winter going on spring

 We walked back from Maybole to Kirkmichael last Tuesday, just four miles, and we were following the snowclouds!

 We are about nine miles from the sea...and the seagulls have decided this is safer than there!!

The village gardening club meeting was themed Ornaments....so twenty of us brought an ornament from the garden, and we had to guess who owned which one..ours was the only one with earth and moss on it!!

We're thankful for the velodrome at Glasgow....even though it is nearly a hundred mile round trip...two hours training and tips from a friend I've known and raced with for forty years. He is still a World Champion and also a good coach.
It was the first time he had ridden on the track here as it is a long way from Essex!
We're all making the most of it as the track will be closed for the Commonwealth Games from mid-June to mid-September (I think).

Also.......good coffee!!

revolution!!

We had a day off yesterday, visited a wholefoods supermarket in Giffnock in Glasgow......just tooo much lovely food and goodies!!

Then to the Glasgow Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in the Emirates Arena to see an afternoon AND an evening of track racing in the Revolution series..the fortysecond event in ten years.

Rather late home....but worth it!!    It was fun seeing people I've known since they were Under 10 (years) racers with the Maindy Flyers in Cardiff, racing well at the top level.

After the ball...

I managed fourth place in the sprint...not bad for one year back racing after thirtyfive off at this level!!
We had a good, mostly dry drive home on the Saturday night, and stayed over with friends in Dumfries..three hour's driving was enough, even with stops.
On the Sunday we had a beautiful hour's drive home, seeing the stretch of road in daylight for a change!!

Then it was to work with a vengeance...airing the house, three lots of washing then and two more the next day!
Back mowing grass again-when will it stop for the Winter?!

We went to the hospital for The Pirate to get his verdict....Bone Scan result fine, a scrip for medicine and injections for two or three months, then the joys of going to Glasgow five days a week for a couple of months.... so all being well, in six to eight months he should be starting to rebuild towards competing again....oh, and an op to improve his 'plumbing'......

The Pirate has never had a stay in hospital, ever, let alone a general anaesthetic.    Lucky man.

Today we went out for a ride to see a cottage we're doing maintenance on, for others.  It was a beautiful day, the colours of the hills brought up by the grey clouds, the road a silver ribbon in the sun. The last five miles are a steady climb, giving us a good start to foundation training for next year's racing.

We had the choice of driving up to Glasgow for a session  on the velodrome, but apart from saving £50 of all the costs of the day out, we chose a ride in the sun and fresh air.
The weather has turned here, wet and windy with sunny periods so far. I can't say that we are looking forward to ice and snow...the log pile is growing just in case, and we're busy foraging from the hedgerows.

World Championships

I've ridden my first race in the World Masters Track Cycling Championships...500m Time Trial, ridden with a standing start, which nowadays takes place in a starting gate which releases you on Go.....

As my age group is short of riders- only four and you need six for a separate championship-we were riding a 55+ championship.  
So both groups lost out...60+ riders were 4th and 5th....preventing a 55-59 yr old winning a bronze....and myself winning a bronze in the 60+.    We just need to get more of our opponents from the past riding again!!

track success!

We've had a successful weekend at the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists' track championships.

I won a silver in the sprint (making the men work hard!!!..the women ride against men two age groups...so ten years...older) and a bronze in the 500m Time Trial.
The Pirate was rather grumpy yesterday....but won a silver in the scratch race ( first over the line after 10 k wins) and is a decidedly happy bunny!!

All that and my team-mate from Dumfries won himself a gold medal today too!

yo-yo-ing..

Back to South Wales again to race!!

This time we started after a training session on Glasgow Velodrome and headed south on the M74....a much quicker direct journey this time and only 9 hours including the stops.  The Pirate took the wheel for two parts of the journey, so we both had turns at seeing the lovely views en route.

Then back again Monday, including collecting unsold pots from one gallery and delivering them to another that needs more stock !

Tuesday starts early with an MRI scan for the Pirate to see exactly where and how big Craig the Lump is.....

The Pirate is feeling well, so we live in hope.

carrying on

The Pirate had his test results...serious but not so serious.  Now we wait for the next tests to pinpoint the size and location of the problem in a couple of weeks then a conference to decide treatment.

And he says not to worry, that is his job!! He is the one that quotes " sharing is caring, caring is sharing"

His instructions have been to race and train as usual....so we've been to the velodrome in Glasgow yesterday. We're training for the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists' track championships..good practice for the World Masters' Track Championships , 5-12 October in Manchester.

Carry on carrying on it is then, carry on loving him to bits.

The weather is definitely Autumnal, so today is the review of all the outdoor and greenhouse plants, to see who comes indoors.

Tomorrow's weather is forecast rain and gales...of course, this is the day that the Tour of Britain cycle race opens with a stage from Peebles to Drumlanrigg Castle......

On a warmer note, Graham Obree has just set the speed record on a recumbent bike somewhere hot in the USA....56.62 mph...hats off to the man!!

championships over, for now....

We've just had a fortnight in South wales, a week to practice, then five days of the European Masters Track Championships.  
No medals, but we rode better than was expected.  I was complimented on my fitness and form...now onto the World's in Manchester, 5-12 October!! 
Because of the low entry numbers,  I was racing in the womens 50 + group, instead of 60 - 64 age group....but I showed well even in that.  Hopefully there will be higher numbers entering the World Championships.   The Pirate was mostly racing against 60+ or 65+ riders....not a lot of hope when you're 74....

