I hear ya, but i got shit to do?! ok, but only for a little bit.

Well my leg is at me a little, kinda sore half ways up my left shin and i said i would give it some proper rest so its a week of biking, which is great, cause the legs are strong and i need to put in some good tuning up time on the bike anyway, (i do wonder how people who only run, cope when they get injured!)
I also lost at that other sport i do (throwing metal balls down country roads) and that annoyed me, even though i swore i would not let it, but i am only human.

Anyway i felf that my soul needed some quality time so with that and a good workout in mind, there is only one place to go, and thats the hills around Glengarriff. I always park in Ballylickey or Bantry so i get a warm up before hitting the steep stuff, and no matter what shape i am in either one of the big 3 climbs aound there always is a real test. I was planning on doing my 3 pod route, which is basically ride up to barley lake, then back down the same way and then up another climb which is very nearly the exact same, it comes out about 200 metres below the tunnel on the caha pass, then zip down to Bonane, turn right there and up the priest leap climb from the Kerry side, and back into Cork, Its brutally but as pure as it comes, its hard to do this route with out roaring at your self to 'come on' or when your not in shape,you may have to walk parts, which there is no shame at all in.

I parked at Ballylickey and spun it out and up the Cork side of the Priests leap, mostly cause i had never actually done it, its a tough but enjoyable climb, about 2 thirds of the way up i could not resist throwing the bike behind a ditch and running down a small boreen and through a pine forest to the riverbed, then turn around and back up again, 15 minutes of a fun trail run to keep things interesting, i was trying the float up the hill thing from the book 'born to run' and maybe i was just feeling good or maybe i was doing it right but i was back at the top before i knew it and not out of breath, there could be something in this technique thing! must try it on a big hill and see how long i last. Then it was back on the bike and trying to spin up the steep last part of the climb, which actually has a bit of down hill in it, just to mess your head and legs up!

It was cold and misty on top, as is befitting a fine climb, almost alpine like and only over the road :) i put on a buff and a jacket a caustiously rode down the other side, i once rode down this hill on a 5 and a half inch full suspension bike and when i checked at the bottom i had used the full travel, front and back, which on a road descent is crazy, but there are loads of compressions and little jumps, fine on a mountain bike but not so good on a road bike, so i took it steady, shouting at all the sheep i saw, that i was coming, those fuckers would run right across you and knoock you off and god, hitting the deck on my own in the arse of no where!! Not good, i am all for going fast but sometimes you just gotta slow down.

Then i turned around and powered up again into the wind and a light rain that had started falling, i had to dig deep but thats always the way on this climb, it remains the only climb i have ever had to walk a bit of when i was out biking, and this is mostly due to the fact that by the time you get to it you have some big climb already in your legs. It is such a good test to see where you are, and thankfully i am in a very good place now, both in body and mind, casue when i got back to the van again i felt a whole lot better, do i have to always phsyically empty myself to feel spiritually full? There is nothing like heading to the hills, although at the mo i would prefer to be running and sleeping on the peaks and bogs, they call every so often and right now they are shouting.