drink I was gifted for Xmas (thanks Manisha, it was proper tasty). We then packed up and left without leaving a trace. We passed the dam and headed for the car park. On route we noticed a land slide that was blocking the ride on the other side of the river - this must have happened overnight, it wasn't there yesterday. After about an hour of trekking we reached the car park. Pete (taxi driver) was waiting for us and took us back to Abergavenny for further adventure.

Would love to visit the bothy again and to check out others too. I'm led to believe there are 8 bothy's in Wales. This was the smallest and the most difficult to bag, due to the high numbers visiting. I'd love to visit again with Phantom, plus Mr Odge and Jamie. If we were visiting this particular bothy, I'd be happy to take my tent and camp nearby. There's no way 4 of us would fit. We took bivvy's on this trip just in case, but the planets aligned and we bagged our bothy and completed the mission!

Despite the awesome adventure already had, Phantom and I decided we would fit in another hike before we headed home. This climb took us to the summit of 'The Sugar Loaf' (Myndd Pen-y-fal). This is a lovely hill situated NW of Abergavenny in Monmouthsire, Wales and sits within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The hill rises to 1,955 feet and once at the top we were in the clouds. 
Suffragette Lady Rhondda gifted The Sugar Loaf to the National Trust. Who knew?!

Sunday, 26 January 2025

Cycling reading glasses review / Rat Race confirmed

Fantastic start to the week. Took GoaTheaD out for a spin over to the Roger’s before we went out on a tandem jolly. Very cold day, about 0 degrees Celsius, but lovely to catch up with Roger for the first time this year. First time out on my titanium bike his year, plus first time out on Rogers tandem too. For those that don’t know, Roger is my oldest mate at 81 years old. Roger is the stoker, tailgunner, navigator and rear admiral on all our tandem adventures, and beat this - he is completely blind. We cycled a shorter route today, about 40k, and stopped at Wedges bakery at the mid point. A sausage and egg bap washed down with a cuppa tea was essential to keep us warm! After I cycled GoaTheaD back home, I did some math and figured I must have cycled about 80k.

Roger

This cycle gave me the perfect opportunity to review the new pair of glasses I had recently purchased. The glasses were a pair of voltX Grafter Bifocal cycling sports glasses that cost just £10.99 on Amazon. Meekon recommended these glasses and I have to say they are awesome, especially if you need glasses to read. With these glasses on, I can read my Garmin, iPhone and watch without issue and still see a clear road ahead. The glasses were relatively comfortable, had an anti-fog coating plus an anti-scratch coating too. I purchased the single clear lens set, however, you can get a set of three (sun glasses, yellow lenses and clear lenses) for £26.99 by following this link here.

Ran a few times throughout the week. My runs included a run around the village, a run over the fields and a ParkRun. My run around Studley Village was spent looking for a hidden gate that I came across when running with the Crabbs Cross Chasers last year. It took some searching but pleased to report I did find the gate. The damaged bridge over the fields remained damaged and caging has been put up to stop folks crossing same. Ha, I still managed to scramble across. I ran Arrow Valley ParkRun for the 44th time and completed my 78th ParkRun to date. I finished 121/469 and my time was 26:12.

Bridge menace

Mr 'odge has now officially signed us both up as a team of 2 to complete the Rate Race Coast to Coast in September later this year. This event is a multisport adventure where participants run, cycle and kayak 100 miles in the Scottish Highlands. For further detail, check here. Awesome having events to look forward to and this really helps with motivation to train. 



Sunday, 19 January 2025

Today’s episode of challenge menace has been brought to you by the letter Y and the numbers 10 and 60

This was a great week on the activity and adventure scale. Big numbers were hit. Lots of fun was had.

Right at the start of the week, my daughter Spoon accompanied me to the Kingfisher Harriers running club. We were in different groups but both ran around the same track. This was the first time I had ran around the track this year, something I hadn’t done for months. A good track session all in all. I ran about 8k and was certainly whacked at the finish. Towards the end of the session we played ‘cops and robbers’ - I was a robber and ran like crazy so I would not get caught - turns out ‘my’ cop never set off, as he took a phone call instead. D’oh!

Cycled and skipped little throughout the week. Had wanted to do more of these activities, however, work was real busy and got in the way. Even got a weighted rope now, though have not used same as yet. Midweek was also my youngest daughters birthday. Moo turned 10 and we celebrated by stuffing our faces with a Burger King! Happy birthday Moo! 

Saturday saw me complete my 77th ParkRun and knock of the letter ‘Y’ in my A-Z challenge. Just 3 letters remaining now (J, V and Z). This ParkRun was Y Promenad, Aberhonddu. I finished 39/120 in a time of 26:06. I have now ran at 30 different ParkRun locations.

Immediately following my ParkRun, I jumped in my car and raced to meet The Phantom (et al). It was Phantom’s 60th birthday and we were going to celebrate this by a walk up Pen Y Fan. This was a lovely walk in and out and below and above the clouds. Was nice to go for a walk and wear my bright orange Hally Hansen top that I purchased from a charity shop on the last family holiday. My kids get embarassed about this attire and say I look like 'carrot man'.

Right at the summit we took an obligatory picture of us all. Those on this walk included Meekon, the Mitchum 3, the Bramer’s, Phantom, Dave and my good self. The photo was taken by random folk who also reached the summit.

We strolled a different route back to the car park. On route, we bumped into a couple of ParkRun nerds who had also ran the Y Promenad run this morning. Celebrations continued into the night with a nice curry to boot. Happy 60th Phantom!


Despite it being the Phantom's birthday, he gifted me with presents. He collected a number of rocks on this walk and presented them to me at the end. If I visit the site again, I'll be able to collect more rocks and add them to my Jenga collection.

I wonder how long it will take my wife to notice my new Jenga construction? It currently sits on my drive. Maybe the weeds will help keep it hidden.

Today’s episode of challenge menace has been brought to you by the letter K and the numbers 12 and 82

Spoon, now aged 12 This week started with my daughter ‘Spoon’ turning 12 and then my oldest buddy ‘Roger’ turning 82. Celebrated with a Macc...