Entymology of Adventure

What on earth is adventure? The word is thrown around like no other. Is it something you do? Or maybe something that happens to you? Is it a feeling? Does it describe something, or is it just an idea?

I see the word everywhere; the other day, I even saw it printed on the side of some fella's sandals. Did his sandals allow adventure? Or maybe buying them was an adventure. When a word gets overused, it loses meaning, and the number of different contexts it appears in creates a vagueness in its comprehension. Its meaning becomes corroded.

When I think of adventure, I think of Scotts 1911 expedition to the South Pole. A group of British explorers racing the Norwegian team to the most remote place on earth. I think of challenges, problem-solving, epic scenery, connection to people and an element of self-growth, or at least learning something new about yourself. It annoys me how a pair of sandals has usurped the word. You can’t even wear sandals at the North Pole; it would be bloody mayhem.

I love adventure, but I hate this linguistic nightmare. I want to align my goals and spirit with the adventures of old, but when I see those geezer’s sandals, I feel like a chump. Like I’ve been had, the corporate world won and stole my sense of adventure. In my monkey brain, I see two possible ways of fixing this feeling.

1. Dive into what adventure really means, and create a solid connection to the word with layers of subtle understanding.

2. Just sack the word off and use something else instead: romp, excursion, jaunt.

Option 2 feels lazy, and no other word gives me the feeling I want, so here we are, exploring what adventure really means. I’ve got a few ideas, but let’s start with the technical etymology of the word. That might bring a little light into the overcrowded bunker that is ‘adventure.’

So where does the word come from? We start with Latin.

ad : to

venire : to come

Making

Advenire : come to, reach, arrive at

Next we add

Adventura (res) : (a thing) about to happen

After that, we have the Old French variation

Aventure : Chance, accident, occurrence, event, happening

Then Middle English

Auenture : that which happens by chance, fortune, luck

Then we have our Modern English

Adventure : an unusual and exciting or daring experience.

Just looking at the evolution of the word brings more clarity to the situation. It starts with a destination, then turns into an event, then adds an element of fortune/luck, and finally adds some excitement and something daring or bold.

Because I’m a nerd, I want to look further back, so if we look at the first word ‘venire’ and trace that back to the Proto-Indo-European root, we get the word Gwā, meaning “to go”. Something is satisfying in this because it loops back to my modern idea of the word. I see adventure mainly in the future tense. It’s what lies ahead that matters most to me. it’s from the perspective of looking at the horizon and asking the question ‘what's over there?’ whereas the Latin Adventure “to come” talks from the perspective that we have already arrived.

Okay, so it is all well and good to look back at the word and what it has and hasn’t meant before. But at the end of the day, we are contemporary folk, and it means something right now, and it’s going to twist and evolve going forward. So let’s set the task of creating some pillars of adventure, the key aspects and principles that when you take a step back, you can be like, ‘yep, that was bloody adventurous.’

Some Pillars of Adventure

1. Planning of some sort

2. The overcoming of challenges through grit or a bit of problem-solving.

3. A moment where you feel connected to the experience of life. whether it be the scenery, others or simply existing.

4. Some examples of self-learning or growth.

5. Novelty, experiencing something new.

6. An element of well-managed risk.

and there it is, a more plump definition of adventure. Useless to most but maybe interesting for some. I hope you’re getting out there on adventures of your own.

P.

Stone Dojo - An ode to the rocks we love

Volume 1 acts as a photographic journal to some of the best moments of my bouldering quest during the last 3 years. Hinting towards some qualities of the sport we love.

Via climbing I’ve developed a new love for the UK, Traveling the country searching for strange little bundles of rock to scamper up. There are so many beautiful spots I’ve visited, many very local to me which I have always taken for granted.

Spending every weekend outdoors gives me that soulful rest from the haze of modern life. Bouldering has given me the energy and motivation to seek new places and adventures. Conversely, if I have a few weekends in a row without any outdoors time, I really feel it. I feel like I'm rotting away behind a screen. We are meant to be out there, in the outside! and when you get out there regularly it affects the pace and quality of your life. That regular connection to the natural world brings a deep restful clarity. You get used to being that happy.

Stone Dojo also touches on the craft of climbing itself, learning to flow through vertical terrain. the craft and precision of movement. Physically and mentally testing yourself against a giant rocky opponent. The many battles, learning to become the best at failing, truly appreciating those inevitable wins.

The quiet moments on top of the rocks when you just battled through grit and fear aiming all your mite in one moment to crimp, pull, jump or slap, finally hauling yourself up and over the top. Then realising that no rock can overcome the power of persistence. If we failed this much in life outside of climbing, who knows how much we could achieve. masters of failure.

If you would like to support you can purchase a copy of the Zine below.

Stone Dojo - Volume 1

£1.00

The first part of a photographic exploration of our communities obsession with the big rocks we climb.

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A year of photography.

I’ve still got my camera by my side capturing the moment as best as I can. It feels like I've taken fewer photos in 2021 than in previous years, but it also feels like I've learned more. I can feel my photographic style slowly changing, my process and my approach.

I’ve always sprayed and prayed with my photo’s, returning from an adventure with 1000’s shots, hoping a few would be ‘keepers’. Whereas in 2021 I’ve made the choice to not take the shot almost as much as I've made the choice to. A feeling of intentionality has crept into my practice. As I’ve begun to learn what will work and what won’t, trusting in my instinct.

With that being said I’m still very much getting to grips with this craft, Choosing not to take a photo feels like it goes against my work ethic, I’ve relied on quantity over quality for so long, and it's key to the beginner's mindset and my learning process. Sometimes I walk away from a crag or mountain day feeling like I’ve nailed it, SD card with only 30 photo’s on it, But other times I walk away feeling like I’ve let myself down, ‘The numbers are too low Pete, you had an epic day and only have 30 photos!’.

With that being said this is my year of photography. I hope you like it.

January

Our Lockdown Dojo

This is a very special place. Hours have been spent learning to crimp these bricks. As Lockdown descended we would spend hours sitting underneath this wall creating lines and challenging ourselves and one another. The above photo was taken on a crispy cold morning just as we were setting up. The light was incredible, the shadow of the wall casting a sharp line across the scene. The wall standing confidently upright. It almost conjures a religious feeling, Like the light casting through a stained glass window. Time to go to church.

