Tag Archives: walking

november

No sun – no moon!

No morn – no noon –

No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day –

No sky – no earthly view –

No distance looking blue –

No road – no street – no ‘t’other side the way’ –

No end to any Row –

No indications where the Crescents go –

No top to any steeple –

No recognitions of familiar people –

No courtesies for showing ’em –

No knowing ’em –

No travelling at all – no locomotion,

No inkling of the way – no notion –

‘No go’ – by land or ocean –

No mail – no post –

No news from any foreign coast –

No Park – no Ring – no afternoon gentility –

No company – no nobility –

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member –

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, –

November!

No! by Thomas Hood (1884)

Really struggling to get motivated to cycle this month. I have lots of excuses. The biggest, and only genuine reason, is that the weather has been horrible, really horrible. My days off have coincided with wet and windy weather. I know it’s possible to go out with the right clothing but it’s not enjoyable.

just another difference between myself and sean kelly!

Since my Audax ride in the middle of October I have only been on the bike six times and my distance for November is as low as it has been for a while.

© garmin connect

Despite my lack of cycling motivation and excellent excuse generation I have been moving. I decided at the start of the month to try and reverse my declining activity by committing to at least one recorded activity (walk, run or cycle) each day of November. 22 days in and so far, so good.

© strava

This week I need to reverse my lack of cycling motivation as I’ve only got two more opportunities this month to complete my metric century for my 2020 challenge. It would be a shame to give up on it now with only two months left to go.

Header image by Gabby K from Pexels

mother’s day

If St Patrick’s Day was strange then Mother’s Day wasn’t going to be much different. We wanted to do as much as possible today while being sensible so we went to visit Mum and with a great idea from Catriona we wrote Happy Mother’s Day on A4 sheets and greeted her from outside her garden wall having already left her present outside the front door. It was a bit weird but we got to say what we wanted and she and Dad both stayed safe.

Catriona’s wish was a walk on the beach. We went to Rathmullan as it’s a big wide beach with plenty of space for keeping away from others and allowed us to visit Catriona’s Mum’s grave on the way.

When we arrived in Rathmullan the car park was as busy as I’ve seen it with about 40 cars parked up already. Having seen pictures of crowds in the Wicklow Mountains yesterday we were on the verge of turning away but as there was nobody actually in the car park we decided to have a look down the beach.

It was heartening to see how everyone was behaving. There were a lot of people out walking, lots of couples and lots of small family groups. Everyone was very responsible with everyone well spread out up and down the beach with lots of space. We saw a couple of groups of people meeting who knew each other but just waving. One pair of younger couples were kind of messing but one of the guys was pretty clear about the need to stay apart and made sure the other guy didn’t come too close while still being able to have a conversation.

It was really uplifting to see everyone enjoying the day, the first of the proper Spring weather and to be able to put aside the worries and concerns for just a little while but still being sensible enough to stay safe.

Catriona’s favourite thing is to walk on the beach and it was great we were able to give her that today.

happy mother’s day

last gasp

For our last day we decided to go to Finhaut for one last visit, to have a beer in Beau Soleil and say goodbye to Heléne. We walked the normal rural road on the way over but traffic is so quiet due to the outbreak we were able to come back by the main road. It was great to see the valley and villages from a completely different angle as well as have an easier, less hilly walk home. We extended the walk into Frontière for a final drink before heading back to Le Châtelard.

Tomorrow is an early start with the train to Geneva leaving at 625am and hopefully not too much of an adventure getting home with Covid-19 on the loose.

click the image to view on strava

down the valais

We woke up this morning to the sound of the snow plough and glorious sunshine.

morning view of the valley
charging the battery packs

The plan today was to head down the valley. We took the train to Trétein which is a beautiful village built on the side of a very steep hill. Once you step off the train you’re looking right down onto the village.

looking from the train station

We went down through the village past the gorge and down the valley further to Les Marécottes. This village had a lot of very nice buildings with lots of newer ones as it also has a cable car terminus for the ski slopes above. Quite a few people heading up today despite it being a Wednesday and with the snow beginning to melt.

