Robs Meirionnydd round attempt

22nd May
18 miles 5,000 Feet

This was Rob’s second attempt at the Meirionnydd round. Last year he was thwarted by a combination of bad weather and severe fatigue. The round is incredibly tough it is in the very rough hills on the mid west side of Wales. To cover 75 miles and 25,000 feet of this terrain in 24 hours is a real challenge; a serious step up from the big 3 rounds. There is a reason that the only man to complete it in 24 hours is the man that first did the round, and that man is a truly exceptional ultra runner; Yiannis Tridimas.

I helped Rob last year, so whilst running down the side of Llyn Tawsfynydd to meet Rob, I knew that I was in for a tough day. Neil and I ran about 1 ½ miles to the dam to meet Rob with some road shoes. On meeting him he seemed in good spirits. But even at 9am it was apparent that the heat of the cloudless day could be a problem. Rob even said that the night was very hot on the Rhinog section.

Rob had a longer than scheduled break at the main road then Carwyn, Rob and I set off on the section to Arenig Fach. The heat was building and we took every opportunity to dunk Robs hat in any bog water we could find. But on these boggy tusocked hills there was no breeze and at times it was oven like. Carrying enough liquid for Rob was to make for a tough day for support too.

After a long build up on very tough ground eventually we were aiming for a significant hill, rather than the mounds that we had already visited. Arenig Fach proved a tough steep climb on loose scree mixed with heather. We eventually made it up, but it was starting to slow Rob down. We descended well to the next support point. Rob was already suffering with the heat and half heartedly mentioned quitting, but as he said he was going to well to justify it, at this point 20 minutes up I think.

I decided to carry on with a large team over Arenig Fawr and 2 other tops, having agreed a lift with Alan Duncan form a minor road crossing back to my car. The long climb up to Arenig Fawr laden with water started to wear me down. I hadn’t drunk enough and now that I had realised this and started to do something about it, it was too late. Five hours of this heat wore me down and I struggled to keep up, on the last hill I found I had to rest on the nicely angled grassy slope every 2 minutes, I had blown up in a big way. I missed the top out and caught them on the descent. Eventually I met up with Rob and when I asked how he felt, he said he was quitting. The heat had really worn him down and his quads were sore too. At the minor road crossing His support convinced him to finish this section and see if it was just a bad patch. It proved to be more than a bad patch and 3 hours later his attempt was over.

I felt sad for Rob as it was a very antritional day (a high of 29c) for such a tough round. Whilst waiting for Rob at the dam Neil and I mused over how this round would compare to a Bob Graham round, and we agreed that it would be equivalent to moving at a sub 20 hours pace, then doing the 4 plus extra hours at that pace aswell. It has got me thinking of asking Rob if I could have a go at it next year with him. I think it may be possible with him almost as a guide, but I don’t think I could put the time into those hills to be confident at the micro navigation which is needed for most of the route. It would certainly give me a serious challenge, one that would be a true adventure as success would be uncertain at best!

Glyders Recce

1st May
16 miles 8,000 feet

Ian, Will and I made a much delayed trip to the Glydders and Tryfan section of the Paddy Buckley round. The heavy snow had put us off until now. We had a good day out on the hills, perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold, no rain brilliant and even the route up through the quarries was free now that Clash of the Titans has finished filming there.

We followed the PB route over Elidir Fach, Elidir Fawr, Mynnedd Perfed, Foel Goch, Y Garn, Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach to reach our final ascent on the route, Tryfan. We chose a good line up the left hand side to avoid the Far South peak and the knoll prior to the top. The only bad thing about the day was that Ian didn't fee too great on the final part of this ascent. He decided to walk down the valley to the Pinacle Cafe in Cpael Curig. Will and I carried on with the planned route, and ran down off Tryfan and the over the Devils Kitchen down to Gwastadnant then on the road back to the car in Llanberis.

It was a good 6 1/2 hour run in great conditions. We drove back to meet Ian at the Cafe and have a well earned Bacon bun. On the drive home Ian decided to cancel his planned joint attempt at the Paddy Buckley round with Will. It is a shame because he has the ability to do the round, but worries over how he feels on long days has knocked his confidence and made him reassess. It is probably a wise move.

