There's Something About The Sunrise...

I’m a morning person, I always have been. Maybe it’s from growing up on a farm, where hungry animals mean everyone is up and about working early, woken by the chorus of noisy calves or cockerels crowing. Or from years as a teenager spent getting up at 4.30am every morning to go swimming training before school and college.

Who knows, but I love mornings…

I don’t take the time nearly as much as I should do these days, to get up and appreciate the sunrise from a mountain top, choosing instead to succumb to the lure of staying wrapped in a duvet in a warm and comfortable bed, but when I do, I’m always glad for my efforts.

Back in April (when sunrise wasn’t quite as early as it is now in the middle of summer!), I joined Rachael, Sam, Roo and the guys from Paper Cut Media for a few days of filming a wee bike edit in the Lake District. You can judge the results for yourself here, and here, and hopefully enjoy the beautiful scenery and feel inspired to get out into the hills, but regardless of whether you do or not, we had a great time making it. It rekindled my love of an early morning adventure, and I’ve found myself setting my alarm increasingly earlier on numerous occasions when the weather and my proximity to the hills looked like coinciding to allow a good sunrise mission!

Rach on breakfast duties before sunrise

Sunrises are totally amazing….every single one is different but all are awe-inspiring, mind-blowingly beautiful. It staggers me every time I see one that nature can produce something so special, so uplifting, something that instantly makes you feel happy, full of hope for life and for the day ahead. Like a giant paint brush is washing beautiful warm colours across the sky.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

A new beginning every single day, like the slate has been wiped clean from yesterday and everything is starting again. While sunset for me brings out emotions of sadness, of things coming to an end, the sunrise inspires hope for new beginnings and new opportunities.

For me, sitting atop a lofty summit, watching the sun come up and bring the world to life is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

The early alarm never ceases to be a shock to the senses, but once you’re up, and hiking or biking up high, you’ll have forgotten all about it.

Pre-dawn hike-a-bike. Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

You wait, shivering in the cold, yet smiling because it feels like you’re the only one in the World witnessing this. The quiet, the calmness, the serenity, the rest of the World sleeping whilst you’re stealing an extra few hours of the day to yourself, before the World wakes up and the noise of human interference starts.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

Senses are heightened. The only sounds that of a few birds, your own breathing, and the breeze.

You can tell when the sunrise is coming, the dark clouds in the East start to glow pink as pale morning light surrounds them.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

The distant pink glow becomes fiery orange, like the horizon is on fire, and still, there’s a sense of everything waiting for what will happen next. Then the sun slowly rising like a golden orb, bringing warmth and light to the darkness you’ve been waiting in, awakening all of life. It’s magical. The sky erupts with colour and in that moment you’re left breathless with wonder.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

That transition from night into day has to be one of the most inspirational phenomena in the universe.

There is nothing quite like a sunrise to remind you that we are lucky to be alive, right here, right now. A powerful spectacle created by nature to remind us that time moves on, everything passes, good and bad…Whatever happens, our World slowly keeps on spinning, and as chapters of our lives end, others will commence. A new day will always dawn.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

It’s the easiest time of day to sit still, be calm, feel gratitude and at peace. To feel a connection with the World and life around you, forget all your troubles and to lose the sense of urgency and stress of normal life.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

Artists, poets, writers, and almost all who have witnessed them over centuries past have been inspired by the sunrise…

 “How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of nature” Arthur Conan Doyle

And how could you not be? There’s just something about it…

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

If you’ve never witnessed a sunrise from the top of a mountain, I suggest you make the time to do it. Go alone for quiet and solitude, or go with friends to share and appreciate it together.

It’s the earth’s incredible free show, and it happens every single day if you can be bothered to make the effort to witness it. Pick a clear night, set an alarm, get yourself out of bed and up to a good vantage point, and watch and wait as the new day dawns. I guarantee it will put you in a better mood for weeks.

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

And by the time the rest of the World wakes up, you can smile smugly knowing you've witnessed something that so many others have missed! 

Image: Roo Fowler for Hope Technology

There's no denying it, I’m a sunrise addict...

Making the Most of a Shortened Winter.....

It feels like hardly any time has passed since I last wrote a blog, yet once again it’s been months! I think after the frustrations of the start of the Winter and feeling like I was missing out on Winter fun, I’ve been determined to fit the whole of a Winter’s activities into half the usual time…I reckon I’ve been closed to doing so too. As a result of this, I feel like I’ve barely had a minute to stop and relax, but hey, I had months of relaxing whilst I was injured anyway!

