Spiderman & the Glasgow Climbing Centre

At the weekend, we all headed to the Glasgow Climbing Centre for the first time to have a shot on the wall.

We started off at The Balcony Cafe where we had a bite to eat. The menu was sizeable, and there was plenty of choice. The kids went for toasties whilst Rick & I had nachos with haggis. Yum! Portion sizes were immense, perhaps not the best before going climbing! Tip for other newbies - climb first, then eat!

Anyway, if like us you haven't been before, the Glasgow Climbing Centre is a converted church on Paisley Road West (not far from Ibrox). The cafe is up at the top of a spiral staircase overlooking the climbing walls. The kids enjoyed watching all the participants as we ate.

We were met at the cafe by Ewan our instructor who then took the boys to get their harnesses on. I would have been keen to have a shot, but my daughter was too young to take part so I sat with her whilst the boys had a session. Next time, promise! (If you have little or no experience of climbing and would like to learn, then now is the time to do it - the introduction to climbing course is discounted this month and next to just £35 for the 2 x 3 hour sessions. It's usually £70).

Ewan was a really good teacher - very knowledgeable, gave clear instructions and made the session enjoyable for the boys. They even managed to play a few games too. He was great with my son, giving him plenty of encouragement.

Yikes!

The centre offer group instruction for kids as young as 4 years old, and clubs from kids from 7 years and up. My son was a little unsure to start with, but by the end of the session his confidence had improved and he had made progress in just under an hour. Rick made it to the top of the wall easily - show off! I'm not sure I'd have faired so well...



What I found very interesting is that the centre holds Rock Climbing Birthday Parties, and they can accommodate groups of up to 36. For the older children, aged 7 and up, the session lasts for 1 hour and 45 minutes at a ratio of 6 participants per instructor. If you book via their website, the price is £90 for 6 children.

For the younger ones, aged 4 and up, the session is an hour with a ratio of 4 per instructor. Parents are requested to stay at the centre, but they can sneak off to the cafe for a coffee! If you book via their website, it's £45 for 4 children and the cafe can cater too (for an additional cost). Would be great for a superhero party!

Another thing I've noted is that you can abseil down the spire of the church, and the centre are also organising the Titan Crane Abseil on 22nd March this year... I'm thinking this could perhaps be my 'something crazy for charity' for my 35 at 35 list?? What do you think?

We received a complimentary lunch at The Balcony Cafe and a session on the walls in exchange for an honest review. As always opinions are our own.

{I want to ride a bicycle}

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Progress in the cycling department with my son has been slow to say the least.

We were gifted an amazing red bike from Dale's Cycles in Glasgow in June. It's now 3 months since we collected said bike, and my son still isn't confident riding it. He's very cautious and will cycle holding onto the brake so that he doesn't go too fast.

I'm probably partly to blame because we don't practice enough. He's with his dad half the week, and then when I do have the kids we've generally got things on... school, swimming lessons, classes, catching up with friends... so cycling is low on my agenda.

However, when we were in Aberdeenshire last month sans children, we went for a bike ride and I really enjoyed it. I don't currently own a bike, and I think if my son saw me cycling then perhaps he'd be more inclined to cycle himself. So this is now going onto my wishlist... a grown-up bicycle for me. And then I guess I need to get the littlest one too otherwise she'll never keep up with us. I'm imagining family trips to the park, us all on our bikes. Perhaps with a wee picnic in tow... Trust me to have this inspiration when the weather is turning though!! 

Anyway, Katy Hill has a great YouTube tutorial on teaching your child to ride a bike. I just need to set aside some time to try it out. Fingers crossed I can get my son cycling soon!

Not great quality, but here's me aged 9 with my red BMX for #throwbackthursday. 

This was when we lived in the Middle East :-)

{Learning to Ride a Bike}

Dale's Cycles are Glasgow's oldest and largest local bike shop, and when we were asked to participate in a campaign to encourage kids cycling and learning to ride a bike, we jumped at the chance!

The eldest has a balance bike which is now a bit too small for him, and I felt he was ready to take the next step up to a bike with pedals.

