The first one I want to point out is another Mercedes, being driven around Paris in 1976. The film is called "C'était un rendez-vous", but often referred to just as "Rendezvous". It was shot at 05:30 on a Sunday in August (the month most people go on holiday); this was on open roads with no official approval – there has been no editing of the video footage.

If you're not a fan of YouTube then you can also see it here. For more background info see Wikipedia, Dark Roasted Blend, Hypertextbook, or buy the remastered DVD.

The other video which should really get a mention is Climb Dance, which shows Ari Vatanen doing the Pike's Peak hill climb in Colorado in 1988. There are massive drops as he snakes his way up the hill in a Peugeot 405 T16. He's absolutely on the ragged edge, but also unbelievably fast. Incredibly so.

Also available at Google Video.

I'm also using this post as an excuse to spread the love for the Lancia Delta Integrale, one of the most beautiful cars ever made:

So there we go, just thought I'd bring those to your attention. Obviously there are plenty of excellent car sequences in films (e.g. this and this), but these are two excellent displays of real-life driving which might easily pass people by.

Saturday morning continued the rainy trend which had made its presence known throughout the night. Undeterred, we modified our plans from climbing to rambling, finally deciding on an ascent of Yr Aran, which none of us had been up before. Nonetheless, our unwavering faith in our own navigational ability gave us confidence, and was summed up by Jamie with the phrase “If Gary gets lost, I just assume it’s the mountain that’s wrong.”. After climbing for about twenty minutes we entered the cloud, and thus didn’t actually see anything from the local maxima of Craig Wen or Yr Aran. Some consternation was caused by the disparity between reality and the map when the trig point marked on the 1:25,000 was noted to be conspicuously absent from the summit of Yr Aran. However, I soon resolved this by arbitrarily deciding – with no evidence whatsoever – that the trig point must have been hidden beneath the small summit cairn and we therefore must be on the correct mountain. Thus reassured, we continued north in the cloud, and eventually down to the quarry at Bwlch Cwm Llan. Shortly after lunch, we discovered a drainage tunnel cutting under the track and into an old quarry working. Given that it was under eight inches of water, G and I approached the tunnel problem from different angles. He used his high-tech Yeti gaiters to prevent water ingress into his boots; I took off my boots and went barefoot.

On my way to the Lost World. Copyright Jamie Buxton 2010

Once inside we found ourselves in a verdant world of ferns and foliage reminiscent of the Lost World. Another tunnel continued further into the quarry workings, but further exploration evidently required scuba gear and an unhealthy interest in dark places. We returned to our entry point, passing pterodactyls and several triceratops along the way. Being the hiking enthusiasts we are, we then retired to the pub. I had the novelty of catching a steam train back to the campsite to fetch the car, and dinner provided a welcome interlude before another pub visit.

Steam train - the only way to travel home from the pub. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Sunday's weather proved far more amenable, with blue skies visible at the campsite. We decided a visit to the main cliff of Glyder Fach was in order; Gareth and Jamie were to ascend Dolmen Ridge (***, 3) while Gary and I took on Main Gully Ridge (***, 3 or Mod, depending on who you believe). We climbed to the bottom of the cliff together, and then split to find our respective routes. As per the rules of the Scrambles in Snowdonia challenge, I was bound to take the more difficult Grade 3 variation of Main Gully Ridge. The only snag with this option is that the hardest moves are the very first ones, with little gear and plenty of exposure. Also weighing heavy on my mind was the fact that every move would be recorded with my new birthday present – a helmet-cam. I was therefore thrilled when Gary offered me the lead, particularly since I'd done only one mountain route in the past eighteen months. I reminded myself of recent climbing successes in the Peak District (backing off a Mod, with a rope, in rock boots), and stepped up to the plate.