Skiing in the Alps...an unexpected bonus that I didn't think was on the cards this season! Photo Ben Jones

February’s adventures began with a bothy trip with Aoife and Phil in the Lakes. Aoife is a journalist (and a very good one at that…read her articles on BikeRadar if you need convincing…she writes brilliantly!) and her boyfriend Phil a photographer. They had never been on a bothy trip but were keen to get out, and Aoife had a Bikepacking bike to test as well as a load of gear to review, a perfect excuse for an overnight trip!

Home for a night...

As “Bothying” has become more popular and recognised in recent years, I’ve had loads of people asking me about taking them on trips. I love staying in bothies and will always be up for doing this…but the number of people who like the idea of bothying more than I imagine they would like the reality is probably fairly high! They’ve been made to seem in recent films and photos like idyllic spots to have a mini adventure and get away into the hills…and they are. BUT, they are also essentially just incredibly rustic shelters…4 walls and a roof, and a fireplace if you’re lucky. No toilets, showers, heating or light. Pretty much just a shed!

Bothy nights

So I was more than a little concerned about how 2 bothy virgins would fair on a cold Winter’s night out! Thankfully I needn’t have worried. Aoife and Phil absolutely loved it, and subsequently we all had a great weekend.

Room with a view

The weather was magical…dry and cold with a sprinkling of snow overnight to enhance the view the next morning. We had wine, a roaring fire, and baked camembert amongst many other tasty treats. Aoife got to fully test the kit she was using, and Phil got some incredible photos over the 2 days. Fantastic!

Aoife in full bikepacking mode!

From here it was up to the Fort William Mountain Festival, where I was honoured to have been asked to be a speaker at the Bike Night. Joined by Chris Ball (Enduro World Series Founder and Director, and all-round adventure enthusiast) and Crawford Carrick-Anderson (Legend of Scottish ski and bike racing and basically anything he turns his hand to), and hosted by Aneela McKenna (fellow Juliana Ambassador, co-owner of Go-Where Scotland, and owner of the most outrageous laugh you’ve ever heard), the evening was a sell out and seemed to go really well, despite how nervous I’d felt beforehand! I’d taken my mind off it by taking part in the “Runduro” event that day…25km of fell running with lots of climbing and descending, in typically Scottish winter weather. It definitely worked as a distraction technique…My legs were suffering from it for days though! The rest of the weekend was enjoyed catching up with friends and being inspired by talks and films from those involved in the outdoor sports world. A great event which I thoroughly recommend to anyone.

Chris descending Diagonal Gully

My shoulder gained it’s first real test of “Proper riding” on a quick weekend hit in the Tweed Valley, and thankfully felt great! With steep, rooty, technical trails, and a fast group of friends to chase down the hill, I was worried how it would feel, and how I would feel psychologically too. Strength wise I was fine, the shoulder gave me no pain at all. I was definitely not up to full speed and riding a bit more cautiously than normal, the fear of falling off and facing time off the bike again too much to bear after months off over the Winter! But as I rode more, I began to relax more and feel a little less rusty, and it was just what I needed to give me the confidence to start pushing myself on harder trails again.

Tweed Valley Inversion on a frosty morning

Taking advantage of the great conditions that the Highlands were blessed with, I headed up to the Highlands for some Ski touring in Torridon and the Cairngorms at the end of February. Clear, cold days and blankets of fresh powder make the hills of Scotland seem even more magical than they normally appear, and everything was looking particularly spectacular this year. With various friends, old and new, there were many great days out in the hills in incredible conditions, and a good chance to regain some of the fitness lost after my injury and surgery. I even managed to drag myself up some Winter climbing routes with Simon and Jonny in the Northern Corries of the Cairngorms, and even more surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed them (Note: winter climbing is usually of the Type 2 fun variety!)…a sure sign that the arm was getting stronger!

Kev scoping out the untouched pow fields for our way down!

My main objective this Winter had been to start my training to become a Ski Instructor. After thinking about it for a few years, I decided I would go for it, and even if I decided not to use the qualification, it would be a great opportunity to learn something new, with no doubt many transferable instructing/leading skills to take back to the bike. And if I did enjoy it, and pass, it would give me the potential to be able to work outdoors, year round in the Mountains.

