UKH

The entry 'I will be back' on failed efforts on routes seems to be occur reasonably regularly. One route I went back for was Midnight Cowboy (Baggy), but that's about it. I tend not to return though, running tail between my legs through heather, scree or scrub. Wondering this is unusual?

It's not unusual.

If at first you don't succeed, fail again.  Fail better.

Saying that, there's a long (and growing) list of routes that won't be graced by a second attempt by me.  Oh, and that includes Midnight Cowboy.

I did a  'vini, vidi, vamos' at the bottom of original route, high tor (I came, I saw, I scarpered) and had to go back since I'd wanted to do it for years. Glad I went back, and incidentally glad I didn't try the first time since I wasn't feeling right. 

Not so unusual, I think ... a couple of years ago I made a file of "I will be back" routes and kept a link on my desktop

I backed off High Noon 18 years ago and it's still niggling me... 

I'll be back!!

Tales of Yankee Power at High Tor and the 3rd Spur of the midi. Both routes I've never brought myself to go back to! 

It took six fails on The Conger at Connor Cove before I finally made it to the top. Of course, I never backed off it.... just dropped into the English Channel. A pair of my glasses is somewhere down on the seabed. I've been back again three times, with three more fails. Brilliant Route!

I often bridge the overhanging corner, handtraverse the lip and fail to contort through the overlap of Canada Crack at Bowden, juddering back down on what strength remains.

Ill return I'm sure, fifteen years after first trying and never bothering to train; maybe I'll have gotten stronger or the route easier...