Speaking to Jackie afterwards, she explained how she was under pressure the whole time. She took the lead on the bike and despite opposition breathing down her neck she held it together for a great win. I’m dead chuffed for her!! It was a really tough course. She’s also heading to the Mountain Biking nationals tomorrow, just to prove how hard she really is!!!

I was there too….not such a good day for me……still not able to talk about the swim….I’m traumatised. :-(

It was an incredibly well organised event, with marshalls at every junction out on the course. Very reassuring for us newbies. Congrats to Wicklow Tri Club. Great job!

-Aisling-

That’s my photo from my flickr set.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - The Mountaineering Council of Ireland have organised the Spring Meet once again, and it’s being hosted on the 17th and 18th of May in Glendalough Wicklow.

The all important bit is what’s arranged:

Saturday
Arrival (Glendalough International Youth Hostel) and Registration 09am to 10:30am
A range of all-day Hillwalks departing 10:30am
Climbing (for experienced climbers only, information on where to climb available at registration)
Dinner in Glendalough International Hostel from 6.30pm
Night Walk 9pm

Sunday
Dawn Chorus in association with Wicklow Mountains National Park and Birdwatch Ireland 5am – 6.30 am
Leave No Trace Awareness Workshop 10am - 1pm
Introduction to Climbing 10am - 1pm
GPS Training 10am – 1pm

Registration has to be in by 2nd May and all details can be found on the MCI website here.

As part of this, they’ve also organised a Youth Meet.

This is to offer young people a chance to go hillwalking, climbing or bouldering.
The event is aimed at young people who have some experience already, but would like to build on their skills. There will be experienced MCI volunteers on-hand throughout the day to give advice and guidance.

The meet is aimed at young people aged 15-18, and is also open to under 15’s who are accompanied by an adult.

to book onto this, check out the MCI page here.

Image Credit: Andy Kelly on the boulders of Glendalough.

- Neal :) -

This survey is a really important stage in the preparation of an Outdoor Recreation Strategy for Co. Wicklow, as it means that the plans will be based on the activities, needs and ideas of the people who enjoy the wide range of recreation opportunities available in the county.

Thanks for your help!

Helen Lawless
Countryside Recreation Officer
Wicklow Uplands Council

A public workshop to discuss the strategy will be held in the Glendalough Hotel at 8pm on Wednesday 7th May 2008. Sounds like an opportunity to have your say!

-Aisling-

Image is from my flickr set.

Great race in Glenealy today. People going astray on the course made it interesting. :-)

Then you had the National Senior Cross Country in the grounds of Queens University, Belfast where Alistair Cragg (second fastest white man on the planet apparently) gets beaten by Cathal Lombard. I know he’s not used to cross country but I still would have reckoned he should have won it if they tied concrete blocks to his feet…..I couldn’t stick around to watch him finish, I had to chase back to Dublin for the blog awards. Great result in the Best Technology Blog…… :-) Congrats Robin!!!

Brilliant night, full list of the winning blogs here.

-Aisling-

Photo from Athletics Ireland website.

A 100% volunteer operated 999/112 Emergency Service - Charity Number 10148

SINGAPORE (Team Geared Up) - We’ve got to support the mountain rescue team local to most of the TGU bloggers. Gerry, Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue PRO has left a message in our forums asking for your support at their fund-raising drive in central Dublin on Saturday.

The team will be out looking for your support this Saturday 23rd of February on Grafton street from 09.00 till 18.00. Yes a long day as this is one of our main fund raising drive’s that we hold through the year. And it is vital so that we can collect much needed funds to keep the team out of the red. A lot of people are under the impression that because we are a 999/112 emergency service that we are paid and funded by the Government. We are a 40 strong team of unpaid volunteers on call 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

You can reply to Gerry here.

Their new website also has a Donate By PayPal button so it’s really easy to pay by credit card :-)

-Robin.

(Image Credit: Deputy Team Leader at the 2008 Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician exercise. Via dwmrt.ie)

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Eoin & myself took my London flatmate out for a jaunt in Wicklow (Ireland) 3 weeks ago to give him a first taste of the mountains. We also took the opportunity to wind-test the Mountain 25 by The North Face. This tent has been everywhere with me, but not out of place in a photo of Everest South Col it has never yet maxed out in European ranges - this was the closest test it would face.

We left the carpark in Glendalough at 10pm in dry gusty conditions and pitched in the most exposed place possible on the very summit of Camaderry in gale force conditions at 1am with nothing but a very low peat hag to shelter the stove behind. Unfortunately most of the photos are from the morning but that night we got absolutely battered, shaken, pelted-apon, and the sky pretty much fell on us. The wind really hit the tent to a point where it was questioned would the poles potentially snap.

Nope. The tent held fast like a limpet to the ground. It never lost its shape. Above my head on the seam where the wind was driving the rain through in, I had a drip fall, but nothing much to worry about considering the conditions outside. I expect the silicon fly on the 2007 model would not have experienced this.

What a fantastic tent! Apart from getting this gear test in, the other advantages of sleeping on the summit of a mountain are the morning photos you can snap from the tent door!

You can view the Mountain 25 specs here, also note, a new 2007 model is available.

We also past some Irish MTB riders coming flying down off the Spink boardwalk at about 2pm on Sunday, I got some quick snaps - is this you? do you know them? Looked like a whole lot of fun!

(Photo Credits: All by the author, full Flickr gallery available)