Torridon skiing Photo: Brodie Hood

When I had my shoulder surgery back in November, I basically wrote off the Winter….cancelling all the plans I’d made, and not wanting to make any new ones because I didn’t know what and when I was going to be able to do anything again. I was scared of getting to certain points and not being ready to do things I’d had in mind that I would, and what that would do to my mental wellbeing! This turned out to be a good way to look at things…and as a result, when it got to the start of March and my shoulder felt good, instead of feeling gutted that I hadn’t already completed my instructor training, I felt excited that I could start it and maybe get even some of it completed….anything I got done this Winter has been a bonus from what I expected!

Perfect conditions for my BASI level 1 course in Aviemore

The week long Level 1 course up in Aviemore was HARD!! I felt like I had to unlearn all the bad habits I had from 30 years of skiing, and relearn how to ski from scratch. There were many moments when I thought “I’m not good enough to do this”, but slowly, surely, with hours of practice and drills every day, things started to click and I felt my skiing improve day by day. The others on the course were great fun and I don’t think a single one of us found it easy so we all stuck together and supported each other as much as we could. The conditions were great for Scotland, good snow coverage and quiet slopes, and not too many moments of flat light and sideways snow! I think what I enjoyed most was learning again for the first time in a long time. I’ve been skiing for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never really thought about what I’m doing when I ski, or how I make my skis do what I want them to. Breaking things down to scratch and working back from there is a fundamental part of learning how to teach others, but also essential to understand, improve and refine your own skiing and take it to new levels. I really really enjoyed it, despite how hard it was, and thankfully I passed!

Assisted by magical light sabre Juliana skis....

The following week I began the shadowing of Instructors that is needed as part of the Instructor award. I guess this is where the real learning of how to teach comes in! It’s all very well practising on each other during a course but it’s hard to simulate what it’s like to have a group of 3-4 year olds that you are supposed to be teaching how to ski! I absolutely loved it though, and learnt so much from all the fantastic Instructors I shadowed over the course of a few weeks both up in Aviemore and at the Chill Factore in Manchester. The plan is to take the next level award at the start of next Winter and see where it takes me!

Emily descending to the valley after a fantastic hut trip

The busy theme didn’t end here though…A last minute offer of a Ski touring trip to France to stay with friends Emily and David came up and couldn’t be turned down. The lure of sunny days and spring touring in the beautiful Alps proving too much of a draw despite the dwindling bank balance!

Alpine hut lunches...the reward for a long climb, mmmmmm! Photo Emily Horridge

 It was an awesome week…packed full of hut trips, full-moon overnight tours, great off-piste spring sking, good company, red wine, cheese, tartiflette, and generally all that is wonderful about the French alps! If only it could have been longer!

I love ski-touring! Photo Emily Horridge

Since then, thoughts have turned to riding again as the bike season has begun. I think having an enforced period of time off the bike and away from the things you love and that bring you so much happiness, has been a fantastic way to refresh my enthusiasm and motivation for it! I literally feel like a small child in a sweet shop every time I’m out on my bike.

Every ride is exciting, even ones I’ve done hundreds of times before…I cannot describe how much I’m enjoying being out in the hills and flying down trails again, for both work and pleasure!

It's hard to get out of bed at 3.30am, but sunrise rides are oh so worth it.

I wrote a blog for Bikmo Insurance this week on what I think are some of the best things about riding a bike for a living, and I think this sums up why I’m currently so happy again!

New bike day! Whoop whoop!

There is little like a new bike to bring a huge smile to your face, and when it’s a bike as beautiful as this year’s Juliana Roubion, enhanced by shiny coloured components and wrapped up in magical Invisiframe protection, well, let’s just say my face has been aching from smiling so much!

I’m incredibly proud to be supported by Hope Technology this year, as well as continuing to be an Ambassador for Juliana Bicycles and Invisiframe, and am super grateful for the support from these awesome companies. Hope are based in Barnoldswick in the North of England, and design, make and test all their products in their factory there. How rare is that these days?! It’s fantastic to be supported by a company that are flying the flag still for British engineering and manufacturing. The Factory is an amazing place which I was lucky enough to have a tour of a few weeks ago. It basically blew my mind seeing what goes on there!