February

The Lord of the Swings

The epic saga that filled my brain during February, the rekindling of a childhood love, the humble rope swing. For a month we became obsessed with flight, And it all started here, fixing the Great Otterspool Swing. A month of daring and planning, searching for new spots, making the swings bigger and better. It can be difficult to tell a story with a single image, context is so often needed. As for this image, it encapsulates the psyche, teamwork and effort that went into this mini-project. The saga is by no means over, so stayed tuned, but for now, read this blog and if you’re in the Liverpool area, try out the swing.

March

Red Lite Radio

This is a moment captured before Calum was about to perform. Red Lite Radio is a project I worked on during lockdown. A collection of performance videos featuring some of Liverpool's talented contemporary folk artists. A beautiful project, with amazing people. Watch here.

April

A night on the Wrekin

April felt like it arrived quickly in 2021, A month that reminds you that summer isn't too far away. The idea of sleeping under the stars came from a close friend. ‘I’ve never done that, I can’t believe I've never done that.’ My brother and I hiked up the hill collecting firewood, found our spot, made our little fire, and sat for hours talking about life and philosophy. Hindsight says selecting an unsheltered, open section of ground atop a hill will be a cold, restless nights sleep, but my hind-psyche says it was worth it. This photo was taken first thing in the morning. The low-lying fog blurs the horizon as the sun rose, casting the sky alight with warm early morning tones. There’s a battle happening in the sky above us. The day is battering the last remains of Night, and we were lucky enough to be positioned on a plinth right underneath, Successfully tasting adventure.

May

The small things

My Sigma 35mm is crazy sharp and can produce an amazing amount of Bokeh (blurry back/foreground). It’s been a huge tool for getting some quiet soulful moments alone with nature. Something about it draws me into a spell, focused fully on all the small parts of nature that we ignore daily. Twists of vines, Veins in a leaf, The sprouting of a fresh bud or the way a speck of water hangs off a blade of grass. These micro mindful moments are my most treasured photography experiences. It sorts me right out.

June

The dragons back

The summer heat brought summer psych, we hit the mountains repeatedly, this shot was taken on an afternoon where Danko and I danced our way up the old trusty Tryfan with the bristly ridge link up. We weren't trying to beat any records but we wanted to give it a good speedy go, a few more side adventures were discovered blurring the lines between scrambling and low-grade Trad. An energetic day with spirits as light and free as the weather.

July

Coldwater quests

This photo was taken in Wastwater, with moody weather looming above it only makes the wading in more ominous. But after a minute, once you’re in, up to your head. The cold shock settles and that quiet energy kicks in. It feels like the complete opposite of sitting watching tv, it blows the cobwebs away. It makes me feel existential. Just a small part of a massive world, full of cold water.

August

Misty mountains

Taken on an epic mountain day in Snowdonia, I’ve written all about the day here. As for the photo, this stands out for a few reasons. The ridgeline in the photo (Parson’s Nose) was one of the most fun scrambles I’ve done. It was a beautiful moment during our descent when the clouds parted to briefly reveal the rock we had just scaled. The sun was cresting through the edge of a thin cloud, this skewed up the exposure whilst shooting. meaning in the moment, I had to choose between underexposed earth or an overexposed sky. The dark earth gives a great sense of height, with the ridgeline cutting through the wispy clouds. I like that the position of the shot is at a similar height to the ridge, it neither feels like the image is looking up nor down at it.

September

Our sunset in Skye

A beautiful evening with treasured friends. I love this photo, it takes me back to that sunset. I remember a great sense of connection. Sitting on a castle ruin, literally grounded to the history of the area. Feeling grateful for everything in the present, looking off into the future, eagerly listening for that call to adventure. One day that ridgeline (Cuillin Ridge) will be an epic day out.

October

Playing in the Wind

A cute photo of Tommy and Danko leaning into the wind on a little hike around the Snowdonia foothills. The photo captures the playful spirit of our adventures.

November

Great Connies

This adventure was a long time coming, I took my oldest buddy Tommy out for an epic. A spicey day out on the Crib Goch ridge. about 5 years prior, we had climbed up Snowdon via the Pyg track, on that day we looked up at Crib Goch questioningly but decided to leave it. It was so satisfying returning in harsher conditions and smashing it out. The ice was no joke, a layer of rime coated almost every angle of every rock, especially the ridge section. Slow, precise movement & keeping a cool head was key. Recent farther Tommy smashed it, and I know that added extra spice for him.

December

Merry Christmas

Christmas in a bothy? Yes please, A Christmas adventure right to the heart of Galloway national park. Surrounded by the wild we hiked for 2 hours to get there and had a beautiful evening of chess, wine, music and chicken noodle soup. We awoke on boxing day to a thin layer of snow coating everything around us. Magical. This photo was taken looking back at our temporary home as we hiked our way back to the van. A perfect way to round off a year of adventure, looking ahead to 2022, I want more moments in wild expanses.

Looking Forward

As 2022 creeps in, I’m looking to refine my work, putting out more stuff, but with a more curated and thoughtful approach. What’s the story I’m trying to tell? what concepts link these images? can I use photography to strengthen or aid an overarching theme or idea?

So with that, I hope you liked my 2021 round-up, if you made it this far press the little heart button, If you have any thoughts or ideas please drop a comment and let me know.

Take care, let’s smash 2022

The day we became Mountain Trolls

During our a 2 week Scottish escapade, it became apparent that Danko and I had a window of opportunity for a mini Barely Hanging Pod adventure. We seized the opportunity with all four hands. 

Burly Searly (Podcast Manager) was off back down south to fix some van issues, we had agreed to meet at 4 pm in Fort William. This gave me and dan 8 hours to play with. After a short consultation with Mix Master Mike our on staff Scottish Adventure Specialist. We decided to head to Glencoe. We had just finished a big day of Trad in the cairngorms and were eager for more mountains. This also plopped us right by Fort William, perfect for Surly! 

The A82 is a phenomenal road, starting from Glasgow and ending in Inverness it spans the Scottish highlands and passes some of the countries most iconic and gnarly looking peaks. 

Buachaille Etive Mòr is one of these gnarled peaks. It was around 5 years ago when I first saw the perfect spiked tip of this mountain, Whilst on a winter trip with my little brother and Connall. Since then the mountain has both allured and intimidated me, especially when seeing it donned in its full winter coat, ice and snow running like veins down its deep gullies and sheer walls. 

These days I’m a little more mountain ready, and I’ve slowly trained that inner voice of doubt to work as adventure fuel. The feeling of heading into something a little unknown adds to this sense of adventure.

