the Schedule - Overruled

The Schedule said I had to do three hours on the mountain bike on Saturday. My Daughter said I had to take her to the Lough Shore. My Daughter won.

I loaded her and her brother into the bike trailer, Granda borrowed my marin, and we took the scenic route down along the river, through the castle gardens and down to the shore; ate ice cream, watched the pirate ship race, saw a demonstration rescue by Lough Neagh Rescue and lay in the sunshine.

I couldn't help but notice a girl in the crowd with her arm in a sling and a plaster cast all the way up to her shoulder looking awkward holding a wee baby. That wrist surgery's never far from my mind these days.

Martin does a lot of his training with weights on his ankles. Personally I don't see the logic in this, because the weight's balanced - so when you have to pull one weight up, the other's pushing down, cancelling out the effort. Pulling a five year old and a three year old behind you in a trailer, on the other hand, now that's a definite training enhancement.

The problem is that my straight line cycling fitness isn't my biggest worry. I really need to improve my off-road skill, so tomorrow I'm heading down to the Mournes for an overnighter, taking my new £10 Lidl lightweight tent, sleeping in my as-yet-not-used Scottish Silkworm sleeping bag liner, and cooking on... I'm not sure which of my too-many stoves I'll take.

I wonder where my compass is.

hot stuff.

I got gas and tried out my Coleman Outlander stove this week. I plan to take the kids camping in May or June for a night or two at a time, so it'll get a proper try-out then. It lights easy enough with the firesteel (sparks drop down from a firesteel so it's safer than a lighter and won't blow out like matches) and burns fiercely. The adjuster knob doesn't reduce the flame until the last quarter turn, but with a wee bit of practice I should be able to get anything from roaring furnace to simmering warmth.

I fancy a primus eta power pot, but i'll have to measure the stove's pot supports to make sure it'll fit.