Now we can chill out and have fun with Daughter and Family in West Wales for a couple of days before heading home to Scotland.

gardening

It is lovely to see all my fellow bloggers gardens doing well. We are envious!!

We do have the use of a 6 foot by 8 foot greenhouse, which has been keeping us in salad leaves and is promising a good harvest of carrots, a few beetroot, some chillis and cayenne peppers and a load of cucumbers...we'll start earlier next year!

We will have a deep bed made from two stacked wooden single beds (from Heals in the 1920s I think!) all we need is soil.....

I have some plants that need moving from South Wales, being looked after on a fellow allotmenteer's patch.  We never seem to come down with space to take plants back!!

It takes my mind off a health niggle that the Pirate has....I'm not allowed to worry, but I do.   So we hold breath until a week Wednesday, and meanwhile prepare for the European Masters Track Championships on Newport Velodrome in Wales.  So far so good.

just passing....

Visiting a friend again to check emails...you tell people they'll have to phone or write, yet they still send messages online!!  

A phoneline will cost us about  £1 a day...for the massive 4.5 to 8 Mbs....but at least it will be worth it, when we can afford it!!!   So for now we'll carry on with occasional visits.
I really miss blogging, sharing thoughts and images, contacting friends all around the world.

Spring has at last Sprung here in Ayrshire, but the breeze...and sometimes strong wind...is still on the cold side.

We ventured to Yorkshire last Monday...after two hours driving in the rain The Pirate phoned a friend near Darlington...where it was nice and sunny! We left the rain behind after Appleby and Barnard Castle and had a day's grass track racing at Richmond until 4pm when the rain caught up with us again.
It was my first effort at racing on grass...it is very unforgiving, strength sapping, hard work but also  fun!  A very good way to get fit for racing on a wooden track.

I first went to watch the grass track racing at Richmond in 1957, when we lived above a bike shop on the A1 in the middle of Darlington. 
I saw Reg Harris racing, but what I remember vividly was seeing the sun and moon in the same sky!!
The next time was last year, to help the Pirate race there.  Then we had a bit of all sorts of weather, including a snow shower!!

comparative weather

We're back in Te Aroha for a while, and I'm busy looking at snow forecasts and red warnings for the UK....

Here it feels  a bit chilly and damp....but the temperature reading is 19.4 C outside and 18.5 C inside!!    When the sun peeks out it shoots up to 25 degrees plus!!!!

Lets just hope that the weather stays dry for 7 Feb in Wanganui for the track cycling events in the NZ Masters Games.

day trip to Cambridge

We ventured on a longer road ride for New Year's Day, as the roads would be a little less busy.
This meant that we could take the shortest, quickest route on the first 23k to Morrinsville and the first coffee stop...

We thought Soub and Yeractual would like this one...a Jaguar XK 120 in pristine, showroom condition...no salt on the roads here!

Morrinsville is a small agricultural town..as you can see from the Xmas decorations...
lovely!











We found a flatter route than had been planned ( Scotsmans Valley will have to wait until we are fitter ) which meant 4 k along state highway road, but at that point it was quite wide, and with a hard shoulder wide enough for three bikes.  Then we returned to the smaller roads for the last 15 or more km into Cambridge.
After refreshment we headed out on Highway 1 towards Hamilton ( 16 k away) to see the site of the new velodrome. This will be hopefully open by 2014 and will be the centre of NZ cycling.  It will mainly be a training facility for the elite riders.

The Avantidrome (as much of the finance has come from a NZ cycle company) as projected....and as it is so far....

not bad progress so far.

We returned as soon as possible to the lanes to return to our outward route, and retraced via the first cafe stop....let's just say that my saddle isn't quite right...

By the end of the ride we'd done 120k....and after opening up the sleepout, managed to lock ourselves out...when the house was locked and everyone away at the skate park...but after a cuppa at our friend's house next door, all came come and all was well.

woodfiring!!!

I was fortunate to get in contact with Jenni Taris in Matangi near Hamilton just before she had the second firing in her new kiln.
The Pirate wants me to have one of these...so it was a good opportunity for him to see just what this entails!  He joined in on the stoking and helped with the catering...and played with the dogs!!

Over half a dozen other potters came and went,  as it is a shared firing- much better to share firings in each others kilns, that way you all get work finished sooner and learn more quicker.

I made half a dozen pots as a Thankyou for letting us descend upon them at short notice, on a Leach kickwheel that was sitting just waiting to be used!!!!

The forecast rain only stayed for ten minutes , the rest of the day was beautiful.
 We'd travelled on the bus from Te Aroha leaving just before 7am (two hours after the kiln was lit) and unfortunately had to get the bus back two hours before the end of the firing.

The surprise of the day?    Meeting a friend who lives only a few hundred metres up the road...we hadn't written for e few years.....and not seen each other for over thirty!! We met first in the 70s as competitors on Meadowbank track, she for Scotland, from Dunfermline, me for Wales, from Cardiff.

Good to see you again Wilma!!                                                                                  

Te Aroha .... more buildings

The bottom picture is the athletics ground....a banked, grass, track.......looks suspiciously like a grass track you'd ride bikes on too, to me!!