Well, Dan and I set our sights on Buachaille Etive Mòr, armed with info from Mikey and photos of the grade 4 scramble we were going to attempt. 

The weather couldn’t have been better, with clear skies and sun. We scoped out the Curved Ridge and Crowberry Tower, and stormed ahead like the rock fiends we are. The scramble was beautiful, we moved quickly through the main section, when we hit Crawberry Tower, we took the opportunity to attempt a steeper side adventure to the summit. 

Spirits were high from the epic speedy scramble, moving over that amount of steep terrain so quickly and fluidly is very fun. 

Aldi reduced Watermelon was a summit treat. After a quick but respectful offering to Oden (a raven flying around the summit), we set off for the descent.  We ran across the summits plateau then took a sharp right down some fun looking scree. We sprinted down scree slopes for around 150m then quickly realised this wasn’t the planned descent. 

We strode on ahead, excited by the speed at which we tackled the mountain, we were keen to get back off the mountain in under 3 hours just for the fun of it. Although I value taking my time with outdoor experiences, being mindful of the moment, manifesting gratitude for the lucky life I manage to lead - Doing things quicker than anticipated always seems to come with a sense of achievement. So with that, we threw ourselves down scree, gullies and goat paths.

Finally, we hit the long heather slopes that lead up to the rocks of the mountain. We hurled down these taking no regard for finding a path. Rocks and holes littered the heathery field. We both had a few tumbles. But rolling on forward we ran with more wild energy. Spurring each other on with maniacal cackles. 

At the base of the mountain, there’s a beauty of a bothy with a river flowing by it. The hut worked as a marker for the start and endpoint of the mountain day. We reached the hut, sweaty, dirty and at the edge of our cardio ability. The only thing to do was strip down jump into the river, relax and then go on to throw rocks at each other. 

Walking back to the car in our underwear we passed a cycle tourer, who was cycling from north Scotland to Swansea. He recounted his experience of watching from afar, as two mountain trolls tumbled down the mountain and into the river. Apparently, we made his day & I’ve never felt more proud. 

Days like that fill my spirit. 

(Our route)

Herdsman of Etive (A3 Print)

£30.00

(Scottish Gaelic: Buachaille Èite Mòr, meaning "the herdsman of Etive")

The Buachaille is one of those perfectly imposing sights that sets fear into the heart of any novice climber. When I first set my gaze upon it I felt its summons. However I was not ready, so instead, I composed a photo and set an intention to return one day. Two summers later I returned with a friend, we scaled the curved ridge and ran along the hidden plateau. We descended down the far right gully and sprinted down the heather slopes before jumping into the Etive River.

Walking back to the car we passed a cycle tourer, who was cycling from north Scotland to Swansea. He recounted his experience of watching from afar, as two mountain trolls tumbled down the mountain and into the river. Apparently, we made his day & I’ve never felt more proud.

(A3 Limited edition of 50)

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Trauma Then, Trauma Now: Performing Trauma

A Big Welsh Mountain Day

Back in August, we had a massive mountain day in Llanberis pass. It was a taster into the world of Trad, and it was epic. 

As a monkey who dwells amongst the boulders, looking up at any multi-pitch cliff sends tremors down my back. So much rock, too many holds/moves to contemplate, surely an un-holdable sloper, Or a fat double dyno is waiting for me up there.

But saying that, it’s bloody good fun. 

Bad belaying… jokes, Mikeys on anchor

We had many options for lousy weather alternatives, But in the mountain hut the night before, it was agreed the day’s main focus was the six-pitch, 90m route ‘The Cracks’ at Dinas Mot. A crag classic and a very approachable grade for the team. 

The day’s crew was Me, Danko, Becky, Tommy and our Trad specialist Mikey. We are confident climbers and move reasonably well, but this was breaking new ground.

We wanted to tackle the route as a team. Our method of climbing was Mikey in the lead, creating anchors as he went, with Dan and Becky seconding. Tommy and I lurked close behind on different ropes, taking turns leading the pitches, using Mikey’s pre-made anchors. This meant we ended up travelling fast. We smashed out the climb far quicker than anticipated.

Moody weather loomed on the walk-in, low lying cloud, and it felt a little colder than usual. We made the 30 min approach racked up, and started the climb. During the first pitch, the cloud came in, and visibility was low. The rock looked dry in parts but unfortunately, the first two pitches went directly through a slime trail down the cliff, some sketchy slow movement trusting the grip on our shoes against the wet algae-covered rock. 

Mike and Tommy did a phenomenal job leading through the slimiest pitches. As we gained altitude, we were greeted with dry rock and some slabby suburb cracks. I led a few pitches, and before we knew it, we were at the top before lunch. A quick abseil down, and then we planned the rest of the day over a short lunch break.

Tommy on the cracks

We all decided to head towards Parsons nose (Grade 3 scramble). An hour of intense hiking put us at the foot of the dramatic steep ridge. We didn’t flinch at the scramble, great movement with lots of great foot ledges and jugs. 

Parsons Nose (grade 3)

We popped out at the end of Crib Goch, so we proceeded to reverse the ridge and followed it to its natural end (Red Ridge). An absolute belter of a walk, mostly in cloud cover with the occasional break showing the glory of the hills around. (I almost completed the no hands flash of Crib Goch, but I dabbed a few times on some significant steps) 

Then we picked our way down a few gullys that plopped us down next to the car. Next stop Llanberis, Chippy by the lake, then Home. Very happy team. 

Successful mountain mission. Nearly 12 hours door to door.   

Thoughts on the OP1

What is the OP1?

It’s a portable synthesizer/sampler and sequencer with an inbuilt four-track recorder, designed by the quirky Stockholm based music company – Teenage Engineering

At first, the learning curve is steep, and there are a few basic things you need to know when navigating the operating system. I whizzed through the brilliant introduction video Red Means Recording made (find it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB3NVnONcFE)

After learning the basics, you can spend hours playing around with the different synth engines and sequencers. I’m currently in a weird middle ground of knowledge about the device. I know you can add custom synth and drum packs, but I’ve not touched any of that side yet and I’ve yet to use the sampler, which I’ve heard is one of the most powerful tools of the device.

Currently, It feels like I’m using a Katana to slice a melon – it's immensely fun… but if I learn a little more, I’m going to be able to dice up all sorts of fruit.

