Stop swearing so much in Mothercare.

Sorry if you’re here looking for mountain photos. It’s baby stuff again! If you’re one of the grandparents then click it to play. Everybody else, move along. :O)

No fewer than four people have said to me in the month since I bought this new bike that it’s better not to clean it. The theory seems to be that it will run more smoothly without any interference.

What a load of shite!

After a muddy ride like yesterday, you really have to clean the bike up. Leave some mud on the unimportant bits if you’re daft enough to think it makes it look cooler but clean your drivetrain at least. All you need is twenty minutes, some car shampoo, hot water, a sponge, a rag and wee scrubbing brush of some sort. Lube it up again afterwards and you’re golden.

Mouseover the pics below to see the difference and decide for yourself which will last longer and run better …

So, an unexpected free Saturday afternoon is declared on Friday. What’s a man to do with himself? Take the bike out of course!

Now, I don’t think I’d really recommend starting this loop in the Pentlands at the Union Canal outside town because there’s a hill, then a hill, then a hill, then you lose a wee bit of height before a total bastard of a hill. After that there’s another hill and at that point you’ve really just arrived in the Pentlands proper above Harlaw reservoir.

You could jump onto the same loop from Flotterstone and have a much easier time of it. Saying that, you could start at the carpark at Harlaw as well. Or Bonaly. Please yourself but I live near the canal so I came up through Heriot Watt, the donkey track, Kirkgate and then straight on as if heading for Craigentarrie.

Anyway, drop down to Harlaw reservoir and take the track around the south side then cross the slipway and head along the path to the north of Threipmuir reservoir. Peel off through the woods before you hit the car park then go left along the road that takes you over the bridge and up towards Bavelaw Castle.

Go left at the top of the hill, over the gate, and through the field to the track that leads to The Howe. This track to The Howe could well be the best bit (opinions vary) so enjoy it. Then you’ve got a long easy stretch downhill past Loganlea reservoir to Glencorse reservoir.

Just after the Kirkton road-end, and just before the sharp bend in the road at Glencorse, hang a left onto the track between Bell’s Hill and Harbour Hill that leads back to Harlaw. Now your legs get a break as you head back to the canal.

It’s twenty-three-point-something miles if you start at my house. A few more days like that and I’ll maybe have the legs to put some slicks on it and try to keep up with Stef on his road bike for a couple of hours!

More photos as ever if you want to see them.

Okay, so my old phone broke and I had to grab a new one. What’s changed since the last time I looked?

Hmmm - well, I get a camera that actually works decently (with flash), a big touch screen, Bluetooth (which works properly these days too), GPS, wi-fi, combi TV-out/headphone jack, live BBC, live Sky Sports, BBC iPlayer, various mapping applications (of which Google Maps seems to be the best), decent web browsers that run Flash and umpteen other media formats, a full QWERTY keyboard, handwriting recognition, impressive battery life, IMAP/POP3 email, an accelerometer, excellent audio, microSD, video and sound recording (30 fps), an office document viewer, video calling, MSN chat, Yahoo! chat, ICQ, Skype, Geocaching, a radio, USB, and loads of other things that aren’t interesting enough to mention.

A few screenshots from the new phone …

Google Maps satellite view:

And Google Maps street view:

The main menu:

Part of the applications menu:

BBC iPlayer:

Fring:

IMAP email:

Some of the connectivity options:

QWERTY keyboard:

Playing with the on-phone photo editing (size reduced for web):

I’m impressed

All part of a free upgrade on an existing cheap contract. I’m delighted to have had my expectations surpassed for a change.

Well done, Nokia. Maybe everybody will stop havering on about iPhones now. :O)

Here’s some photies of Alexander at last.

These would have been up before now if I was a better blogger. Nice comments only for this particular set of photies, eh, or Tracy’ll rip your lungs out. ;O)

Had one of those greyish-damp-but-okay-really days on Schiehallion with Paul from which there are a few photos as ever.

Pretty dull hill really - certainly won’t be rushing back to do it by the main path again.

Nice to see your pals and blether even if it’s raining though, eh! :O)

Went to Aviemore at the weekend to play in the snow and clearly everybody else had the same idea because the road up to the ski centre was locked up with bastard skiers on both days.

Still, the Craigellachie Nature Trail and Loch an Eilein were fine alternatives and it was good to meet some new folk and put the world to rights over a few beers. It’s been a while since I found myself in the pub for three nights on the trot!

Snowy photos.

Finally got around to putting up some photos from the weekend.

What happens to time in bothies?

You sit by the fire, dozily enjoying a dram after dinner then *BANG!* it’s three in the morning and the only subject that hasn’t come up for discussion at some point between now and then is what time it is!

So, an early start and a bit of a drive to do the first hill of 2009.

It was one of those clear but overcast days - lovely when you’re there but the photos don’t come out so well. I forgot the memory card anyway and I can only fit five photos on the camera’s built-in memory.

Starting at Elleric, we walked a fair old way up Glen Ure (to just over half a kilometre from Airigh nan Lochan) before turning south to an obvious wee top at about four hundred metres. At this point a good (if highly inaccurate) debate started about which hill was which in the Glen Coe/Glen Etive direction. I think they were all Ben Starav at one point or another. ;O]

Almost doubling back on ourselves, we headed up an easy slope towards Stob Gaibhre and opted to go straight up the corrie from there instead of going around the shoulder. It’s a bit of a walk up Glen Ure but you gain a bit of height without a lot of work. It’s a nice way to do the hill.

We took a direct route down to Glen Ure on the descent which was pretty steep and slabby in places but nobody died. At one point I did find myself half-way down a stone chute before realising nobody fancied it and they’d all scattered to find another way down, but it was only the once. It was okay but it cannae be the best way off the hill.

Barely managed to stay awake long enough after dinner to watch half a film and drink most of a can of beer.