Last weekend I took a hike out into the western side of the Brecon Beacons and stumbled upon the wreckage of a 1944 Vickers Wellington bomber which crashed there due to an engine freezing up on a training exercise, killing all six of the crew.

This was a pretty chilling place to be, and I found it hard not to pause for a few moments and reflect a bit on just how lucky we are to live in a safe and peaceful country. I also considered how much safer aviation has gotten. There are a load of aeroplane wrecks in the Brecon Beacons, Lakes, and Peaks, almost entirely downed due to navigational errors. plunging out of the fog to find yourself aiming straight for a welsh mountain must have been horrifying.

On a lighter note, the rest of the hike headed out towards Llyn Y Fan Fawr for a sleep in the tent. After doing a lot of bivvying the last few years I’ve recently stumped up the cash for a fancy lightweight Big Agnes tent. It generally receives very good reviews, although being very light we’ll have to see how it handles some of the more extreme ends of ‘3 seasons’ weather.

I’ve read a few anecdotes online of people’s tents failing in very high winds, but also others singing its praises. as always It’s hard to tell with the internet, and perhaps those with issues just didn’t use their guy lines correctly or were camped in foolish places. Either way, tent life feels incredibly luxurious compared to the bivvy and I’m looking forward to many nights in my new home from home.

In other news I’m keeping up doing a bit of running and am getting out for 5km two or three times a week most weeks, trying to stick to a reasonably easy pace and build some strength in the knees and ankles without going crazy, and doing the odd ‘fast’ run when the mood takes me.

A couple of weeks back I did my first 10km around Leigh Woods, and this evening I went out and tried to test myself over 5km as fast as I could, and ended up doing just over 21 minutes. This felt quite good, although I’m sure my legs will hate me for it in the morning. I’m not setting any crazy aspirations for this, but it would be nice to do a 20-minute 5km, as well as keeping up the odd longer and slower trail run. I’ve also got a vague goal to run a half marathon but I’m not going to rush myself into that as I expect it would be a recipe for injury and disaster. I’m hoping moving the body in a new way will come with numerous benefits and help with injury prevention in cycling. This seems to be working so far.

Speaking of cycling, I’ve been pleased to be getting more miles in again recently and tagged along with the good folk at Newtown Park CC on a trip to Newport Velodrome last weekend. Every time I go the track I’m reminded how much fun it is… With fixed gear having been my teenaged introduction to bikes I still never feel quite as at home on two wheels as I do on the track bike, and something about it just urges you to push really hard and get the best out of your legs.

It’s a massive cliche but it honestly feels like an extension of yourself, and not having brakes or gears has a great way of focusing the mind. If you’re used to being hyper-aware and dodging rogue pedestrians and traffic, letting go and riding around the confines of a velodrome as fast as possible feels very freeing. I appreciate the irony in going around in circles indoors feeling ‘freeing’ but I’m not sure how else to put it.

I’ve been meaning to snap some current photos of the Cinelli to share here, but this selection will have to do for now. Considering it’s not 2012 and #fixiefamous isn’t a trending hashtag anymore I expect people will call me an idiot and tell me It’s time to grow up and get something safer and more sensible, but I’m not listening. (Yet)