Things I like –

The synth engines are incredible, the engine itself is massively customisable, then you can run the sound through filters and effects that are also incredibly editable, as a final layer of sound building you can create low end modulations based on elements within the synth engine or the effects themselves. Basically you can fuck around with the tones a lot.

The visual feedback on the small screen is amazing. All the synth engines have a different user interface that is creative and intuitive, it feels like you are visually building the tone as much as audibly.

Build quality = it's slick, it feels and is expensive.

It’s generally been designed incredibly well. Lots of nice colour coding.

Things I don’t like

Destructive Editing – The four-track tape recorder operates in the same way an old tape recorder would. Meaning you can record and layer over and over on one track, but there’s no way of filtering each time you’ve recorded, so if you mess up and it’s recording you either have to start that track from scratch or accept the fuck up and lean into it. In a perfect world, I’d like to see 8 or 12 tracks. On the upside, it’s good practice.

Velocity-sensitive keys – the Piano keys are simply pressed or not pressed. On or off. There’s no sensitivity to how hard you press, I’d like velocity-sensitive keys to create more expression.

in general, I find a thing I want to do, then I search for the most accessible version/way of doing what I want to do, then do it. With the OP1 and music-making, this manifested in creating ambient/atmospheric soundscapes. Check out my first soundscape below (Btw it’s long and strange)

Presenting, Red Lite Radio

A few months ago, I received a call from Dan O’Demspey, a good friend and all-around creative badass. Through his work with The Royal Standard art gallery, he was granted access to a huge underground ‘cathedral like’ space. His first thought was to share this space with other creators and make some cool shit, and over the past few months, that’s what we’ve been doing.

The idea was to create a series of videos showcasing some of Liverpool’s musical and visual artists, and it’s now naturally blossomed into Red Lite Radio - A platform aimed at spotlighting emerging contemporary artists and musicians, bringing them together in collaborative performances.

Rich Bond, a superb audio technician and owner of Wise Tree Studios, recorded and mixed the audio for the project whilst I filmed and edited the videos. I even managed to get in front of the camera. In a spontaneous and unrehearsed version of Dans ‘Hot Nights in Shibuya,’ I accompanied his spoken word with a piano instrumental.

I’m massively impressed with the finished videos. Everyone involved did an amazing job. Currently, we have 15 finished videos with the intention of creating more. They are being released daily over at @red_lite_Radio on Instagram. Please go and check them out. It was an absolute pleasure to be part of this project. I’m extremely grateful to see first-hand the talent of the artists that were involved.

My First Prints

Hello Hello, so I’ve started selling some of my photography prints. I’ve chosen two of my favourite shots of 2020. This is a little bit of background reading for those who have the prints or are thinking of getting them.

The Wizard Tree

(A4 – 350gsm silk, Double Matt) 

This was a photo taken in Nov 2020 at Warton crag. It’s a beautiful limestone outcrop full to the brim with hard bouldering. Overlooking Morcombe bay the sunsets you get from the top are ridiculous. Towards the end of a bouldering mission with two good friends, I went for a solo walk to inspect the rock and scout for anything interesting. I headed toward the direction of a rumoured stone monolith, I quickly found it and headed toward the rock formation to inspect climbing potential. Around the corner of a massive boulder, I found a small grove of trees growing amongst the boulders. That’s when I saw the Wizard Tree, I instantly knew that this tree was the wizard in the local area. Interesting how he grew atop a rock. In his old age, Ivy stems have surrounded his lower half, giving him a magnificent beard of nature. Although he was no more central than any other tree in the area, he seemed to be the most important tree there, commanding respect and attention. So a snagged a photo to capture this brilliantly sacred thing, bowed then left. I’ve since been back one other time to check upon him, he’s doing just fine and would probably love a visit from you.  

The Herdsman of Etive

(A3 – 350gsm silk, Double Matt) 

This photo was taken on the 24th of Dec 2020 at about 8.00 am about 5 minutes after I accidentally ran over my family’s Christmas presents. (they mostly survived) I was heading home after my night Wild Scamping in the Lost Valley near Glencoe. The area around was saturated in golden light and every mountain in the area looked magnificent. However, one peak amongst them all is a perfect symbol of ruggedness and intimidation, The peak of The Buachaille. (meaning Herdsman of Etive) The mountain is almost entirely circled by the River Etive hence the name. I’ve never climbed this gnarled chunk of rock but it’s certainly on my list.

I’ve been taking photos for over 4 years now, I’ve still got a lot to learn but it’s something I love doing. If you are lovely enough to buy a print you’d be massively supporting me on this little journey of mine, helping me do more of what I love doing most.

Take it easy, Love yourself.

Petey

The Rope Swing Saga

The Fellowship of the Swing

Forward – by Henry Danko Winterbear

 The mighty swing saga! This is the story of three of humanity’s finest and their want to bring freedom to the people of Otterspool. Their fearless leader @mikeshorter , the stout-hearted hobbit @pete_ric and their pet bear, @dankowinterbear, show us a simpler way of life...

 A story of discovery and creation

 It was a cold, wet day. Our adventures heard whispers on the wind, “… fun… fun..” It seemed to be coming from the west. Enemy territory. Otterspool... Bravely they ventured forth looking for the one thing that would satisfy their hunger. Little they knew a grand adventure awaited them.

 The discovery was made quickly. A wooden monolith draped in rope of blue, green and gold. It stood in front of them, majestic in its ancientness. A beautifully old nylon rope hung down to the floor, asking to be swung on. Excitedly the adventures investigated this strange place. Within a few minutes, they were soaring like eagles.

Whilst the Bear and the Hobbit played on the swing, leader Mikey looked up at where the rope reached the tree. The rope was fraying quite badly and looked worse for wear, and lower down the branch hung the ghosts of old rope swings, gnarled, frayed and snapped. They were a reminder of the fat little goblins and the damage they could do to beautiful things.

 “I’m not sure how safe this is. I think we should replace the rope and clean the tree of the old ropes. It will make it safer for the goblins.” Said, Mikey

 “ggrrrrrrrrrr,” said the bear in agreement.

 The hobbit stayed silent, he was an impatient person, and as such, he didn’t like goblins... They just got in the way and always took his turn.

 A fortnight past.

On another cold, wet day, the adventures returned to the swing.  Leader Mikey had tools in hand. Jumars, Grigri, Knife and better quality rope. He quickly scaled the old rope, making short work of it, attaching a new swing, traversing the mighty branch, and cutting away the old rope that haunted it.