Beautiful shiny components

It was a day where Gareth was very much in my thoughts, or maybe even right there with me…. He loved nothing more than pimping up his bike, and Hope components featured strongly in many of these upgrades (or “safety improvements” as he used to tell me they were at the time!). I remember the first red Hope Bottom Bracket and Wheel Skewers he bought for me and how exciting it was to put them on my bike… He would have absolutely loved to see the Factory, and understood a lot more of what was going on there than I did I imagine. But he also would have been SOOOO excited to see my new bike kitted out with full Hope bling! I was proud of myself, and I know he would have been very proud too….(and incredibly envious, in fact, he probably would have already swopped most of the parts onto his bike by now!)

Still not convinced I'm fast enough to have my name on my bike....but at least I know it's mine!

Hope have been running fortnightly Women’s rides at various places in the North of England for a few weeks now, and they’ve been a roaring success. More than 40 women have turned up to ride with each other, test out demo bikes kitted out with Hope componentry, shares stories and banter, shred the trails, and eat cake! They’ve been a great way for girls to meet new people to ride with in their local areas, and to encourage more women out onto their bikes, and also just a huge amount of fun. If you know anyone who might enjoy these rides then send them in the direction of the HopeTech website to find out more!

Since then it's been into guiding up in Scotland on Mountain Lassies women's trips, as well as taking a bit of time to work on my own skills with a day's coaching from JP who runs A-Line Coaching. I feel like my riding is going great after all the tips I picked up and things we worked on last week....thanks JP!!

Mountain Lassies guiding in the Tweed Valley! Photo: Andy McKenna

Skills and drills at Parkwood Photo: JP Jones/A-Line Coaching

There are LOTS of exciting things happening this summer that I can't wait for.....Bring on the sunshine and long summer days in the mountains!

Treat every setback as an opportunity for a comeback...!!

It’s a while since I scribbled some thoughts down on my blog, in fact it was last year (which makes it sound a lot longer ago than it actually was of course!). And whilst you might think that someone recovering from an injury would have plenty of free time to spend writing, I’ve managed to be ridiculously busy and not have a free moment for ages…this is clearly a sign that life is returning to some kind of “normal”…well, “Normal for me” anyway!

Normal life is (starting to be) resumed! (Photo: Claire Bennett)

I’m now 12 weeks post-shoulder surgery and pleased to report that thanks to religiously sticking to my gruelling daily rehab schedule (the reason for a large proportion of my time being taken up every day!), things are progressing well on the shoulder front. I was told by my surgeon and physio initially that 12 weeks was the absolute minimum before I could start skiing, swimming, mountain biking and climbing, but thanks to all the hard work I’ve put in, got the go-ahead to do most of these a few weeks ago, which obviously made me a VERY happy person! 

It might not be much but that little muscle represents a LOT of hours work!

I can still be found every morning in the gym, building up strength and dynamic stability, but being able to start doing the things that make me “Me” has given me a huge boost of motivation and sense of feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel again! It has certainly not been the easiest 4 months, and there have been plenty of low moments, a lot of pain, frustration, and anxiety, as well as serious amounts of effort to stick with the pretty tough and strict rehab program...but it's starting to feel like it's been worth it...I may even end up stronger than I was before I got injured...now that would be a bonus!!

YES!!! More of this now please!

To most people who didn’t know I’d had surgery, it would probably seem now like there is nothing wrong with my arm at all…I can function fine in an every day sense. But I know it’s not quite there yet. It will be several more months before I don’t notice my shoulder at all or start doing things without worrying about how I’m doing them and whether I can or not…this will be the acid test that it is completely recovered I guess! It still feels “weird” compared to the other one…not painful, but like it’s not quite fully part of me, and I definitely don’t fully trust it just yet!  This probably sounds really strange but it’s hard to describe the exact feeling! Partly it’s just that there’s a difference in strength between the two arms so until that’s balanced out it’s going to feel a little bit weird.

So, aside from all the time in the gym, what have I been up to that’s kept me so busy?!

Some of last year's highlights...

Well November is normally a month I’d spend away on adventures, my mind needs to be occupied with positive thoughts and memories in this month where there are a lot of very sad and also traumatic ones which dominate my mind. But that couldn’t happen this year due to my pesky shoulder. I’d also normally have some time post-summer season where I’d take some time to be on my own…and I hadn’t been able to have any of that since my injury either! I couldn’t have got through the last few months without my wonderful mum and dad looking after me, and I’m very grateful to all those friends who’ve been there to cheer me up through the painful, boring, and very low points I’ve had since the op….but I’m a person who needs alone time too.

