I seem to have racked up errors this weekend. Here are the lessons I’ve learned:
- Check race details before setting off. I drove to Llandegla on Friday night, only to find that the second Dash in the Dark had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
- Ensure adequate nutrition. No milk at all in my parents’ house meant that breakfast of cereal and/or porridge was off. I replaced these with a Cadbury’s Caramel egg from a petrol station.
- Don’t jump on your equipment. A boot / buckle / floor interface resulted in pieces of broken rucksack plastic all over the car park before I even set off.
- You can tie yourself into your rucksack if the waist strap buckle is broken. But it’s hard to get back out again. Very hard.
- Weather forecasts can be wrong. This weekend, for example, where cold temperatures and lots of snow will in fact turn out to be boggy and very warm.
- Website ‘location’ features aren’t necessarily evil. It turns out a friend was in Cwm Idwal at the same time as me this morning, but neither of us realised. Maybe some advertising beforehand wouldn’t have been a bad idea.
Nevertheless, I had a nice wander up to Cwm Cneifion even if there wasn’t anything climbable and so I had to retrace my steps back to the car. Welsh Winter remains elusive this year, but there’s time yet (ever the optimist!).
Ha!
Reminds me a bit of this:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=37
I suspect that no matter how many times I read that article, I’m still only going to learn by experience!
fancy the downfall one evening (read night) with Pete and me?
Stu
Yes, but alas it’s all melted now! :(