 The hobbit and bear gave moral support.

 Once back on the ground, Mikey unveiled the final surprise. An icon of hope, a weapon of joy. The handle for the new swing. Perfectly balanced, hand-turned Canadian maple. Silence befell Otterspool as the tying ceromancy commenced. It was a perfect fit…

The adventures stood back in awe, and looked up at there creation.

“One Swing to rule them all, One Swing to find them, One Swing to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.”

 The adventures had fulfilled their quest. They found something to do on those cold, wet days and brought the fun back to the dark land of Otterspool.

 But for how long? Rumours have spread across the land. They say the handle of hope was stolen, and Otterspool has been overrun with hordes of goblins ever since…

Did you like? What do you want to hear about?feel free to give me any thoughts or feedback in the comments below!

My Solo Scotland Mission

Highlands - Dalmally - Ben Cruachan - River Orchy - Lost Valley

It’s the 21st Dec 2020. The government doesn’t know whether to cancel Christmas or not. Rules keep changing at a moment’s notice. New Covid strains believed to be discovered. Scotland announces the border will be closed from the 26th onwards.

 I have until 4th Jan to do anything I want. And all I want is some proper adventure. The outdoors. Some Pete time. What even is that? What does it feel like? I messaged my photographer/climber friend Allan (an experienced outdoor fellow)

 “Hey mate I’m thinking of doing a solo mission to Scotland next week, I’m torn for getting an air BnB or camping, just looking for some advice, I don’t necessarily have super deep winter gear, as in tent and sleeping bag, how big of a mistake would it be going camping lol, if I just take loads of layers would it be alright?”

 The Legend Al is, he offered to lend me some sleeping gear. He well knew it would be Baltic. With a winter sleeping bag under my arm and some determination to get some wilderness, I headed to Scotland.

I aimed to stay for 3 nights in the highlands around the Glencoe area. When driving up I had no plan of what to do, just the vague idea that I wanted to wild camp for at least one night and possibly summit a big ol mountain. But I was hesitant and a little scared to commit to either, both being unknown territory for me. (Solo winter hiking & camping)

By complete chance, I booked the coolest little BnB. I arrived at Dalmally village. Parked at the train station and quickly realised that the train station was the BnB. On the active platform were all the rooms and plants, old farming equipment, tables, chairs and live chickens. Madness. One morning on the way to the shower, I passed a businessman waiting for his train. I had a great conversation with graham the owner.

 (Quick) 4 Interesting facts about Graham (that’s him up there)

1.  Graham is the dude that converted the rail house into a BnB. He bought it in 1990, and it took him 14 years to dry out the building, then 2 years to fix it up.

2.  He was a farmer for most of his life. He now lets his sheep roam free on his lands. But this means in lambing season he has to hunt them down to help them give birth. He won’t wash for 6 weeks, so they can’t smell him coming.

3.  He never learned to swim and doesn’t float, but a hobby of his is to go diving for clams. Since the age of 14, he's worn a big old style wetsuit and walked into Lochs looking for clams. He carries canisters of air, and when he's finished, he releases air into his suit and bobs up to the surface.

4.  Last year he went to the doctor for a bad hip. They gave him an x-ray and found 3 shotgun pellets in his hip. He doesn’t remember ever being shot…

I spent some time researching the nearby area, and I found the Munro I wanted to summit (Munro: Scottish mountain over 3000 feet in altitude) his name is Ben Cuarchan and he’s a big boy. I chose to attempt a 15km loop that climbed Ben Cruachan and then traversed ridges across to 3 other Munros. I planned to hike up to the snow line and then decide to continue or head back.

 With the short days in mind, I started the hike in the dark. And blasted the first easy 5km. as I crested up to the reservoir I could see Ben Crauchan’s peak covered in cloud. Other than the cloudy summits, the weather was on my side most of the day. I reached the snowline in high spirits and powered on up. It was a steep hike to the summit with the terrain quickly turning from muddy trails to knee-deep snow and icy rock. I reached the summit in good time, but unfortunately, I wasn’t treated by any views.

 The clouds lingered around the summits all day, only occasionally dispersing to show me little snapshots of the views I could have had. The majority of the day was a snowy slug up and down various ridges amongst the cloud. Poor visibility and the occasional icy scramble section were the most significant challenges. I’d set periodic waypoints on my Garmin watch kept me on track. I smashed my estimated time of 9 hours and ended up completing it in 5. I got back down, drove to the nearest loch and had my late lunch and a quick dip. Challenge complete. I felt blessed to have good weather for the hike.

 I had no plans on my second day. Only that I wanted to visit ‘the lost valley’ and wild camp somewhere. I left the BnB early and listening to a helpful tip from Graham. I headed to the single track road that ran alongside the Orchy river. I had a casual drive along the beautiful river, occasionally stopping to snap some photo opportunities. I drove past 4 Kayakers gearing up for their day and had a eureka moment. I turned around and introduced myself. I ended up photographing the kayaker boys all morning. Racing them down the river meeting at various rapids and waterfalls. It turns out one section of the Orchy is one of the most infamous grade 5 waterfalls in Scotland. I’m a lucky bugger for meeting these legends just before they set off.

 After paddling around the river, I missioned over to ‘the lost valley’. Closer to Glencoe, It’s a small beautiful hanging valley with about a 40-minute hike up to it. As the day was getting late, I decided to camp up in the valley and hiked up with all my gear. When I reached the valley, I was greeted by an epic ridgeline view. On the evening of the 23rd, I began setting up my tent in the peaceful valley. I only saw one person that evening, a hiker in the distance descending a steep trail off the mountain. He shouted, happy Christmas to me. Then the evening was mine. I cooked, read, drew and reflected on a crazy year. I felt an immense sense of gratitude for everything in my life and a deep connection with the natural world. I wrote down a list of the 10 best things of 2020 and right on cue as I looked up from my notebook a herd of dear came down from the mountain and grazed in front of my tent. It felt like a handshake with nature.

 I then proceeded to have the coldest night sleep of my life. Most of my gear is 2 or 3 seasons. Having borrowed a big old winter sleeping bag from Al, I was reasonably confident I’d be fine, up until about 11 pm when I started feeling mega cold. I layered up with everything I had and managed to drift off to sleep. At 2 am, I was woken up to the sensation that my tent was about to fly away. The wind had picked up significantly, and my tent was being battered about. I went outside in sideways snow and pegged down the extra guidelines I was too reckless to do earlier. Lesson learned. Somehow I actually managed to get some sleep. In the morning, I was greeted with a thin layer of snow over the ground and mountains surrounding me. I chirpily packed up, hiked down to my car, proceeded to run over my family's Christmas presents accidentally, and then drove back to Lancashire to spend Christmas eve with some loved ones.