The store is massive and there is a huge selection of bikes. We arrived for our appointment with Chris on a Saturday lunchtime and the store was busy - lots of customers milling about and staff hard at work.  We didn't need to wait long to be seen though and a bike had already been looked out for us as I had previously been in touch with my son's age and height.

I'm such a child, but the lubricant and performance centre signs had me chuckling!

Hotrock Kids Bike 16" boys

Chris really knew his stuff and as a parent himself he was great at talking to my son and engaging him in the process. I have to admit I wasn't listening as intently as I could have been because the littlest was adamant that she wanted a bike too, but she wasn't getting one! A bit awkward, but I can only apologise to Dale's for her screaming throughout our visit!! I've been told it's not uncommon!

Checking the seat height

Test cycle through the shop!

A few adjustments had to be made. Eldest watching intently!!

We also required a new helmet as the one we previously had was getting a bit too tight. We bought one in red/black which matched the new bike!

I was seriously impressed with the turnaround time and felt confident in Chris' knowledge and expertise. I would highly recommend you pay them a visit if you're looking to buy a bike, either for yourself or for your little ones. Dale's Cycles also participate in the Government's Cyclescheme which we felt was of interest.

Next stop was Crammond to visit R's family and let my son have a shot on his new wheels.

He absolutely loved it, but does needs practice. 

Concentrating hard on the pedals!

I'll be back in a few weeks to update you on our efforts. After our first week the eldest has been of the opinion that the pedal bike is too much like hard work and still wants to use his balance bike. I think it's time to remove the small bike from the house and force him to use the bigger one! He has been practicing in the new driveway which has been ideal for cycling/scooting and is starting to get better.

Watch this space!!

Dale's Cycles Ltd

150 Dobbies Loan

Glasgow

G4 0JE

Tel: 0141 332 2705

(free parking available at rear of building)

We received a bike for the purpose of this review. Opinions as always are honest and are my own.

{Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, Glasgow}

Did you know that anyone can book to have a taster session at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow? Thought not! I heard about it via word of mouth (my neighbour Anne!) and promptly booked myself and my sister (@the_grey_house) in for an intro class. I'm all for trying out new things to do!

There are four stages for new riders (I've taken this directly from their website):

1 - Introduction to Track Cycling (1 hour / £10.20)

This is the first step for anyone who wants to ride a fixed gear bike on a banked velodrome and as such is the first part of the accreditation process. The coach will take riders through a check list of skills necessary to allow the rider to enter the track and ride on the banked surface safely. If you can peform the skills satisfactorily you will be eligible to progress to the next stage of rider accreditation.

2 - Improve your Track Skills (1 hour / £10.20)

The second of the four accreditation sessions is designed to move the rider into group riding on the track and allows them to become more independent. Again the coach will require the rider to demonstrate a series of skills including those listed in the introduction session before moving on to the next step.

Skills covered will include accelerating in and out of the saddle and completing a track tour.​

3 - Preparation for Accreditation (2 hours / £25)

Advanced skills are taught in this session and the rider must demonstrate a certain level of fitness, 30 minutes riding with a group.  Skills included in this session include riding in close proximity to other riders and an Italian pursuit race.​

4 - Accreditation (2 hours / £25)

This is the minimum required to allow riders to take part in open sessions, structured training, competition, bunch races and track leagues. An accredited rider will receive a registered rider card.

All skills listed in previous sessions must be demonstrated to the coach who will assess whether a rider is safe to enter the track as an accredited rider, capable of entering structured training and competition.

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Ali & I arrived at the Emirates Arena with plenty of time to spare. I wasn't totally sure where the arena was, but we got there eventually! The building is really impressive... much bigger than I had anticipated. And once we got into the velodrome itself we were a bit nervous!!! It's massive!! 

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I tried to find a few photos to give you an idea of the scale of the velodrome, but I don't think these do it justice. They also don't show just how steep the ends of the track are... it was terrifying!! I've become such a wuss.

