Sun!

What a wonderful weekend! Fin had his birthday party on Saturday - a joint affair with his mate Ben, who has his on the same week. We took a crew down to Mount Hawke for some skateboarding and scooting. That was fun and injury free - always a bonus.

And then on Sunday, I cycled to Tavistock. Janey and boys drove up and we headed off on a bike ride across the Moor. I'd heard of this ride from Princetown that heads down to Burrator Reservoir. You go around the Dam and then return using a track across Dartmoor. Two hours I thought was all we needed. Four hours later we rolled back into the car park! It was dark and cold! But spirits were high. I wish I'd taken my camera - it was spectacular, an amazing route. We'd given Fin his birthday present early - (a new bike) - so that he could use it for the ride. He was stoked.

Halfway around we stopped to ask two middle aged cyclists the way. They pointed us in the right direction, but questioned our ability to make it before night fall. To be fair it was a close call, the moonlight providing us with enough light to make out the track for the last couple of miles. We saw the couple again in the pub - they said they'd been keeping an eye out for us! A great adventure. The boys slept all the way home - we put Fin straight to bed, he didn't wake up until this morning!

Road Trip

Did I say no new projects for this year?! Well that could be all set to change (as is the Surf's Up! way!) A chance meeting got us thinking and it could just be that a bit of luck and timing may well take us down a route that we've wanted to go down for ages, but just haven't quite got our heads around how to do it. Until now. We'll mull things over for a couple of days and come up with a plan. It's the next natural step for us.

I gathered the boys together for a road trip on Thursday of a different kind! All over 40 (!), we went mountain biking up at Gawton Woods near Tavistock. They've got three man made downhill tracks that are amazing! We stuck to the one marked as 'difficult' (which is the easiest) - we left the 'Extreme' and 'Very Extreme' routes to the young lads who presumably had spent their college grants on serious bits of kit! They were getting big air!

Poor Old Mikey - I have yet to go on a ride where he hasn't had a puncture (I think he does it on purpose). The HSD trail took about 4 minutes to go down and about 20 minutes to get back up again! Nick's main bike was out of action so he brought along an old one - but he was seriously under-gunned. You really can't be taking on these trails without brakes! You need brakes! Three spills later, Nick made it to the bottom - alive but bruised! We did some bike swapping and I got my dirt bike out as an experiment. Turned out it was just the ticket - the perfect machine. Except that it's a single speed ie no gears, and it's heavy. This made for a big push back up to the top! Anyway despite some initial bike and tyre failures we had a great time. we headed home pretty shot!

I went back up again there yesterday on my own. There's another wood nearby that has loads of tracks some of which were super extreme. Being the only one there was bit intimidating! And going nervously down trails is not the way to do it! On one run, the track drops off steeply into a banking turn. Half way through the turn I was surprised to see another drop off. I got it all completely wrong and the front wheel dug in, at which point I made the amateur mistake of reaching for the brake .. the front one. I went flying through the air, my feet fully clearing the handle bars - it was like slow motion running in the air. Fortunately the landing, a good distance further down the slope was soft and the only damage was to my self esteem! In the past there's no question that an accident such as this would have resulted in a pulled hamstring and that's what was going through my mind before hitting the ground. I've done it so many times and each time really gets me down. I'm hoping that all this cycling has actually strengthened all the bits that need strengthening and maybe, just maybe this achilles heel will be a bit more resilient. Fingers crossed. I dusted myself off and headed back to Gawton Woods, a couple of miles away to the HSD track. Great, great fun ... and a great work out.

Soggy Bottom

The last time I raced on a mountain bike was some 20 years ago in the Quantocks - and I did really badly! I led up the first hill and then slipped and fell off, rejoining at the back of the field. I can't say it got any better after that! Yesterday, I lined up in the Vets category for my first race since 1989! And remembering my one and only previous mountain bike racing experience, I made a plan to start last! It was obvious that these boys were seasoned racers and were here to 'race' - I just wanted to see if I could finish it and in doing so, keep out of their way.

The first hill was wet and muddy and pretty impossible. Everyone was off their bikes and pushing their machines (some very expensive machines at that!). At the top it went into single track. I was following this old chap who was taking it pretty easy, and I could see the rest of the pack moving clear. When I did eventually get passed, the pack had disappeared into the distance. So the chase was on! Pedal to the metal, I went as fast as I could, testing out my new biking fitness gained from hours and hours out on the road and on the turbo at home! The course itself was challenging. There were tricky bits - one very steep grassy bank had me flying over the handlebars on two consecutive laps! And mud in one place came up to the knees (that was a get off and carry bit!). On the single track there were slippery wet roots, and trees tight to the side leaving little room for error. But overall it was a fun route.