Still taken from helmet-cam footage. Gary and the drop above Alphabet Slab. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Anyway, I surprised myself by getting back into the swing of things without any major dramas (albeit very slowly!), and lead the whole route. We did two very exposed pitches, then a third up to the top of the ‘slot’ described by Ashton. I can only assume it was a printing error which meant the words ‘slimy, grotty, muddy’ and ‘slippery’ were missed out of the description of said slot. Gary politely pointed out later in the day that despite the amenable angle this was the place in which I placed the most gear! Despite my initial claim that the lead had required balls of steel, we eventually agreed that it was probably a little bit less hardcore than that. From the slot, we moved together and confirmed that the top half of that ridge is my absolute favourite place in the whole of Snowdonia*. After a bit of food, we met Gareth and Jamie back at Idwal Cottage. They’d taken one pitch on Dolmen Ridge, moving together the rest of the time, and had obviously had a thoroughly enjoyable day too.

Gary took the campervan back down south, while we made our way to Nottingham to the sound of mid-90s cheese and, in the words of Gareth, "bouncy old-school hip-hop". Unfortunately the helmet-cam footage wasn't quite up to being broadcast on the BBC HD channel, but I've cobbled something together quickly in iMovie from the bits we did get. Once I've had a bit more time to tighten it up a bit and get rid of the really boring bits, I might post something up here.

* As long as we don’t include winter. That might complicate things.

"What's happening?" - I'm asking myself that very question.

I'll be using it to highlight nuggets of fun / interesting / intellectual stuff from around the internet and life in general. These will then pop up nicely on the main page of the blog for you to glance at next time you're passing. I haven't activated Twitter on my phone, my email account, or wired it into my eyeballs, and I absolutely will not be tweeting things like:

• "Just woken up. Lol."
• "Having breakfast. Lol."
• "Just seen a pigeon. ROFL"
• etc, etc.

So that's it really. If you absolutely must, you can follow my feed at http://www.twitter.com/hwwilliams, but I'd recommend just keeping an eye on it through the blog. There's less chance of you becoming infected that way. Alternatively, you can bookmark the RSS feed for my Twitter thing (account? feed? notices? tweets? I'm too old to know the right word for this), which lives here.

From Idwal Cottage I did my planned loop of the cwm, past the bottom of Devil's Kitchen, and was back at the lake outflow within 25 minutes. Figuring that this was a bit short to count as a proper run, I decided to head up the steep slope on the west of the cwm to Llyn Bochlwyd. My original intention was to head down the waterfall path back to  Ogwen, or maybe carry on up to Bwlch Tryfan if I was going well. As it happened, the weather held out and I couldn't resist heading all the way to the summit of Tryfan. I only stopped for a few seconds on the top, and then descended the west face path. It's quick, but a complete killer on the legs as it's paved and very steep. Nevertheless, I made the Tryfan ascent and descent in a further 1h20m after the Idwal loop, which I was very pleased with. Disappointingly, I managed to twist my ankle pretty badly falling over on the last step onto the paved path to Idwal Cottage, just where I was slowing up to begin my cool down. It's giving me a little bit of grief, but seems to be settling down now.

One unusual factor with this run was the presence in my bag of Gareth's phone, which has an application to track running or cycling sessions using GPS. I downloaded the resulting GPX file to my PC, and had a couple of options for analysis. If it's just map data you're after, I'm a big fan of Where's the Path? It's a website which puts OS maps and Google maps side-by-side, and allows you to plot routes, import GPX files, and view basic elevation data (see below).

Viewing a GPX route in Where's the Path?

However, I subsequently discovered Ascent, which seems to be that rarest of things – a decent GPS training analysis tool for the Mac. I've only played with it for a few minutes, but the first signs are encouraging.

Viewing a GPX route in Ascent

Anyway, things went a little downhill from there – James was ill on Saturday evening and the pub trip was abandoned, and we then spent all Saturday night listening to torrential rain falling on the caravan roof. Our wet weather backup plan for Sunday was climbing, but with James poorly and my ankle playing up, we took a leisurely drive home instead. On that basis it might not sound like the most successful of weekends, but I actually had a really good time and it was good to have a proper caravan get-together again.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos, my camera's broken.

G on Overhanging Buttress Arete (Mod, *). Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

We had a rather gear-tastic day too, finding a guidebook, a hat and five very dodgy-looking eastern European cams. We shamelessly used the guidebook instead of our own for the day (it being more detailed), and are now trying to track down some comrade willing to own up to owning the rusty, battered death-cams.

