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I’d arranged to meet Lisa for lunch in Heptonstall but the weather today was very changeable and 30 minutes before I was due to set off, a heavy downpour started. I sat down at my computer and got back to work, intending to send Lisa a text message cancelling our get-together. I worked for 10 or 15 minutes and then looked up at my Velux window and noticed that the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. The walk was back on!
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It was no use – I spent a few hours working away at the computer after my stroll earlier today, but I still felt restless. I had too much nervous energy and needed to burn some of it off so I got my road bike out and set off to do a quick blast over the local hills.

The sun was shining when I set off and I thought I might do 25 miles or so, but I had barely left Hebden Bridge when familiar dark clouds came scudding overhead…
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The usual – a power-walk up the hill to meet Lisa, but there was no cafe stop for us today. We simply walked back down the hill via the quarry footpath and made a quick trip to the shops.

I wasn’t really satisfied but went home to do some more work.

There are times when owning a pair of waterproof hiking shoes would come in handy and there are times when it wouldn’t.

Sleeping is an example of when you wouldn’t be too concerned about your shoes, unless you were sleep-walking of course!

Walking in rainy conditions is an example of when you might well consider the waterproofing (or not) of your shoes to be an important concern and today turned out to be just such a day…
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Well, yes, this is yet another of those “I got sweaty power-walking up the hill to Heptonstall” posts but I’m going to make it more interesting for you this time. No, I’m not going to tell you where you can buy a cheap iPad or iPhone. I’m not even going to tell you how to become devastatingly attractive to men and women of both sexes (or neither). I won’t even tell you the story of how I came to have a pencil pushed through my cheek as a child (I’ll tell you about that at a later date!). No, I’m going to show some incredibly exciting photographs of Lisa walking up some steep Yorkshire Roads!

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Another lunch date with Lisa in Heptonstall…

I decided to walk up the Buttress for a change, and then up the road rather than through the woods. I wasn’t going to walk quite as quickly as I normally do, but I spotted a man pushing a bike up the hill and decided that I’d see if I could overtake him before the cobbles into the village. I just made it and arrived rather breathless at the meeting place.

Lisa arrived and we had our lunch, then walked back via the quarry.

These power-walks have been helping my fitness more than I’d imagined. My legs are feeling stronger on bike rides, even though I haven’t been doing as much cycling as usual this summer.

Bill had called round for a mug of tea but the sun was shining and we decided it would be better to get out on the bikes for a while, rather than just lazing about chatting so he went off to get his bike and I got mine ready for the ride.

I was concerned about the poor braking on my previous ride a couple of days ago so I took a rag to the rims of my new wheels, and wiped off a lot of the oily muck which now covered them.
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Bill came round yesterday, keen to get a little ride in. We had wind and sunny spells, but rain was forecast for about 4:00 pm. He decided to take a chance but I stayed at home. I saw him later and he told me that he’d been caught in heavy rain at Blackstone Edge and had turned round at the top of the climb and gone home to dry out.

Today, we once again had wind and sunny spells, with rain forecast for about 4:00 pm! This time, Bill thought better of it but I needed to get out and stretch my legs. The forecast must be wrong, it was a lovely sunny afternoon…
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