The Montane Highland Fling 2010

24th April
53 miles 8,400 feet

I spot Will at the other side of the bridge that leads to Beinglas Checkpoint, I feel hot, dehydrated and tired I shake my head in disappointment, I am late, I hate being late. Will knows I am shattered mentally and physically my 6 hour 45 minutes to Beinglas was my only time check and I can’t believe I have missed it by 10 minutes. I now know that my sub 9 hours target will not happen.

After much reflection, 5 days later I am still as disappointed as I was on arriving at Beinglas CP. Irritated that I went out too fast and ended up in a sorry state again at the end. I was not running strong after Inversnaid, but I ran the hills, downhill and flats well at the beginning. Next year I hope to try and run it more evenly in terms of the effort. This will mean having a walking break on Chonic Hill and not running most of it like the last 2 years. What actually happened to leave me disappointed at missing on my goal and mistiming my effort, but happy with my overall placing of 14th. Well ……

A year has passed and I am in Milngavie car park again preparing to start this tough 53 miler. This time Will was my personal support. He is concentrating on a Paddy Buckley round later in the year so decided not to run it. So I hand over my Inversnaid drop bag to the Race organisers and head for the line. I feel fitter this year and have a simple strategy to run as much as I can and walk when I can’t.

I set off strong and tried to settle into a comfortable pace. I ended up just behind two runners that I would see from time to time all day. We made a good link through the gates, each keeping them open for the next, and made Drymen in a swift 1 hour 35 mins. Will was on hand to take my jacket and give me a fresh bottle of lucozade. By now the sun was poking through the clouds and although it was only 09:40, it was quite warm. I ran most of the next section to Conic hill and even ran parts of that, in fact up to this point I had run almost all the way. I ran most of Chonic Hill and enjoyed the descent to Balmaha overtaking a few of the earlier starters as I entered the car park. A quick switch of an empty for a full bottle and I continued walking through the car park chatting to Willl and stuffing food in my mouth and my bum bag then it was off to Rowardenan.

I felt comfortable all the way to Rowardenan and enjoyed the up and down proper trail running. I reached the car park in good shape and had my first sit down and a chat with Will about, possibly being in 8th place (I was 9th), and a rice pudding then I set off for Inversnaid. The long uphill stretch out of Rowardenan was tough I ran some of it and walked some. Then on the long downhill stretch I had my first bad patch. Feeling cramps in my sides and calves. This worried me; it was too early for this. I did my best to slow enough to not let this get a grip, but it did ruin the fluidity of my movement. I became more rigid for a while and worried that this would continue. Luckily by the time I reached Inversnaid I got into a reasonable rhythm. Will did not meet me here because of the long out and back car journey around the mountains that is required.

I retrieved my drop bag and had a rest for 5 minutes to eat. I even walked 100 yards the wrong way to hand over my litter, it felt like a heroic act. I performed an about turn and headed for Beinglas. This section is very rough and it knocked me out of any rhythm I had and seamed to drain me more than it should have. I reached Will at Bein Glas shaking my head at him as I realised that it was 6 hours 52 minutes in to the run and I had no chance of sub 9 hours, feeling sorry for myself I did not even think about the fact that I was in a race and doing pretty well. I was in 7th at Drymen 9th at Rowardenan and 14th now. After an unnecessarily long 4 minutes on my backside Will told me to get a move on “ as you will on my Paddy” I agreed that I would, and so levered myself up and onwards.

I lacked serious motivation and knew that the 12 miles left to go were going to be painful. The 6 miles of mainly uphill passed with me only running when the trail was virtually flat or downhill, or when a photographer’s camera appeared; strange I know. Will had gone to Tyndum to park up and retrace the trail back to me. As I approached the top of the hill onto the highland plateau I negotiated the cow latrine by snaking passed the rumps of some bloody huge cows (I think I have mentioned on the blog my fear of these creatures) I was too knackered to bother. So I just ploughed my way through the slosh. By now my lucozade had run out and I was getting dehydrated. My 2nd toilet break confirmed my fears, bright green fluid, and I had not eaten any asparagus. Not good. Eventually, after what felt like a long time traversing the rollercoaster path through the woods, Will appeared like a bronzed Adonis descending off a mini summit. Shirt off and proclaiming “I only have water” thank god for that, I was sick of all that energy drink. I ran as much as I could for the last 6 miles with Will.