I crossed the line in 16th place - totally stoked. Having started at the back and battled through the traffic (about 100 of us all went off at the same time) - I was really, really pleased with that.

So it was a vast improvement on 20 years ago! I'm going to train even harder now and come the next race I'll start near the front and see what happens! You can't beat a bit of competition to light the fire!

ps. doubly stoked this morning. Entries to the Dragon Ride Sportive are like gold dust but this morning they released 300 additional places..... and I lucked out and got one!

Surf looks great today - 3ft clean, a few people in. The sun is out - what a lovely day!

Great to get out on the bike again! An 80 miler yesterday blew away all the cobwebs. It was warm when I left Polzeath in the morning, but when I got up onto the Moor - oh chilly. The four and a half hour effort rewarded with a Lindt Bunny!

Food for Thaw

It was another day on the Moor yesterday! - snow still great! But back to school for the boys today.

The Hunter Gatherer

Comedian Arthur Smith (who we taught to surf many years ago) when asked on TV show Qi what age he thought was the best, answered age six. He said that at six you have no concept of your own mortality, everything is an adventure and you can stick your head in a bowl of custard and no one give a damn. Finley is now six (seven in a few days) and it is the most wonderful age. I love watching him. Billy is a bit further on. He's ten and he sees things a bit differently. He now makes the custard for Finley to put his head in and when Fin put's his head in, Billy makes sure he goes in good, real good!

Wailin teaches Billy to play the guitar, which is fantastic. And he's started to play it loads out of sheer enjoyment. I have to admire Wailin. He is an exception lead guitarist - and I imagine at home that he has a guitar in his hand all the time. I wish I had that passion. I go full bore at things and then move on to something else - jack of all trades and master of none. What it would be to be really good at something! Anyway Wailin's lad Elliot who's only a whipper snapper is quite unique. You watch him and you can see that all the time he's got music in his head. He's tapping his feet or humming - and that must be because he's been immersed in this passion. It's lovely to see.

I have to admit that I went to the shops yesterday for 'emergency provisions'! Not exactly panic buying, but as the hunter gatherer my man job during this cold snap is to ensure that the family is fed and watered. Came back with lots of goodies including two big Lindt bunnies!.. so it was well worth the journey. My dad asked me to get a few things (he lives down the road), I had no idea what to get him so I had fun trying to guess what he'd like. Prune Juice, Kippers, some yougherty shmogerty's.... it was all there! Should keep him going for a while!

School is back on today. It's a time to find out what your employees are made of - it's when you separate the men from the boys, when you find out those who you can truly rely on. I know that Wailin and Mike would get in whatever - fortunately though they haven't had to, as they've got a couple of weeks off. A well earned break. JD is on her way (as if that was ever in doubt!) - she'd also get in no matter what! Before Christmas we put together a list of jobs to get done over the Winter period and for the first time in years we're actually well ahead of the game. Which I think is why we're very relaxed at the minute. Do you live to work or work to live?With no big new projects this year we have the opportunity to focus all our energies on what we already have. That's the shop, the beach house and the surf school. We can work really hard at improving every area and that's like going back to our roots. We're looking forward to that. Last year was a busy one what with the shop and office build. Well worth the effort, but consolidation is our buzz word this year.

I was going to head up to the Moor for a bit of snowboarding, but I think that can wait until tomorrow when I can go up with the boys. With the current forecast, it's not like we're going to miss anything! With no wind and clear blue skies, this is a good place to be.

Just seen the boys on the beach heading out for a surf. 2ft and super clean. Probably warmer in than out. Inspired I was all set to join them but on my way to grab a board from the trailer got distracted with the offer of a Mochachino! Stuart and Amanda from the Conezone had popped into their shop just to check all was okay. Stuart's an ardent Burnley footie fan, so a bit gutted about losing their manager this week. Having said that, I think he's loving the fact they're in the Premiership and he travels all over to watch them play. That's dedication. Anyway, haven't made it in for a wave. I've been hitting the turbo trainer super hard this week, my legs are shot - probably good to have a rest day.

26 days 'til Bali! I hope by then that it's warmed up. I want to be here when there's extreme weather - I'd feel I'd missed out if I wasn't. "I remember when....." The most extreme we've had was in 1998 (?) when the roof of our house got blown off in a 74mph gust (we've got a wind gauge thingy)! We spent the night up in the loft space with buckets and tarpaulin sheets trying to keep out what we could. It was very wet, very cold, very dark and we were quite scared. Tiles were being ripped off the roof, and landing over the other side of the road. The forecast was for the wind to increase in the morning to 100mph but it swung to the North giving us some shelter and respite. And then we had some dodgy builder who patched up the holes with the wrong size tiles. "They don't make that size anymore!" he said. Hm, but surely they should lie flat! In the end we got one whole side replaced and a bit of the other. Great job!

