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Flying years

Far out! Where have the last 2 years flown to? I knew it had been a while since I blogged here but not a whole two years - almost to the day!

Since then - I have turned fifty, flown to Melbourne numerous times to visit my granddaughter, kept on riding and racing but only in Tassie, worked hard for the Cradle Coast Mountain Bike Club as treasurer and downhill event coordinator, walked the famous Overland Track in Tasmania and fought for my job during job cuts (I had to apply for my job and was fortunate to keep it - I think).

This year's motto - "Live in Truth and peace"

I will be investigating changes - this could mean lifestlye, home, work...we will see

Live in Truth and peace

2011- turning fifty!!

2011 - a year of consolidation, preparation and peace!!! (and turning 50!)

No big plans for this year, just lots of laid back little stuff. Gonna relax, be peaceful, stay closer to home and friends and family. My boss will be happy that I have no big plans to take large chunks of time off work like last year.

Only one national level mountain bike race this year - the National championships in Adelaide, Feb 22-26. They had to add another category just for me! I'm the oldest crazy old lady who has ever wanted to compete in the downhill event and they had no class for a woman about to turn 50! They have always had one for men about to turn 50 so they had no excuse not to add one for the old ladies. Our age group is called 'super masters'!!!! lol

There will be other small trips during 2011:

To Melbourne to visit my gorgeous granddaughter especially for her first birthday!

At least 3 "Wandering Women's Weekends" which are weekends away exploring Tassie with 2 of my female friends. We did it in 2009, but didn't get around to it in 2010 so have vowed to be more organised in 2011. There is really so so much to see in Tassie. It is a beautiful amazing place to live and explore. And we have to scratch these itchy feet some how.

Planning to do regular day bush walks too. My 50th present to myself is going to be to walk the Overland track over 6 days in April 2012 so during 2011 I want to so lots more day walks. Tassie is a bushwalkers paradise. It can be hard to choose which walk to do as there are so many beautiful ones to choose from.

Feeling festive!

Christmas is in your heart if you have Jesus.

Time with family and friends helps too.

Faith

Faith - one of my favourite words. Can't live without it.

Don't be afraid of death. Be afraid of not living.

Feeding squirrels in Hyde Park

Introduced pest from America but so cute!

Fashion in Paris

Fashion shoot in Paris. This is such a different city to London. Seems older and the architecture is far more ornate and over the top. I did not ride the free bikes. It seemed easier and safer to walk rather than risk the Parisian traffic. We also used the Metro system - the oldest underground train system in the world. That was really good. Managed to see most of the landmarks in one day by doing a bus tour and then walking along the Siene to the Louvre (did not go inside) and Notre Dame which we did go in to, and then up the Eiffel Tower.

Falcons in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square. Where are all the pidgeons? According to the tour guide on the bus - KFC stands for Kan't find Chicken, :) The truth is that a London mayor banned feeding pidgeons or 'flea infested flying rats' and so there are far fewer than before. The local government also employs someone to fly a falcon around the square every morning to frighten the pidgeons away.

Fully fledged tourist - final visit to the Queen

Final day of riding

Chicksands mountain bike park - "underwhelming" was Joel's word for it. It is in a nice but small patch of forest about an 1 hour from Stansted Airport north of London. Caters for dirt jumpers and 4x a bit better than DH. The DH track was about 400m long - that was it! Not inspiring at all so we didn't stay long. And the 4x and dirt jumps were not as good as Glenorchy. And they charged us 5 GBP each to ride there and there were no other facilities. Not worth it.

Family

On our way out of Scotland we decided to follow the ancestral trail.

Stirling Castle - One of my great grandmother's family all came from Stirling and surrounding areas.

The clan McNab burial ground in Killin. Another of my great grandmothers was a McNab.

Fort William

Do I really have to move off the road?

Fort William

Joel heading for one of the fierce sections. There are some big rocks, drop off and rough roll downs on the top section which you don't really see on the tv/video coverage of world cup races.

Bikes hanging on the back of the gondola by their seats which is quite a good system if you can lift your bike high enough which I can't. Thank God for 6 ft tall sons.

Joel on the fast friendly section at the top of the track.

First class on the Mallaig train

Fort William!! fun and frustration

OK - so here is what all you mtbers have been waiting for! Fort William (which is actually on Aonach Mor about 10 mins out of Fort William) is an awesome track. It has fast flowy friendly sections which are just plain fun and also some frigthening bits that require you ride a bit more fiercely. At first glance the finish looks smaller than you expect but you actually get on the track it is pretty big, as in steep and fast. We had 2 days on the main World Cup track and one day when we did the easier but longer Red Route (that happened because Joel did not have his bike and tried a hire bike which he thought was s@#$) But we did have fun fun fun while things went well.


Frustration -

On our first day we each got in 3 runs and were begining to feel good and have fun when Joel smashed his rear wheel and put a big dint and crack in it. Off to the bike shop - they just happened to have a suitable on order, should have arrived Tues but didn't turn up til Friday!! The lady in the shop sure gave the suppliers an earful when they told her it hadn't even been sent off on Wednesday and that is why Joel got a free hire bike to try. We decided to stay here an extra 2 days waiting for the rim. Today, Saturday we had a good ride but on his 5th run Joel came off half way down, skinned his knee, hurt his neck and broke the visor off his helmet. It was almost the end of chairlifts anyway, but he is a bit sore.

Fun -

While waiting for the rim we had to fill in time with sightseeing so did more than planned. Luckily there is quite a lot up here.

Where are the pics? You say. Well they will come later as this Maccas free wifi is being way too sloooow...

Fine weather - not!

Typical Scottish weather in the highlands. This is Glencoe - spectacular, even in the rain.

Furry friends

Our very friendly hosts at the B&B in Keilder are Millie and her daughters, Peggy and Midge.

Fluffy flyer

No riding for the last 3 days!!! :(

I had to take Joel to the doctor to get antibiotics because a blister on his hand (from riding at Innerliethen) got infected. You wouldn't think something so small would be such a big problem but his hand was so sore and swollen he couldn't even hold the pen to sign his name at the surgery. So there was no way he could grip the handle bars of his bike. It is on the mend now.

Yesterday we did an unplanned visit to York (instead of rding) which was very busy and very interesting. Lots of old buildings and history. We went to the Yorvik Viking Centre. York was once a Viking settlement! Could have stayed there longer.

We only went for a walk in Wharncliffe Woods yesterday and today at Keilder we did a few walks, the forest drive, and went to the castle and the Birds of Prey Centre.

Hmmmm

How dare they tell a girl she can't eat chocolate!!

I was beginning to think they'd done the same thing with mountain biking. 5 days of riding in 3 places and only on the last did I see any other girls riding downhill (There were 3 at Innerliethen) and only 2 or 3 riding xc at each place. There are a LOT more people riding mountain bikes here than in Oz so I thought I'd see more girls. But it seems, that per capita, there are fewer girls riding here in Britain than in Oz. In Australia we usually get 5 to 10% girls at events, here it looks like it might 1%. Not many - what is the secret to getting more girls riding mountain bikes?