"You expect me to survive a lead fall on those dodgy eastern-bloc cams?"

"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die."

After spending a lot of time standing on ledges willing myself to move up a few inches, we decided some more rapid movement was required, and went for a run. We did an hour's loop from Burbage bridge down the edges to the top of Padley Gorge and then back along the top of Millstone and over Higgar Tor. I'd not been out for three weeks, so it blew the cobwebs away and reminded me I really need to step up a gear if I manage to get a place on the Nine Edges (fingers crossed).

I'm not sure ice creams are touted as a recovery food, but there was a van at Burbage bridge and it would have been rude not to oblige. Suitably cooled down, we headed home. Possibly the last dry day out for a while, the way the weather forecast looks at the moment!

Snowdon and Lliwedd behind the bogs and copper mines of Cwm Bychan.Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

On Sunday we visited the RSPB Glaslyn Osprey Project.  After looking at a blurry tree through a scope for several minutes and politely telling the RSPB man that yes, I could definitely see the Ospreys' heads, I had better luck inside, where there's a massive TV relaying a live image from a camera perched above the nest. It's definitely worth a visit, but don't expect to be there for hours. After that, we did the traditional wander down the river at Beddgelert, and stopped for lunch towards the top of Aberglaslyn. As we sat there scoffing sandwiches, I spotted a juvenile otter on the opposite bank. That might not sound terribly exciting, but I think otters are pretty cool. I've seen them in the wild before on Mull, but that was on the sea shore, so it was nice to see one in a more traditional environment.

Nant Colwyn from Cwm Bychan. I ran basically along the skyline from right to left, apart from Moel Hebog at the far left.Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

On Sunday afternoon I went for a run along the Nantlle Ridge from Y Garn and then over Moel Lefn and Moel yr Ogof. Just one week after LAMM I expected to be feeling some kind of payback, but it was actually very pleasant. The first climb up Y Garn is always a bit dull, but after that the distance flew by. Moel yr Ogof is always much bigger than I expect it to be, but didn't pose any major problems. I considered heading over Moel Hebog as well, but time was marching on, so I dropped from Bwlch Meillionen back to the van. A total of 8 miles in 3 hours with 750m of ascent, which I was reasonably pleased with.

On Monday we had an early start to get home in time to pack for the Bruges trip, so left the summits still clear of cloud and headed east.

In glorius sunshine, Greg, Sean and I set off from Nether Booth for a mini version of the Edale Skyline. We're all doing LAMM next weekend, so this was to be a quick training jaunt. From Hollins Cross we went around to Mam Tor, Rushup Edge, Brown Knoll, the Woolpacks and then down Grindsbrook Clough. FWIW, don't ever consider coming down Grindsbrook – it's way too rough, and I'd heartily suggest coming down from Ringing Roger instead. Injuries and the weather took their toll on our merry party; Sean had to cut back early, and I left Greg feeling the effects of the heat in Edale.

Most of the route - just follow the skyline. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

The route ended up being the furthest I've ever run, on or off road. At a length of about 23km, it was a good practice for a single LAMM day; I just need to double that performance next weekend, with a sack on my back! Nevertheless, I felt pretty reasonable at the end of it, despite forgetting to put my orthotics in my shoes before I set off (fool). I was also using a new pair of shoes, since my previous pair of Inov8's fell apart (they did replace them without any issues though). I got on OK with those, so everything's looking good. Stay tuned for a LAMM report early next week.

On Saturday I finally managed two things which I have wanted to do for ages: ride the new bike properly, and visit Cannock Chase trails. A timely invitation from G to join his band of adventurers found us tackling the Follow the Dog and Monkey XC trails. I took the LTS-DH, hoping to hit the DH trails, but fate had a different plan in store. Not far into Follow the Dog, my seatpost clamp snapped in two, forcing me to ride the (longer than anticipated) rest of the trails on a bike with 5" of saggy travel, and with the saddle touching the top of the seat tube.