I felt pathetic, walking any slight incline and jogging the flats slowly. All the time I was imagining myself running up Conic Hill 6 odd hours earlier. Will said he had feared he would struggle to keep up with me. No Chance, more like he was struggling to run slow enough. It felt like he was kidding me about the distance left my glass was half empty and Wills was full. Finally we arrived at the last bit of road. He left me at the start of the last field and semi triumphantly I passed the bagpiper and headed for the finish line. A runner that I had jockeyed position with from Beinglas was 200 yards ahead and for the last 2 miles I could not be bothered to even contest it. He probably deserved it anyway.

14 th in 9 hours 20 mins. I suppose I should be pretty pleased it is a new PB; 9 minutes faster than last year. I know I can do better so it will be interesting to give it a go in a years time, roll on the Highland Fling 2011.

Wyresdale Circuit

10th April
24 miles and 3,300 feet

As I sat down on the side of Ward’s Stone, cramping, dehydrated hot and tired, I thought to myself, it wasn’t meant to be this hard ……

The Wyresdale circuit was first completed by fellow Bowland Runner Duncan Elliott in the summer of 2006. He decided against the original route which was a horseshoe (Wyresdale Skyline) starting and finishing at the post offices in Scorton and Qeurnmore respectively. This was first completed by Andy Verden in 2005. I decided that the Circuit made more sense, as well as the obvious benefits of starting and finishing in the same location, it made a nice loop of mixed; not just boggy, terrain. After recceing the part from Clougha Pike to Abbeystead Chapel, I decided that starting at Jubilee Tower was the better option, for the large free car park, and the old monument to mark the start and finish with. Originally I had planned to have an easy run around it, but after reading reports and realising that no one had yet beat the 5 hour mark for either the circuit (which is 2 miles longer and 400 feet less ascent) or the horseshoe, I decided to have a go at doing a sub 5 hour round. Fellow Bowland member Ian Cookson joined me for an attempt. We would be together only until the top of Harrisend Fell were we agreed to go at out own paces.

It was hot t-shirt weather at 08:50 as Ian and I touched Jubilee towers modest turret and set off on our round. We made our way through the farms feeling the heat straight away. After about half an hour we reached Abbystead Chapel, this was to keep the same line that Duncan did and be true to his circuit. After a brief stop and a check of the map we set off into what was uncharted land for both of us. Map in hand we negotiated our way to the crossing of the Wyre easily enough; a woodpecker was working hard on a tree and shattering the silence of the Saturday morning. Passed Swainsdale Hall, again being true to Duncan’s Route! And then after crossing the main road we went a bit off track and had to make our own way onto Harrisend Fell. The line wasn’t too bad apart from the fact that we were accidentally trespassing.

On Harrisend Fell (1h 13) I wished Ian good luck and set off on my own gradually pulling away from Ian I made my way on good mown ground to Grizedale Head (1h 21) this is were the familiar peat hags and bogs started. I new this was tough terrain but thought that the land may have dried out a bit. No such luck, it was as boggy as ever and on more than one occasion I had to leaver my knee deep trailing leg out of a deep bog. Never mind at least the weather was good. Too good, no cooling wind and about 17c was a shock to the system after such a long cold extended winter. I continued working hard and sweating hard onto White Moss (1h 30) then turned for Hawthornthwaite I now realised what everyone means about the Trig point. Amazingly it still stands (1.42). As I set off for Holdron Moss I looked back to see Ian was only about 500 meters behind, he was going well, but this was the last time I would see him on the day. I made an effort to keep my legs moving over this particularly sodden section of Holdren Moss, this was tough going and at times I had to walk a bit to regain my momentum. Over Holdren Moss (2h 02) and I could see the last hill before my drop down to the Trough of Bowland. I made sure I drank my ½ litre bottle of Lucozade dry, ready to fill it up at the stream. So over Top of Blaze Moss (2h 15) and then a nice fast descent to the Trough road, I was enjoying this. But my enjoyment ended when the stream that I was relying on was not there. I really should have paid more attention to this.

So annoyed with myself and with no water at all I set off in the baking sun up Whins Brow. No amount of map reading now would locate any drinkable water on this route; I scoured the map trying but, was kidding myself, I knew that I was in trouble. I think about what bear grills would do, and conclude he would read the map better before setting off. Onto Whins Brow (2h 36) trying to forget my hydration problem I decided to just go for it, no sense hanging around wasting time trying to find a stream. My only strategy was to keep wetting my Buff in bog water; the cooler I kept the less I would sweat etc.