Part of the road runs under an avalanche barrier. For some reason it has lots of holes and with a rapid snow melt we were rained on quite heavily on the way through both times

if you look carefully you can see the drops hitting the road and leaving the roof

After a wander around we went to the zoo(!) for a beer by the swimming pool. We sat outside in the sunshine and it really was baking hot.

i wouldn’t fancy a dip ❄

Afterwards we walked back to Trétein and caught the train back as far as Finhaut. Both bars were closed so we bought bread, smoked meat and beer and had a picnic along the road where we had a great view of Mont Blanc before continuing on to Le Châtelard.

finhaut station
up the valley from finhaut
chalet du glacier with triente glacier in the background
triente glacier on the left
lunch with mont blanc in the far distance above my bottle

12km total walking today and the legs feeling all the hills we climbed! Hoping for more sunshine tomorrow 🤞

click the image to view on strava

border hopping

Today we decided that a trip to France was in order so the plan was to walk across the border to the ski resort of Vallorcine. Overnight it had snowed quite heavily and was still snowing this morning.

All the fresh snow combined with the little use the path receives at this time of the year created a very beautiful walking environment but tough walking conditions with the snow knee deep for much of the walk. We were following in the tracks of a deer and also saw a red deer doe and stag along the way. Both much too quick for photography.

After approximately 1.5 hrs we reached the edge of Vallorcine. It was busy with cable cars heading up and down the mountain and skiirs having a break in the bars. I was surprised to see it so busy on a Monday afternoon. We had a beer to celebrate Jim’s birthday and lunch in the restaurant attached to the railway station. Lunch was well timed as the waitress turned away a couple of groups not long after we started eating.

Post lunch we headed back the way we came. Just before we left Vallorcine it started to snow again, quite heavily and stayed like that pretty much all the way back to Le Châtelard. The walking was much easier with the path broken by our journey up and also being mostly downhill again.

All in all just under 12km and definitely feeling it this evening.

click the image to view on strava

lunchtime constitutional

Since my surgery the week before last I had become very sedentary. Most of the fitness I’d managed to gain during January was steadily fading away, I was sleeping badly and generally feeling crap. My mood was definitely not good and I probably wasn’t great company.

I figured part of the problem was that I wasn’t getting outside enough and using the excuse of the surgery to justify my laziness. I also figured that fresh air (lack of) was both the cause and the cure. The only time I was spending outside was the trip from the house to the car, the car into work and the reverse in the evening.

The easiest and most effective solution was a lunchtime walk. Buncrana is a seaside town and I’m just a 5min walk from the shore front so with sandwiches and a bottle of water in my pocket I hit the paths on Thursday lunchtime.

It was tremendously windy with a storm coming in but it was bright and sunny and definitely blew away the cobwebs. I headed along the shore front path skirting the edge of the park before retracing my steps and heading across to the Heritage Trail start and then back to work. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I slept soundly that night.

Friday I decided to explore the Heritage Trail more and this took me along the opposite direction skirting a small beach and out to the Life Boat station at Ned’s Point. I wandered a little here before turning back which left me very tight for time getting back to work.

Saturday morning was wet and windy but I was delighted to see it clear up by lunch and the sun come out in full force. The Ned’s Point walk was the perfect blend of distance and enjoyment so I repeated Friday’s walk. At times it was quite warm when sheltered from the wind. On my way back I met a very friendly guy from Tipperary who had relocated to Raphoe and was meeting a friend in Buncrana. We walked back to the Main Street together swapping stories and having a great old yarn.

One of the guys at work thinks I’m bonkers. He doesn’t seem to be able to understand the attraction or how I’m able to walk and eat at the same time.

3 days last week and I hope to repeat that this week. Let’s just hope that the rain stays away as it’s not feasible to spend the afternoon drying off and squelching around the shop!

murvagh beach

Judging by the forecast today could be the last day of Summer, or at least for a week or so. Combined with my day off we decided to head for a walk on the beach in the spirit of carpe diem.

picnic lunch in Donegal Town on the way

just the two of us as the boys were camera shy today

Some of the photos look very dark but it was bright and sunny for the second half at least.The Marram Grass in the dunes looked really, really green. I don’t think I’ve seen it in full flush before and it was impressive.

click the image to see the activity