Time in the mountains to sit and think....(Photo: Leanne Callaghan)

I spend most of my time working with and surrounded by people, and I love that. For the most part it means I only have small amounts of time to myself and not enough to feel lonely, just enough to enjoy being alone. In actual fact, whilst it might not sound like this makes sense, the times I have often felt most lonely since Gareth died are when I’m in big groups of people. I think when I’m alone there is less noise in my head, less distraction to my thoughts, and I can clearly remember the sound of Gareth’s voice, the things he said, think about moments and memories shared and special times and places that meant something only to the two of us. 

Climbing Lake District Ice

I can imagine him with me and how safe and comforting it felt to have him there…just his presence provided me with a confidence that has been hard to explain and re-discover without him. The knowledge that he would be there to support me through anything made me feel stronger, to know he had my back and I his. So it’s good to spend a bit of time alone with my own thoughts, thinking and remembering….

Gareth on a perfect winter's day near Loch Etchacan, Cairngorms

Between Christmas and New Year is always a time when Gareth and I would go away together…usually to Scotland, always to the hills. Christmas is not an easy time of year for anyone who has lost a loved one…and it’s hard to share some peoples enthusiasm for it sometimes…

It can feel a very lonely time if you aren’t in a relationship and don’t make plans to keep yourself busy... everything is geared towards doing things as a couple…or at least it can feel that way if you spend too long watching romantic themed films on tv, watching the seasonal adverts, and looking in shop windows. It’s not something I ever noticed when Gareth was around, and I doubt any of my friends who are in stable relationships will either…but it’s a time of year when you can feel very aware of being single if you are, and also at a time focused on celebrating loved ones, it can be a cruel reminder of all that you have lost, and happier times in years gone by.

Anyway, for these reasons, after a lovely quiet Christmas with my family, I decided to plan a mini roadtrip for that strange time between Christmas and New Year.

Emma, Inver and I on a windy walk up the Cobbler in the middle of storm Frank

It was great, just what I needed, but I somehow managed to plot a roadtrip that basically headed wherever Storm Frank was wreaking havoc! From windy wet Munros and Corbetts in the NorthWest Highlands, to trying to reach a very soggy Tweed Valley, to then heading back into the eye of the next storm in the Cairngorms…I couldn’t have found worse weather if I’d tried!

Despite this I had a great time…It was my first taste of being able to do things for myself again and have some freedom! I spent a fun New Year with good friends, drank far too much prosecco and danced for far longer with some glowsticks than my shoulder could really take. Ticked off a couple of big walks, and started off the new year with some fun…

Not a bad view walking down from Creag Meageadh

I then met up with my sister Steph over in Newtonmore for a couple of days. Again the weather was pretty grim with storm force winds up high. But we managed to tick off a couple of Munros in the Monadhleith mountains, as well as a cold and windy ride and a walk up onto Creag Meageadh.

Steph on a wintery looking Munro

Not long after getting back from Scotland, I flew out to Chamonix for a taste of proper winter!

Good friends Jim and Alison had kindly offered some time staying with them so I could have a change of scenery and some time in the mountains, and I gladly took them up on the offer! It was like my own cold weather training camp week!

Daily uphill training...there are worse views to train to!

I quickly found a routine of skinning (ski touring) up the hill each day (the first day nearly killed me but fortunately it got easier as I got fitter!), very carefully skiing down (no falling allowed!), followed by coffee and a croissant (obligatory when in France), then a few kilometres of swimming and gym exercises at the leisure centre each afternoon, and time spent catching up and chilling out with Jim and Ali in the evenings.

Smiling because we're at the top! (Photo: James Thacker)

It was brilliant…It kick started my return to fitness and increased strengthening of my shoulder and I came back motivated and determined to get my shoulder back to 100% asap.

Beautiful clouds above the Aiguille du Midi

Sunshine, snow and Mont Blanc...all good for the soul!

Since getting back I've been found in the gym for several hours each morning, along with spinning, swimming or running each day, as well as being back on my mountain bike! It’s so good to get muddy and fly down some trails (very carefully of course!), and I can’t wait for more. Having enforced time off due to injury has certainly reminded me of how much I love being outdoors, on my bike, or skiing, or climbing, just being active in beautiful places, and of how important those things are to me. I feel re-energised and motivated and excited about getting out and doing things again!

Muddy legs and big smiles!

I’ve started making some Big plans for this year now everything is starting to fall back into place slowly but surely! It promises to be an exciting year ahead…watch this space!