We Battle The Dreaded Lhergy - Cripperty That Is

Blog followers of an astute nature may have noticed that I do a fair bit of walking, mainly for competition but also recreationally.

However, I am currently on my annual training break, so having discovered last Christmas that with my advancing years (46th birthday the other week) that I am no longer immune to gaining weight, alternatives are being sought to ensure that when I return to full activity, I needn't spend too much effort shedding the pounds.

My daily cooked breakfast was the first casualty but now I'm also trying only to use the car when absolutely necessary.

The first action to be undertaken was to rescue my bicycle and Terence's from the darkest recesses of our little shed where they both lay untended and uncared for with flat tyres.

That's my major problem with cycling: I hate maintenance and something as serious as a puncture usually just means the end. Customarily, it's can't fix, won't fix but on this occasion, drastic measures were called for and between the two of us (unfortunately no.2 son is a chip off the old block,) we eventually got fully inflated and ready for action.

A week last Monday after school, we headed off along the Heritage Track ( The old railway line to Peel) and up the Lhergy Cripperty. I wasn't certain how my lad would cope with such a climb having had a month off sport with a back injury but as he disappeared off into the distance, it was Dad (wrote Ded, now that's a Freudian slip if there ever was one) who was left wondering whether the bloody hill would ever end!

And so after approximately 20 minutes, we arrived at Chibannagh Plantation, for my first ever proper attempt at mountain biking. It was a good job that we were the only riders up there because as I crept down the slopes, I had visions of six year old children whizzing past me.

Still, it was great fun and by the time we arrived home, we were both black with mud from head to toe!

This ageing thing isn't much fun and over the past year or so, Terence has walloped his old fella at surfing, swimming, running and now cycling but a couple of nights later, I did discover that I can still beat him at squash.

Life in the old dog yet!

Anyway, throughout the winter there's still lots of activities that you can get up to both indoor and outdoor, organised or just for fun and apart from a couple of weeks over Christmas, we're open all year round.