Driving through Anglesey many times on the way to the Ireland ferry I’d often thought to visit the island properly. I did last week. The rocky north coast proved to be the place for adventure. Max and I had ambitions to build David Horne style stone thrones which we did in locations we named Monarchs and Adder cove respectively. Building thrones is good training with a seat overlooking the sea as just reward. Sometimes a dip in the water to cool off follows. The dip in the clear sea on Tuesday felt uncomfortable. I’m 10-15 kilos lighter than when I used to swim outside for the 17 summers and winters. I’ve succumbed to the comforts of warm water, I chided myself. That didn’t last long – later I was relaxing in the hot tub.
Saturday, that satnav tricked me into driving over the M4 Suspension bridge which used to be a toll. I’d planned a different route but the robot sometimes changes its mind and leads you down different roads. Nostalgia hit– I was here last 5th November 2005 with Sealskin and we swam from one bank of the River Severn to the other. It was his ambition, not mine and I helped him get fit for it. Then he asked if I would do it with him. Swim distance just over a kilometer in a straight line but the mighty Severn has no slack water. We set out half hour before the change and ended up swimming nearer 5km. A few desperate souls have thrown themselves off the bridge deck. The view from the water with that thought made the temperature all the more chilling from underneath. The rescue team that accompanied us told me the last successful swimmers were US NAVY SEALS ten summers previously and like Sealskin they wore wetsuits. I was in trunks. I smiled to myself, then remembered how uncomfortable the short dip four days ago was. It’s hard to admit I’m less conditioned than I used to be. Less tough? Maybe, maybe not.
I was on the way to Cardiff to fight in the No Gi Judo Pilot event run by Alan Jones. He’s amazing, much respect for him and the reason for going really. The internal narrative asked me what was I expecting? “Well, they’ll all be tough. I want to have fun and improve.” There are always setbacks. Fall forwards and all that. I did plenty of falling as it turned out, helped over by the winner and runner up of the heavyweights. There were no easy fights. I did enough to get the bronze in our pool of 5. There was another scrapper there even older than me, so they put us together for an extra fight for the over 50’s. We’ve fought before – I won this time.
Driving away from the arena I felt dreamy. Paul Desmond playing Taste of Honey came up first on my playlist and coupled with the bruises I felt alive. The Anglesey scenery, stone thrones. Maybe the near concussion from the winners’ double leg takedown on me was more likely. Later, passing over the Severn I smiled again. A lot of my best efforts are in the rear-view mirror. It’s not necessary to repeat old feats when there are new ambitions. As Johnny Cash said, I know “The road ahead is hard and steep” but the Taste of Honey is something to be savoured once in a while.
See you down the road.