Anyway, we got on our bikes and had a cycle round the flat part of the track to start with. Then we progressed to the blue section, the Cote d'Azur! There are then three lines...black, red and blue. We were told to stick to the black line and went round the track a couple of times... and each time we had to go round the back of the instructor who got progressively higher up on the straight section.

I was wobbling a little bit and was so nervous about falling off. I was also dreading having to go up the extremely steep incline on the ends of the track... turns out I was gripping the handlebars too tightly and that was causing the bike to wobble. Oops!

We came to a stop and had a drink of water... at this point I seriously considered pulling out. Ali could tell by the look in my eyes that I wasn't enjoying it.

But I persevered and by the end I was loving it and was going round the track above the blue line and was able to overtake too (was going to say confidently, but not sure about that... it was scary going above someone to get passed them! I was also terrified whenever someone overtook me!!).

I'll definitely go back. It was a good workout and something a bit different too. I also think it was very reasonably priced considering that the hire of the bike and all the equipment was also included. I'd highly recommend it!!

Eek! I was so nervous!!

Before we started!

Ali up front and that's me in the background!

Fancy a shot?? Head on over to this page and fill out the booking form.

Let me know how you get on!! :-)

{Result... Half Marathon - Done!}

I took part in the Edinburgh Half Marathon on Sunday, as many of you will already know from either reading my blog or following me on Twitter.

I was rather nervous - it was my first ever race!

I was totally disorganised, which I have to say is not like me at all. Literally a few days before the race I managed to finalise my travel arrangements! I think it had been adding to the stress, because once that was sorted I did feel a bit more confident about it all.

My running number hadn't arrived in the post though, so I had the added hassle of having to collect it in person in Edinburgh the day before.

So on Saturday afternoon I dropped the children with my in-laws and headed off on the train for Edinburgh. My lovely neighbours were kind enough to let me borrow their daughter's student flat for the night, which just happened to be empty at the time. The location was ideal - just a 5 min walk from the start of the race.

The night before I laid out all my running gear, just like you would before the first day back at school!

In the morning I was awake super early (5am!!)... this time it wasn't because of the children, it was my nerves! I was paranoid that I was going to sleep in! I also needed to be up early so that I could have my breakfast and then have plenty of time for the food to settle before the race started at 8am. So at 6am I was sat having porridge and a banana, in my running gear and all set to go! 

Here I am at the race start... (yes, I'm wearing make-up but I was having my photograph taken for Macmillan Cancer Support so I wanted to look good!)

Thankfully on Sunday the weather was a little cooler, in the morning at least. I was a bit chilly at 7.30am waiting for the race to start! There was such an atmosphere, and even writing about it now it brings a smile to my face. The radio DJ was shouting out motivating messages, the music was blaring and everyone was lined up ready to go... then the race started! I was running alone as my sister had injured her ankle, but I just plugged in my music and off I went. 

I ran a consistent 10 minute mile. I was using a Nike+ GPS app on my iPhone and it told me my pace every 0.5 miles, so I knew if I was going too fast or too slow. I didn't want to overdo it in the heat (by 9am it was getting hot!) and so I just kept a steady pace and kept on running!

At each Macmillan cheer point I passed my name was shouted and it encouraged me to keep going. What a buzz!!

At around 12 miles I saw a young-ish guy collapse and someone was putting him in the recovery position. I'm guessing he collapsed because of the heat and that he hadn't been taking enough fluids. I personally don't know how the marathon runners managed, as their race started at 10am when it was even hotter! I drank a lot of Lucozade Sport on Saturday (thanks @ScumMum for the constant reminders to drink!) and during the race on Sunday and I actually managed ok. I have to say, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I completed the race in 2 hours and 12 minutes - I'm pretty chuffed with that.

I picked up the pace at the end and I ran through the finish line with a massive smile on my face.

...and here I am at the end with my medal! (Hair & make-up still in place!!)

At the moment, the total amount we've raised for Macmillan Cancer Support is £4,323. Thank you to everyone for your support and donations - I couldn't have done it without you.