The Moving Crux!

Well, I had session 5 on Loco Total today and after taking a pretty big gamble yesterday and resting for the day I felt fresh as a daisy this morning and set off to be at the Cave for low tide, 1pm.

Matt joined me soon thereafter and I did Caroline's Traverse first go and felt absolutely on form. I felt strong and focused - a rare combination for me!

Ron arrived along with his dog Meg and flew through Caroline's Traverse as well.

I spent a while working the rest points of my project for the day, Loco Total (7a) and when I hopped on the line first go I blasted through the opening half and it felt easy, my foot slipped off a seeping hold (the only really wet hold in the cave today)

Ron and Matt worked parts of the line getting moves figured out - I took a quick rest and got back on the line about 5-10 mins later.

I made it to the same point as my best effort in the last session and my arms ran out of steam...

Ron got on the line from the start and strung the whole thing together until the rest point - he milked the rest in the corner of Caroline's Traverse and completely recovered. As he moved out of the rest point his foot slipped and he was spat off the line -

I was in disbelief that this could happen!

My go, and I finally made it above mentioned rest point that had eluded me so many times before. I moved into the knee bar position and as I shook my hands out my foot popped and I was spat off!!!

UGH!!!

Heartbreaking!

Ron had been extremely calm about coming off at the end of the problem and I wondered why he wasn't more frustrated! When I got spat off I realised - it's the shock of 'what just happened?'

So like him, I just moved on and gathered my energy for the next attempt...

The breaks between my attempts were about 20mins - half an hour, I literally could not recover quicker than that...

Ron had his next go and again he rested in the corner after fluidly moving through the now wired opening sequence. He chalked his shoes up to make sure they didn't slip and blasted through the end of Loco Total.

For Ron, the line was sent!

It's amazing how much energy I gain from seeing a successful send - I was ready to give Loco Total another go and I felt like I sailed through it and again, made it the resting point.

I stayed there for what felt like 2-3 mins (might have been shorter though)

Deep breath and I began the final moves...

I had thought before that the gymnastic moves in the middle of the line were the crux but today it moved! The final move of Loco Total is surely the hardest after 6 or 7 meters of climbing - I matched the final pinch and went to put my heel up on the extremely featured end and all systems failed.

I was on the last move, and I exploded off the line.

With nothing left in the tank I had one last half hearted go and it was time to call it a day.

Progress is progress and it will be sent next session!

Myself Ron and Matt went to the Arch for a quick climb about after and met up with Eamon who threw popcorn at me for falling off the final move on Loco.

Brilliant day!