It was a lovely little escape from the real world and reminded me of my travels in Japan. I think everybody should try to get out on small solo adventures. Reconnect with the world and yourself.

What do you want to hear about, feel free to give me any thoughts or feedback in the comments below!

10 Thoughts on Bouldering Photography

I’m about two years deep in my outdoor bouldering journey, starting from a gym rat into a full outdoor maniac. My photography hobby has developed into a welcome obsession. I love giving buddies photos of them pulling hard on outdoor problems, I feel like I’m giving them little presents of pure psych!

Most of the time I’m capturing the moment someone is trying their absolute hardest. Their goal is clear, all their mental focus and physical might is aimed in a single beam of 'try hard' energy. These are my favourite scenes to shoot. I love it. It’s a constant reminder of how badass people can be when we try dead bloody hard.

I have a lot to learn within the wide world of outdoor photography, But in case you’re interested here are 10 thoughts on bouldering photography from a distinctly average photographer & climber. 

1 - Be Ready

There has been hundreds of moments I wished I had managed to capture whilst out bouldering. If you want the crazy shot of your mate cutting loose or popping off that tiny crimp you need to be ready. When I arrive at a crag the first thing I will do is adjust my camera settings to the current light conditions. Make sure burst mode is on so you don’t miss anything and keep your camera close by so you’re ready to grab it.

2 - Context is Key

Look at the situation, if your buddy is climbing an enormous crazy looking boulder, take a few steps back and give the photo more context. On the flip side if the climber is on outrageously small crimps, punch in a little and emphasise how hard he/she is pulling. It’s about story telling, give your photos context. 

3 - Look at Nature - It’s Cool

Most of the time, we are climbing in some pretty remarkable places, look at the location you’re in and see what it’s offering. If you’re climbing in a forest get some blurry tree action in the foreground. Think about how to show off both the climber and the location.

4 - Faces

This is a biggie, if you can position yourself to capture the climber’s face your photo is instantly more engaging. We all pull insane faces when trying hard or relieved faces when pulling through a scary move. Faces convey emotion and help tell a story within your photo. The problem is, most of the time climbers are looking directly at the wall, so I'll leave it up to you to get creative with this one. 

5 - Lazy Composure

I too often see photos of climbers way too zoomed in. I hate it when a photo has a foot or a hand cropped out, I want to see what they are holding onto. Don't be lazy. Move your feet. Get into a better position. I’ve got a theory that it’s because the photographer is in climbing shoes and doesn’t want to jump off the clean pads and get muddy shoes.

6 - Clean Up the Crag

This one is simple, messy crag means messy photos. Litter is obviously a big no no and ruins a photo, when you’re in a big group there also ends up being a lot of stuff lying around.

7 - Safety Third

Take this with a pinch of salt… but tell those spotters to shift it. Often you will have a gang of spotters on a climb or climber that only needs one or two. Most of them aren’t even spotting! Just politely tell them to shift to the side a little. They will thank you for it when you have a banging photo of them doing a cool thing.

8 - Study the Climb

Before you go to a crag it’s often good to YouTube the crag name and watch some of the crag classics, this gives you an idea of what the rock, location and climbs look like and what body positions you expect people to get into. Whilst people are climbing look for interesting shapes and angles. Most of the time people don’t get a climb the first try, so if you’re paying attention you will normally get another chance to take the photo. 

9 - Get Mates with Colourful Clothes

It just looks better. 

10 - The Battle Between Climbing and Photography

I’m both a passionate climber and photographer and often I’m battling between trying to work on a problem and take photos. I’ve spoken to other friends about this and they have the same struggle as well. It’s hard to do both well at the same time. Just do what you’re feeling in the moment, take a step back the worst thing you can do is get annoyed at yourself for not climbing enough or taking enough photos. It takes the fun out of everything, or… When arriving at a new boulder hold back for a little while and focus on photography, let your buddies do the hard work figuring out the Beta. Get some great photos of them. Then when they get the climb put your shoes on and go in for the sneaky flash. Wins all round! - Sneaky Pete

5k Every Hour

On Sat 24th of Oct 2020, I ran a 5k on the hour, every hour. For as long as I physically could. 

Why? 

I don’t particularly like running that much, I probably enjoy 5% of the time spent running, that initial primal rush, speeding up out of the driveway & the desperate 50 meter sprint finish but that boring middle bit, that sucks. After every Ultra-Marathon, triathlon or trail run I tell myself I’m out - no more running for Petey, however for some reason it keeps calling back to me. Maybe I just fundamentally hate myself or love the pain either way I seem to keep doing it. 

During Covid-19 I started running 5k’s again just as a way to balance out the mass amount of chocolate I eat. The thought originally occurred about 3 months ago ‘I wonder how many 5k’s I could run in one day’. Since then the thought grew like a beautiful weed, until I just had to get off my arse and plan it.

Doing a challenge like this naturally lends itself to fundraising for charity, and I decided I’d run on behalf of CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). CALM is leading a movement against suicide. Every week 125 people in the UK take their own lives. And 75% of all UK suicides are male. I’ve lost my step-father to suicide, Big Pieter was good dude, he came from South Africa, at 21 he met my mother and raised me & my brother/sisters, he started a family and provided for us for many years. He battled demons his entire life. Life is too short for silly things like suicide, make sure you stay on top of mental health. Talk about it. Say yes more. Be fearless within your vulnerabilities. 

Planning and strategy

So, there is always wisdom in hindsight, and if I were to try this challenge again I would mix up this strategy, however this is how I went about it…

At my fastest I can run a 5k in 18 minutes, there is no chance I could even do two 5k’s at that pace, so I decided to slow it right down to 30 minutes. That’s a 6 minute per Kilometre pace. That gave me 30 minutes of running and 30 minutes of rest per hour, In theory that sounds sustainable… right? My personal goal for the challenge was 24 hours of running, that felt doable. Because of that I decided to start the first run at 4am, meaning I would knock out the hard early hours first. 2 pairs of running shoes, to be used on rotation, one pair drying whilst running in the other. (I should have had a third pair)

Nutrition

• Danko’s special spicy sausage stew - fuelled me the night before and halfway through the race. 

