Motivation

It's funny how motivation to do things comes and goes in waves. Not so long ago I was crazy about climbing, going training in my lunch breaks, feverishly devouring guidebooks and planning trips. Now the motivation has waned and I'm distinctly not bothered. Maybe it's the heat, as I mentioned in my last post, summer has hit with a bang and temperatures have barely dropped below 25 degrees (even at night) for the last month. It drains you of energy, and I when I went sport climbing in Montserrat a fortnight ago, I realised that I really could not be arsed. I'm not down about it though, the same thing happened this time last year, and I pretty much stopped climbing for several months. Then I got back into it and led my first E5. If you've reached a level of fitness once before in your life, getting back to it (or getting back near it) is much easier than 'breaking new ground'. You just need the motivation to train. I'm going to the Swiss Alps soon, which will be nice, as it will be mountaineering and long rock routes, which will make a pleasant difference to hard sport climbing.

So anyway all this means that I've had time to lots of other fun things. Jack Johnson came to Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and we went to see him - along with about 10,000 others. Perhaps aware that his latest album's a bit rubbish, he played a varied set with all the best tracks from his previous albums. We really enjoyed ourselves. Here's a poor quality video but it gives you an idea of the scale of the venue.

Then of course it was Euro 2008 finals, which we watched down the beach. Adam sets the scene:

But the best thing about summer, of course, is that the chairlifts are open again. you may remember reading last year about my exploits with a bike in the pyrannees. This year I intend to get up there a lot more, and last weekend I took my first trip up to La Molina. The trails were as good as I remembered, and I'll be back there this Sunday too. Then in late July, Muir, Rhys and Mr Paul are coming out for a (very) long weekend of riding. Should be bloody good fun!