A long run along the coast path before breakfast, but the Full English awaiting at the end certainly tasted good.
Archive for the ‘Dorset’ Category
The breakfast run Leave a comment
Seal Evening 3 comments
An evening paddle to say ‘hello’ to the seal who lives in Poole Harbour. It’s a Common Seal, but it’s actually pretty lonely.
Busy May 2 comments
Approaching Swanage Bay at the end of a seventeen mile dawn run along the coast path, yesterday. The cloud and haze were quickly dispersing, promising a gorgeous sunny breakfast on the seafront with Mrs R and Baby R. All good.
No blog posts as of late, because things have been somewhat busy on the work and life front. I missed the bank holiday weekend due to work (I took a group of students to Belgium and France, hence the pseudo-arty mobile phone pic of Bruges below) and the following weekend was my daughter’s first birthday…it turns out that these things are on a par with the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in terms of organisation and logistics involved. All good, though, and I might just have squeezed a quick paddle and also a splendid MTB ride in when Mrs R had her back turned.
Still busy this weekend too, indeed I was stuck in work all day today. But the good news is that I spent part of yesterday patching up my sea kayak, with next weekend in mind…we are heading off to the Isles of Scilly! A break is much deserved I feel, and if all goes to plan I will end the holiday week by heading straight from Cornwall to the Isle of Wight and attempting something silly. Nothing can go wrong.
The Sika Duathlon Leave a comment
Crossing the finish line of my first ‘duathlon’ yesterday, held in nearby Wareham Forest…a four mile trail run followed by four laps of a mountain bike course (c12 miles), followed by a couple more miles of running.
Dubious fitness aside, my performance was marred by considerable incompetence; a few hundred metres into the run my gels all ejected from of my back pocket forcing me to run back up the trail stooping and dodging other runners, my bike gears wouldn’t shift on demand (should probably clean it occasionally), I broke every single rule on the ‘changeovers’ (e.g. apparently when you take your helmet off is a big deal, but at least they didn’t disqualify me) and I’m even not 100% sure I went the correct route on the final run.
Loved every single moment.
Thanks to TriPurbeck for organising this awesome event.
Portland Coastguard SAR helicopter 2 comments
Last weekend we had the pleasure of watching Portland Coastguard’s search and rescue helicopter training along our local coast; after various low-flying and proximity-flying manoeuvres, a crew member (presumably one who drew the short straw) was lowered onto a cliff ledge, and then ‘rescued’ again. Rather them than me. We see this helicopter pretty much every time we head out on the Dorset coast, it gets a great deal of use in rescuing folk in distress. There are however moves afoot to remove the service; see below.
http://coastguardsos.com/save-portland-coastguard-helicopter-campaign-page/
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36619
Early Lulworth 1 comment
Splendid paddle with a friend from Lulworth Cove to White Nothe and back, before breakfast this morning. We had this glorious coast all to ourselves, apart from a few fishermen.
As I failed to take a card for the camera, you get an old photo instead; it shows the tunnel known as ‘Bat Hole’.
Chasing the sunset Leave a comment
Racing the sunset…I wait until the fields behind the house turn orange, then hop on my bike and pedal like mad up the hill. Tonight I won.
Old Bat on a Bike Leave a comment
This is my friend Barbara, paddling last weekend. Tomorrow she sets off on a rather long bike ride. Best wishes to her!
The Great Dorset Beach Clean 2 comments
Purbeck Paddle 1 comment
The first Tuesday night Purbeck Paddle of the year; a chilly jaunt out of Swanage to see the guillemots.
All good.
Isle of Purbeck caves Leave a comment
This weekend finally blessed us with some sunshine; it was time to dust off my sea kayak and remember how to ‘paddle’. With a few friends, I paddled my local trip from Swanage to Kimmeridge. As you can see from the pics, the cliffs between Swanage and St Alban’s Head are pockmarked with caves and alcoves; some are natural, some are a result of past limestone quarrying.
It was good t0 be out on the sea, after a break of a few months…
Stranded Ship Leave a comment
This ‘ship’ is hidden away in a quiet corner of disused Tout Quarry, on the Isle of Portland. Every time we visit, we discover something new.
