Tuesday was a great day… it’s just that this week has been too hectic to mention it previously! The day finished with a lovely meal with Nigel, Kristin, Kim and I, followed by much playing of the guitars… ahead of an early morning to drive them to the airport.
At the start of the day though, I met the big man Daren at Jack & Jill, now loosely referred to as upstairs to Clayton Rec’s downstairs. We set out on our circuit, generally laughing most of the way around… and though I would be hard pressed to recount what exactly we were laughing about, it may at times have been to do with the mud.
We ran down to Pycombe and up to the top of Wolstonbury where the slightly murky day showed us a sunny edge.
Having slithered down Wolstonbury and into the next valley, we then had a short and very muddy hill to climb. So convinced was I that Daren would slip over that I held my camera ready for the big moment… only to press the button inadvertently as I slipped myself.
By the time we passed the downstairs car park we were both knackered, feeling that we had already climbed the Tank Tracks before we had even arrived at their base. It was a supreme act of resolve that enabled us both to reach the top without walking or pausing… the locals must have wondered what all the hoopla was about!
Rather than turning right for the cars though, we turned left for Ditchling Beacon to add a little extra mileage to our route, even going so far as to run around the car-park when we got there.
The return leg was super hard work and the wind against us made it difficult to hear, so laughter was suspended until nearer the end.
Overall 8.9 miles in 1.42, 5.23mph, not bad bearing in mind the hills and the mud. Daren sent me the image below from his Garmin to show the route with elevation in green and speed in blue… note that the slower the speed, the taller the peak roughly corresponding to gates, stiles or other assorted unscheduled stops… and that huge climb in the middle!