Hydration issues still playing in my head, and being mesmerised at following a fence all the way around, well almost, nearly side tracked me from the little summit of Threaphaw Fell (2h 47) So a quick out and back and I powered on passed the serene Canada Geese at Brennard Tarn, and the laughing gulls (yes they must have been laughing at my stupidity) on Brennard Great Hill (3h 07). The tough going continued to the start of the out and back of Wolf Hole crag. Just prior to the out and back I met my first people of the day, I begged some water off 2 guys, they took pity but only had hot water, I was desperate 200 ml of clean water was very much appreciated and needed. I thanked them again as I passed them on the way back off Wolf Hole crag (3 h 25). I was now on familiar ground again, but this was offset by the fact that I was starting to wilt in the midday sun.

On my way over to Ward’s Stone I had my first sip of the now warm water. I knew it was too little too late. I had only drunk ½ a litre of fluid in nearly 4 hours of hard bog trudging work. I found that I was now walking more of the bits that earlier on I was running. The tank was flickering to empty. On the final approach to Ward’s Stone I sat down, legs cramping and feeling a bit rough. This was a hard day, made harder by my serious error with the water. It was never meant to be this hard.

I stretched off the cramp and steeled myself for the final 5 miles. I had an hour left I, in my deteriorating state I knew it would be tight. So I pushed on to Ward’s Stone East (4.02) steeled myself on the flat run to Ward’s Stone West (4.06) then cramps in my sides and legs over cabin flats and I painfully pushed it running up Grit Fell . (Normally a very run able gradient). I couldn’t stop looking at my watch, as if time would slow down. On Grit Fell (4.27) I met another chap who kindly let me have a drink of his water, I knew it was too late but it made me feel a bit better.

Pushing hard to Clougha Pike (4.38) and I now knew I would make it inside 5 hours. So on the sedge and tussock strewn descent I took a couple of walking breaks just to stretch my cramped up calf muscles. My car was shinning like an oasis in the desert as I approached it and Jubilee tower just meters beyond it. I was glad I had plenty of water in the car. I ran passed it and across the main road to touch the tower. I had done it. 4 hours and 52 minutes 50s. I collapsed on the bench feeling rough but happy with my effort. Ian finished in 6 hours 36 minutes and said he enjoyed the day too. Wisely he set off with more water than me.

It may only be 24 miles and 3,300 feet but it is a lot tougher than those statistics suggest. This was originally planned as a training run for my upcoming 53 mile Highland Fling race, but it became much more than that. There is no doubt I made it harder than need be for myself. But either way I never envisaged having to work so hard to duck under 5 hours. It was a really enjoyable, if slightly torturous, day in the Bowland hills.

Carneddau recce take 2

3rd of April
15 miles and 5,200 feet

We were good to our word and returned to Wales to have (we hoped) a proper recce of this wonderful ridge. This time fellow Bowland member Chris Reade joined us.

It was a much better day and Will and Ian got an expert guidance of the best lines by Chris. This time the weather was beautiful. Apart from a little bit of snow on the ascent of Pen yr ole wen, we had clear visibility. The only thing to slow us down this time was the amount of snow on the ground. It was all the way down to the valley floor in patches. We decided to use the summer lines even though these had deeper snow on them. The reason for this is that they are mostly grassy areas away from the main ridge. Still it gave us all a good work out. As sometimes our feet would hold near the top of the crusty snow and other times we would break through 6 inches down, really energy sapping stuff.

Still we persevered and completed the circuit on 4 hours 50 minutes. Not bad given the 1 hour run to Pen yr ole wen and the underfoot conditions. All in all a great days running in what at times looked like and alpine scene, and was almost as warm as a summers day.

Fiensdale Fell Race

20th March
8 miles 2500 feet

A dank miserable day didn’t deter Ian and I plus 69 others from having a crack at this BFR arranged Fell race. It was one I have meant to do for a few years but it never quite worked out. So this was my chance to have a go at, a shorter than usual course, due to access issues.