It's funny how the smallest things can make you happy! I've got some good gloves - keep me super snug. But I lost one! Gutted, as they're brilliant for crafting snowmen! They've been missing for a few weeks. But today I ventured into the bottom of my golf bag and there it was. The missing item. Stoked! Might try them on my bike - it's the hands that feel it. You might think that having stood in cold waist depth water all these years, I might not feel the cold so much, have a bit if immunity. But I think the reverse is true. I'll do anything to stay warm. My biking get up is now very impressive (and not cheap!) - keeps me toasty. Might be why I didn't venture in the surf this morning. I was snug as a bug. Note to self - Must Man Up!

A Winter Wonderland

Oh yes! we now have snow! Good snow too - had quite a drop a few moments ago! Very excited..... as our the boys! School closed; toboggan runners, greased!

later.... just been to get some provisions from Tesco and the main roads are okay. Okay, until that is I came down into Polzeath. Turned into Trenant Close (where we live) and the Landy decided that gravity was more attractive. So I started to slide down the road - which was very scary! Got the heart going that's for sure, especially as the road just keeps on getting steeper!

The ABS was working overtime and eventually I pulled the beast into the kerb. Turns out I might not have engaged the 4WD fully - silly me!

Great website for seeing if you're about to get snow http://www.raintoday.co.uk/

These photos were taken up on the Moor. Got the Landy stuck twice... thanks Bill (Escape Surfboards) and family for pushing us out... twice! Misjudged the depth of snow the Landy could handle!

NO SNOW

What's going on?! We've got no snow! Well we had a bit yesterday and the boys school was shut - but not the thick white fluffy stuff that we'd been promised. It was cold though. My bike ride nearly ended in tears as my pinkies froze! But here, I have a masterplan. In France everyone in the Alps has snowchains and they get around fine even during big drops. How about next year the government subside the purchase of snowchains and then we wouldn't be so dependent on the gritters and ploughs. To quote the Meerkats, "Simples". Which reminds me - the Evian ad with those babies rollerskating - loving it!

The Best?

What a day we had for Christmas, Cornwall at it's very best. Blue skies with just the lightest of breezes - well worth battling through the ice and snow to get here! The boys have been having a ball with their cousins. Happy days.

Went to see Avatar 3D today - how good is that?

Note to self - although Christmas abroad is tempting (we did it two years ago), don't do it. Couldn't beat a family Christmas at home.

Unite!

Have I said before how much of a disregard I have for Unions?! Yes, I believe I have! So every time that ridiculous body of do-gooders Unite pull stunts like the one with BA, my blood boils! Yes, the threat of strike will certainly focus the mind of the Directors and bring a resolve perhaps a bit quicker. But at what cost? If I had a flight booked this Christmas, I'd be on the phone changing my airline right now.

Running a business in this country is difficult. The government certainly doesn't encourage it. Taxes in particular are incredibly negative. VAT for the surf school is a straight tax - nothing to write against it. You should see the figure we have to pay out in holiday pay. I've got no problem with our longer term staff, but temporary staff who pass through for 5 / 6 weeks! And legislation has become more and more ridiculous. If you deal with kids, as we do, well there's a minefield right there. CRB's are a complete waste of time and money. They take ages to process and you need one for every activity you want to teach!? Where's the sense? The old central system was much, much better. But hey ho, what do we know - this will be my 18th year and Janey's 21st year teaching surfing! Still young at heart! 

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!!! A huge hero of mine - oh dear, all gone a bit pear shaped. I went up to Wentworth a couple of years ago with Stuart (from the Cone Zone) to watch him in the matchplay. He was in a big sulky mood and lost his match. What's the expression?... never met your heros? Well okay we didn't actually meet him, but we were close enough to mop his brow! 

Christmas prep is coming along nicely. Billy (10) and Fin (6) - that's a good age for festivities. The tree is up, the pressies are all in hand, turkey ordered. For once we may well be on top of the game! Family are starting to arrive - yep, got a good feeling about this one! 

Ebay - not much left to sell! All the stuff that isn't used has gone. Done really well. The only thing is I'm a rubbish packer! my mind doesn't work that way! Especially with the bigger stuff. It's real ordeal!

Off to meet my mate Nick for a bike ride. He likes pain!