• Bananas - tasty and good fuel. 

• Salted nuts - Salt is important to stop muscle cramps in long distance running.

• Haribo & MnM's - Quick sugars for energy.

• Dates - Good soulful fruits

• Water W/ mixed electrolytes

• Coffee - Obviously

• Go Ahead Bars - They’re alright I guess

• Strange pastries from Aldi - loads of preservatives

• Emergency Gel Fuel - Basically the craziest sugar rush

Run Day (Rain All Day)

4am - 11am (First 8 Hours - Happy go lucky)

I’m a lucky owner of a Garmin watch, with this particular challenge it was extremely useful. It meant I could track my pace & distance live whilst on the run. On that first 4am run I slowed my pace to the planned 6min/km and my first thought was how bloody slow it felt, this gave some confidence for the first few hours of running. By hour 5 (25km in) that pace felt about right. Hour 6 I ran down Liverpool docks and around the Liver building, this was the lap where I realised the difficulty of the challenge. It was lashing it down my shoes and all my gear got soaked. My muscles started that deep ache and tightening that you feel at around a half marathon distance. I started really concentrating on stretching and re-fuelling. 

12pm - 6pm (Middle 6 hours - Grind Mode)

The runs started getting very hard, my motivation was still there but my body began to scream at me. I became very conscious of every step, I started doing the same loop of Wavertree park, working out that from my door and around the park twice was near exactly 5k. I couldn’t risk unknown routes anymore, running an extra 0.5k was too much a risk. I managed to keep my pace, meaning after every run I would have 30 minutes to prep for the next run. These precious minutes became a ritual of hydrating then eating & stretching my calves and thighs. At 3pm I had a full squad of runners, 5 of us ran around Calderstones Park in the pouring rain laughing & shouting, whilst jumping through puddles. Great energy and the uplift I needed before getting into the night time hours.

7pm -10pm (Last 4 hours - The Night Shift)

16 hours of running in the rain and I’m met with clear night skies. Occasional distant fireworks go off, surely in my honour. The pain goes deeper than my muscles or joints, its a low humming in my bones, that can’t be ignored. The bones in the bridge of my feet start to feel bruised every time I step, My abs and fore arms start to feel sore, my knees feel battered by impact but the tightness of my mussels also feels like its pulling them apart. Somehow I manage to keep a very similar pace, and in my resting time I’m crumpled on the floor trying to stretch and eat. I accidentally fell asleep on the toilet, best 2 minute nap I’ve ever had. Lap 18 I had another full squad but I couldn’t really hear them talking, I was just in my own dazed zone. Lap 19 was my final lap, it took a lot to get out of the front door on that one, I remember nearly falling over a few times, I couldn’t really think about anything I was pretty much and the end of my ability. 

Aftermath 

I destroyed my shoes! they have massive tears in the toe-box, My whole leg situation is messed up. I’m hobbling around like a old man. The day after I had pizza for breakfast and had an alternating routine of sleep and tv. I think i’ll be feeling myself again in a couple more days & climbing by the end of the week. The Crux of this challenge is in the approach you take, in hindsight I think at around 12 hours I should have slowed my pace down even further, rather than pushing myself to keep up with a preset pace. In those later hours those 30 minutes rest became hell. My legs would cool down and seize up. Each time I stepped foot back on the run I had to warm up all the muscles and joints all over again. 

In 5 days of fundraising we smashed my target of £250 and 100+ people raised over £1600 for a bloody great cause! thank you to everyone who donated their hard earned cash & shared my posts it warms my old soul. 

I want to say a huge, massive, mega, uber thank you to the Legends that came and supported in person, Just to name a few, Danko (My Muse) Barney, Elliot, All the Toms in my life, Briggy Smalls, Big Ben, Louise, Al, Glenn bob, Paul & George.

As for now I’m done with running…

The Lonely Fisherman

‘There once was a fisherman, alone on the ground.

His friends were up high all safe and sound.

Needing to climb to rejoin the pack,

move he could not garments all up his crack.

A swift pinch of his pants and the wedgie was gone.

He jumped and climbed but found his friends were none.

You see a fisherman’s friend is a fisherman’s fantasy.

This fisherman’s alone and lost his sanity.’

- A poem by Pete about his muse Danko. What are friends anyway, can a rock be a friend? Maybe? Danko on ‘fisherman’s dyno’ 6b @ St Bees

Swimming across Lake Bala

Disgusting face after the Bala Swim today.

Last year I attempted the 3 Mile swim across Lake Bala, I failed, the cold got to me and I was pulled out of the water around 30 mins in. This year I jumped back in, completed the full distance and somehow came 1st. Wtf! Super stoked! #ensomethod Thank you Ava and Ben for coming down with me, I was pooing one for this and it helped to know you guys were there for me.

Shots from YSGO

Porth Ysgo is a stretch of coastline in the far corner of wales. Famous for its bouldering we headed there to test it out. Enjoy these shots of an amazing team of buddies going super support mode and climbing loads! Go listen to episode 21 of the barely hanging podcast to hear more about it - https://open.spotify.com/episode/53IqDi9mfVTewPuMBviv3R?si=NtNSl_UoRG2MEoLvYmGg1Q

Film from the Dolomites

Shots from a £6 Disposable camera. @pete_ric

A 5 day trip consisting of hikes and Via Ferreta climbs in the north Italian dolomites, Bolzano province. It was rad. Do More.

Bouldering in fontainebleau

May 2019 - A week of climbing in a forest full of rocks with 12 buddies, Siiik.

Day 1 - Arrival  

its just turned midnight after a hour or so drive in the worst conditions know to man we make it to The House, our host and soon to be guru greets us. Andy is a man about yay high, he has short dark hair, smells slightly of sawdust and cat food. First thought was how English this Frenchman sounded, I quickly realised this dude was from Sheffield! That’s basically our turf! The peaks! We instantly got on with Andy and we knew that he would forever be our Font climbing Guru. 

Day 2 - Rain 

With a forecast that teased spots of rain throughout the day we decided to setup for the week ahead, supermarket then an explore of the nearby town. Good vibes. Excited to climb.  

Day 3 - Rocks - Sabat

Shower. Coffee. Croissant. Early rise and straight into the forest in search of rock. We had a boulder field in mind, but in the end like all rock grapplers we got excited and we ended jumping on the first rocks we came across. We hit it hard, 12 climbers and 9 pads, people topping out everywhere, within the first hour we found a V8 dyno called ‘Smash’. We quickly became obsessed, 30 minutes later Big Boi Ben head butted the rock and busted open his lip. Smash had won. Little did font know Ben has super human strength and a few hours later he completed his first 7A climb (Dyno) ‘Legalise this’.