I gave it my best shot but always felt like I should have had more to give, but my lungs were heaving most of the way around. I think I may have still had the tail end of a chest infection. Still I managed to hold a good race together and finish 16th in 1:08:08, and Ian had a good run finishing 25th in 1:14:32 out of 70 runners . Congratulations to fellow club runner Mike Johnson who won in 58:59.

Paddy Buckley Carneddau Recce

13 March
15.5 miles 5,500 feet

This run could be summed up as Will Ian and I enjoying a nice flattish trail run from Capel Curig to Pont Pen-y-benglog via Llyn Ogwen then a high level run over Pen yr ole wen and the Carnedds on snow covered ground in a freezing windy white out that was horribly cold, followed by a slight thawing over Pen yr Helgi Ddu and Pen llithrig y Wrach, then a major warming up off Pen llithrig y Wrach and back to Capel Curig followed by a feed at the Pinacle Café.

At times the wind chill on the Carnedds must have been about -15 c. We all felt very cold my hands were so numb I could barely get the map out to look at the bearings. We only made 1 mistake and that was going down the wrong ridge off Pen yr Heli Du, still as Will rightly said this was another 20 minutes of training, a grear positive atitude, no wonder he is good at these long challenges.

I have got into a minimalist mind set when going into the hills at the moment, and most of the times that I do, I end up promising myself that next time I wont be so minimalist with the kit. Instead of a Bum Bag I will take a rucksack with a good winter jacket in it. I type this so I am more likely to remember the lesson. It hit home when I was seriously cold whilst ascending a gradual slope up to Carnedd Dafydd., Will and Ian said “we are putting more gear on”. I thought to myself I am freezing and I have no (or next to no) more gear to put on. So I was reduced to running up and down the hill to keep warm, and that didn’t even work. Still once we got on to the descent and out of the wind I gradually warmed up. Note that I did'nt take any photos from the top of Pen yr ole wen all the way to just before Pen yr Helgi Ddu. It was a kick up the arse and a reminder that winter isn’t over in the high hills yet. It’s amazing how debilitating and how rough having numb hands makes you feel. I along with Will had thoughts of going down at this point, but we unbeknown to each other, toughed it out. Ian was as hardy as ever and had no complaints.

It was still fun though. Although I don’t think Ian and Will learned much in those white out conditions, for their impending joint Paddy Buckley attempts. Still it’s a good excuse to go back down ASAP.

Lakeland 100 recce Blencathra to Dalemain

8th March
26 miles 3,200 feet

I decided to carry on where I left off the recce of this route. By starting at the lead up to the old coach road and going all the way to Dalemain checkpoint. It was a beautiful day and the snow covered Lakeland hills glistened like high alpine peaks. It was a perfect day for running. I thoroughly enjoyed the route it was so peaceful even the long (2 miles ish) of roads were nice and quiet. The only tricky bit of navigation is through a farmers field near High Longthwaite, or at least it would be tricky as this stretch will be at night. I enjoyed a very peaceful rice pudding in the courtyard of Dalemain house, not totally sure if I was meant to be there or not, until I noticed the café. At least I wasn’t trespassing.

The route back in contrast was stressful. I decided to run back along the A66. This was a bad choice. I ran on the grass verge at the side of the road whilst cars and Lorries went past at 60 plus mph only a couple of feet away, not fun. My plan to use the dismantled railway to get back was not too great either. When I eventually found it, a bit further on than intended as the early sections are a horrible looking bog, I joined it to find every ¼ mile a farmer had erected a fence across it. Also the golf club had erected a daddy of all fences. Not quite the nice track back that I had envisaged when using memory map to plot my route back!

So after a bit of trespassing and 26 miles and 3,000 feet I arrived back at the car. The run took 4 hours 36 minutes and the 14 miles to Dalemain took 2 hours 30 minutes. This confirmed to me how good this route is, as this is potentially the least inspiring part of the Lakeland 100 route. It also confirmed that I will never run back from Dlalemain that way again.

All in all a good if tiring day out.

The Bleasdale Fell Race

27th February
5 miles and 1250 feet

Ian and I had a good run out at the Bleasdale circle fell race. It was cold and clear with not much wind. The route is a nice simple horseshoe starting and finishing at Bleasdale, it visits Fair Snape then Parlick and back to the finish through the farm land. The snow on the ground that started at the level of the farm buildings made the run, probably, a couple of minutes slower. As I came to the flatter part off Parlick I was in 13th place (researched after the race) but I suffered a bit near the end and 3 guys overtook me. I thought the finish was further away than it actually was. So I saved something to try and recover the places but it was too late to use it. Never mind 16th was a good result, my time was 47.09 a bonus was that I was 3rd counter for Bowland for the team prize. It was my 2nd team prize, 4 bottles of Fosters is not to be sniffed at. Ian finished 30th out of 71 starters on 52.28. The winning time was 41.34 Chris Smale.