Rest stop, halfway around the Monkey Trail. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Nevertheless, the excellent company kept it enjoyable and the downhill bits were great fun on the new bike. The front end is amazing when pointing in the right direction, despite feeling ridiculous when riding along tarmac. I was worried that having spent four months building it, I might have created some kind of awful monster, but it seems all my deliberation and decision making has been vindicated. It was helped along by G's nina-style brake bleeding skills, undertaken with a home-made bleed kit in the car park – good work!

Finally, the LTS-DH gets into it's home environment. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

By the end of the loop I was pretty much shafted, and not really able to make the best of the downhills after the effort of hauling / pushing the bike up the uphill sections. An awesome sandwich / cake combo* at the cafe finished the day off nicely though, and I can't wait to get out again soon for some proper DH action.

Yesterday I met up with James at Harborough Rocks for his first taste of Peak District single-pitch cragging. Not having rock boots, he chose to climb in his B2/3 winter boots and as per usual showed me up anyway. I ticked off some routes I'd wanted to do, took James up Trident Arete as I think it's the "must-do" route of the crag, and then foolishly mentioned that I wouldn't mind a look at the routes in the cave.

Things start getting a bit funky on Skylight Chimney (VDiff). Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

I've looked at the two routes before, and they've always looked grotty and horrible. I can now confirm that close up they are indeed grotty and horrible. I started on Cave Chimney (VDiff), and quickly got coated in filth while squirming my way up the first bit. Assuming the worst is past, you launch sideways and upwards towards the hole in the roof, only to find more grime waiting for you further up. Still, it was fun in a weird kind of way.

Pleased my current position doesn't require any digging. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Having finished Skylight Chimney I returned to the guidebook at the bottom of the crag, only to realise shortly after that James was eyeing-up the other route in the cave, Cave Chimney (HVD). Sure enough, I soon found myself wedged in another grotty crack, desperately wishing I had a spade to dig out some kind of hold on the flat muddy shelf I was confronted with at shoulder height. With a lack of gear I wimped out, and James soon found himself in the same position. Possessing a sense of ingenuity I had wholly failed to display, he cunningly threw a hex into a crack a good four feet above his high point and, with that clipped, proceeded to launch himself onto the aforementioned ledge.

James gets to grips with the top half of Cave Chimney (HVD). Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

From there more squirming (and a load of bad language) led to the top. Definitely worth it's zero stars! After these subterranean adventures we returned to the glaring sunlight and knocked off a couple more routes to end the day. I'm now safe in the knowledge that I need never venture into the cave again, and James enjoyed himself despite all the grovelling around in the dark.

Another filthy chimney route ticked off the list. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

I left him to travel home in a newly souped-up Uan (new alloys, new signwriting and a hammock!), while I made my way back to Leicestershire dreaming of a hot shower.

* – BBQ chicken baguette followed by a chocolate-topped caramel rice crispie cake, since you asked.

G on what might be Right Arete, I can't really remember. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

I carried on with some extra problems on the greener right-hand end of the middle tier once everyone else had left, and had a thoroughly good time. What a great way to spend an evening; roll on the summer if this is what it brings.

More car-related shenanigans meant another trip to my parents', and it would have been rude not to go out somewhere. We spent a very pleasant day on Tryfan Bach, helped by the fact that it wasn't particularly busy. I got over-confident and tried to run the three-pitch Little Tryfan Arete (Diff, ***) into a single pitch, but had to abandon that plan and scuttle off to easier ground when I realised I'd run out of QDs.

James setting up a belay somewhere on Tryfan Bach. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

Anyway, the big news is James' van. It a massive posh Merc, and he's already boarded the back out. He reckons it's for work, but I can see through his thinly-veiled excuses. All it needs now is a vent in the roof and maybe a side window and it'll be awesome for climbing weekends! Fans of the faithful old L200 truck needn't worry though – apparently there are no plans to get rid of that just yet (it's incredibly useful in winter when everything else gets stuck!).

The new van gets its first taste of Snowdonia. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

As we left the crag at the end of the day we tried to think up a name for the new van. Despite some sterling suggestions, nothing quite seemed to fit. However, when we got back to the layby James rightfully pointed out that it already had a name…

That settles it - the van's called Ewan. Copyright Haydn Williams 2010

So, after our first rock day of the year, we toddled off home. Here's to plenty of future adventures with Uan…