Day 4 - Rocks Part 2 - Franchard Cuisiniére

Beautiful Morning, everyone settled in, percolator coffee roasting, yogurt and muesli. We decided to find a circuit that everybody could jump on and do. Font in a really special place when it comes to bouldering. Lots of the climbs are numbered and colour coded into circuits, meaning you could just spend the full day smashing out an entire circuit of climbs all at a relatively similar difficulty. 40 minute hike deep into the forest. Rolling hills. Massive boulder everywhere. Huuge trees. Franchard felt like it was lifted straight out of a studio Ghibli film. such a serene and beautiful place. As the day went on the group naturally split into smaller groups of faster and slower climbers, all doing the same circuit. Number 23 of the orange circuit is an amazing crack climb perfect to learn/practice all those tasty jams.

Day 5 - Rocks? - 95.2

Hungover, sleepy start, we reached the hill top boulder field at about midday. Scorching weather. sandy af. beach vibes at the top of a hill in the middle of a massive forest. crazy. the bouldering here was interesting. I became obsessed with a roof problem, lots of sweaty battling on a disgusting mantle move. Very happy with the outcome, after about 2 hours and some lunch I managed to snag it. video is on @bhpod.

Day 6 - We found Rocks - Le Elaphant

We took the morning completely off. Everybody’s fingers are fucked so we found a river. Beers. Yoga. Swim. Evening climb in Le Elaphant. Maybe one of the most epic bouldering sessions i’ve ever had. Chilled vibe just spending the evening wandering from boulder to boulder. eventually we made our way to this huge 9m boulder known as the ‘Cheese Bloc’ a monolith of stone filled with hundreds of pockets. One by one many of us made the scary ascent. Such a rewarding experience.

Day 7 - Dwayne Johnson - Bas Cuvier

Bodies Destroyed, we set out for another day on the rocks. Bas Cuvier is one of the most popular and famous crags in Font, and it was a day full of shutdowns and tired peeps. Another 7a dyno was had ‘piff paff’ and a few people tried the famous ‘Helicopter’ problem, a climb with a dynamic lunge that send you spinning to the ground. I’ve been told that someone once died on the climb by spinning into the tree thats next to the landing.

Day 8 - Our final rock touching - Isatis

Our final day climbing, we had a mission. Walking through the forest we saw the first glimpse of it. The rock we’ve been dreaming of. A stone wave. A v11 dyno. Rainbow Rocket. For months we’ve been obsessed with having a session on it, we placed down our pads, did a quick prayer to the dyno gods. then we began throwing ourselves at it. unfortunately non of us unlocked the secret. but one day we will. The rest of the day we smashed another big circuit.

Probably the most beautiful week i’ve ever had. If you want to hear more about the trip listen to the Font episodes of the Barely Hanging Podcast.

Ormskirk man cycles the length of Japan (Newspaper Article)

An Ormskirk dance teacher cycled around Japan this summer to raise money for charity in honour of his late sister Esme. 

Peter Richards, 22, lost his sister to pneumonia when she was just nine-years-old. Esme was diagnosed with the neurological disorder RETT Syndrome and suffered many other complications to her health. Inspired by Esme's fight, Peter cycled from Cape Soya in Hokkaido, the northernmost point of Japan, to Cape Sata in Kyushu the very south of the island. During this time he raised money for Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where Esme was treated, and Charity: Water - a non-profit organisation that funds water projects in 3rd world countries.

It took Peter three months to complete the cycle (Image: Peter Richards)

Peter said: "Esme had a complicated life but she was fighter down to her core. She was the strongest person I have ever been blessed to know and is the reason why I have the drive to do this.

"Dr. Spinty and his team prolonged her life and made all the right decisions to make her passing as peaceful as possible."

Peter works at Base Dance Academy in Ormskirk and said that it was a big supporter and primary local sponsor for the cycle.

Over the three months in Japan, he cycled approximately 3548 kilometers, which averages out to almost 100 kilometers a day - and still left time to explore the different towns and cities.

Peter said: "I did multiple days cycling 180km and sometimes even more so that I could spend more time in some of the cooler parts of Japan.

"Last year I completed a nine-day solo cycle tour in Nepal. Seeing how some people live was an incredibly shocking experience. I met families that had no power or running water, no taps, no light switches.

"What we think of as a simple part of life, like instant light and clean water, many people work hours just to get. that's why half the money we raise will be going to Charity: Water.

"I also did my first triathlon in Wales, but cycling the length of Japan was a completely different beast, with endurance to a level I wasn't aware of when I started the trip."

"I feel far stronger and more ambitious than ever, I want to do crazier things in the future" (Image: Peter Richards)

But it wasn't just his own endurance levels that Peter had to battle with during his bike ride.

Whilst cycling in Japan he had to fight his way through a typhoon. He said: "In northern Japan, I cycled through a typhoon. I was fine but I came across a village that had been completely swept away by flooding. Luckily a lorry driver helped me across the road section where the flooding was."

Another extremely difficult section of the ride Peter faced was in Nagano Prefecture, the Japanese Alps. He said: "One day of cycling I set off later than I wanted to because of the rain, so I ended up cycling up a mountain pass at around midnight. "That was the most sobering part of the ride, where I felt most alone, in the pitch back struggling to cycle up a constant 9% incline, not even sure if I'm going in the right direction."

There were also many exhilarating moments for Peter, his favourite being the day he completed the ride. He said: "By far the best moment of the ride was cycling up the final cape, although it was a steady uphill ride for most the day, it was the perfect end to the trip.

Whilst cycling in Japan he had to fight his way through a typhoon "I was insanely happy when I reached the most southern tip. It was a rush of emotion, happiness, relief, completion, for three months my head was solely focused on reaching the end point and when I got there, it was like I had a moment of clarity."

The ride has left Peter hungry for more challenges and he already has some in mind. "I feel far stronger and more ambitious than ever, I want to do crazier things in the future, I have my eyes set on a few things, including Ironman triathlons and possibly a 100-mile ultramarathon in Hawaii."

If you would like to show your support to Peter, you can donate on his JustGivingpage.

Original Article - http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ormskirk-man-cycles-length-japan-13720119