The First Lakeland 100 Recce Keswick to the Old coach road

6 February
21 miles 5,500 feet



Due to all the snow recently, we, that is Ian, Will and I, had decided to shelve the original planned trip to recce part of the Paddy Buckley round in Wales and instead go the Keswick for a low level recce of the Lakeland 100. I am taking part in the race in July and part of the challenge (as well as covering 100 miles and 23,000 feet ascent) is navigating the course. So I felt a need to get to know the route better.

We set off out of Keswick on a perfectly clear if chilly, day. We made good progress and only made 1 serious error, when we overshot the right turn whilst going down the valley towards Great Calva. Apart from that and a little confusion when crossing the A66 at the wrong point, it all seamed straight forward. But as I kept reminding myself, this would be a night section.

On the way towards the Old coach road near Clough Head, we met two BG contenders both on a recce. We decided to join them on their ascent of Clough Head and over to Great Doddd. It was a good excuse to finally get up on a top and leave the recce route. That is the only problem with recceing this route (the Lakeland 100) it tends to go over passes rather than the tops. We enjoyed the more normal levels of elevation as the views opened out over far lakes, Great Gable clearly noticeable in the distance. All had lines of snow capping their tops. A few photos and we left 1 contender to complete his run from Keswick via Skiddaw, Great Calve, Clough Head and onto his awaiting family on Raise. We turned back with stuartAnd left him at the bottom of Clough Head, where we proceeded to run back along the old disused railway lines back to the car at Keswick.

We ran at our own paces. I made quicker progress than Ian and will. After about 10 minutes Will came in then we drove to pick up Ian who made a wrong turn and ended up at a petrol station. All in all a cracking day and my first experience of a new challenge that lays ahead for the summer.

Not quite the Anniversary Waltz.

27th Dec
10.5 miles 3,400 feet

Will and I decided to have a jaunt up to the lakes and go on familiar-ish ground, given the likelihood of tough conditions. We chose to do the Anniversary Waltz Fell race route. The drive up wasn’t too easy and we spent 20 minutes attempting to back track from an ever worsening side road that leads to the Cat Bells car park. I made several attempts to get up an icy incline whilst Will, shod in Fell shoes, pushed from behind. Eventually we made it, and rightly or wrongly we parked at the Stair village hall car park, as it was the only spot we could reach.

The run to the start of Robinson was in fairly shallow snow, so wasn’t too tough. This was to change. As we started up the track onto Robinson the snow got ever deeper and it was now as Will put it “donkey work”. We would normally run this section until the start of the steep bank onto High Snab Bank. But we had to trudge through 10 inch deep snow. This, we now realised, was going to be a tough day. The clouds that shrouded the summits looked ever more threatening and far from thinking of extending the race route, I was now thinking weather we would make It that far.

The steep incline was tough and near the top of High Snab Bank we had to kick steps in 2 feet deep snow; hard graft. Going over the rock steps proved equally tough and in making sure of good hand holds - on the icy rocks under the snow - made for slow but safe progress. By now we were into the clouds and a total white out, at best we could make out a rock now and again for a visual reference. Whilst trying to find the summit, it was hard to tell if we were going up or down. 1 hour and 30 minutes it had taken to reach the top of Robinson. In the race earlier this year I think it had taken me just over 55 minutes. When we descended into a gully that leads to scope beck – the wrong way, and ended up in thigh deep snow, we realised that it was a day that needed to be cut short.

We tracked along the dog leg to Hindscarth and did a few circles of the summit in a confused sort of way. We intended to go straight over the top and down into Newalands valley. After a few hundred yards Will realised that the 2 sets of footprints in the snow were ours from our ascent. So the compass came out and we eventually started going the right way. We then followed the tracks that a couple and there dog had made, off the fell and into the valley. It was a tough day and we only covered about 10 miles in 3 ½ hours, but it was a good final outing for 2009.