Bathing or Cycling? A Morning Ride With The Near Naked Man!

It's been a week since my last cheeky cycle .. when I took a morning off work for a winter solstice ride. The weather then was a little moist, so when I got a call from the Near Naked Man for another ride today, and not a drop of rain in sight, I could hardly refuse.

We headed out early, following a route in reverse that our old friend and cycling fiend, Clive did back in June. This included a bit of a detour up a farm track parallel to the Axminster cycle path, thinking Clive had discovered a new track and hill to climb, only to realise at the top that it was probably the result of a misplaced click on the map .. Clive obviously not having to follow the route on his Garmin as I was!

Just before Chard we hit a flooded road. This was when it occurred to me that we should have looked out a route previously ridden in winter rather than June! With the Near Naked Man dressed for bathing as well as cycling, he took one for the team and proceeded across the lake while I watched should he disappear down a pot hole!

Near Naked Man takes one for the team!

Having already included an unscheduled mile or so, we decided to miss out the original Charmouth and Lyme loop, favouring a blast through Marshwood and the homeward descent via Rousdon. Still a 60km ride and over 3k ft of climb, so not at all shabby for a Winter, post Christmas feasting ride!

End of an Era .. The Broom Wagon Closes

Nineteen months ago the Broom Wagon, an independent speciality coffee shop surprisingly opened in sleepy old Seaton. On Wednesday this week, I sadly had the honour of being both its first and last customer. Seaton was just not ready for speciality coffee!

It was back in May 2014, that I tasted my first Broom Wagon coffee, since which time the shop has been a source of solace and social intercourse. It's proprietor,  Glenn also known as the Near Naked Man for his support of the male cancer awareness charity, has over these many months, become a valued friend and cycling buddy and long may this continue .. even without the draw of good coffee!

The Broom Wagon has introduced me to more than just a new friend and a better pallet for good coffee. Earlier this year my love of cycling and art were also brought together over a coffee and a chat with local artist, Richard Webster. The Broom Wagon had already a wall adorned with Richard's paintings of Lizzy Armistead & Lucy Garner and he was about to add a third. Not just any cyclist, but Mark Cavendish! Before Richard had even put brush to paint, the commission was sealed!

The painting now adorns my wall .. together with it's 'on loan from me' label, the plan having been that Cav would return to the Broom Wagon during the Tour de France, something which sadly will now not happen.

We don't know as yet what the new owners will do with the Broom Wagon, nor even whether its name will remain. It is doubtful, however, that anyone will ever have Glenn's passion or OCD for barista perfection .. but I'll keep you posted.

Bring on the Festivities!

This weekend marked the start of the season's festivities, with the purchase of a Christmas tree for the Tour de Fitness homestead on Saturday and the AVP Cycling Club's Christmas dinner on Sunday.

Let the seasons festivities commence

Ahead of such festivities what, or so I thought, could be better than a good ride out with the club's Sunday morning speed merchants. I was feeling good after my triumph in the rain on Thursday and what better time to also take on that nagging chimp!

The 'AVP Sunday 8am ride' had a surprisingly good turnout. 10 riders rolled up, more than we've ever had out before on the early morning quick ride. May be the mild dry calm weather and forecasted heavy rain due to return next week provided that unprecedented additional encouragement! We took the first couple of miles out to Colyton at a steady pace and just as I was getting into the groove we came upon a skittish pony requiring us to pass quiet and wide. So what do I do, yes, I attempt to bunny jump the curb only to leave my trailing wheel in the gutter, unceremoniously launching myself to slide along the pavement with all the finesse of a duck landing on an icy pond. Unfortunately for me, there was no ice for an excuse nor to prevent the asphalt induced rash on elbow and hip. Fortunately the kit I was wearing was not as wafer thin as those the pros continue to shred on such occasions, so at least I was able to retain some dignity!

Once back on the road, we made good progress in a steady chaingang over Luppit and Smeatharpe Common. Clive loves a chaingang but I know it is not to everyone's liking, particularly when you just want to have a pedal and a chat. On a chaingang  you are continually changing position as you take turns on the front and rotate like a large chain between two cogs.

No video today, so how about a cartoon strip!

This worked surprisingly well, although with no amazing tailwind today, my heart rate remained entrenched in the anaerobic zone at best. I have more recently only stuck with this group for the first hour for fear of slowing them too much but, today, the determination to silence that chimp was to be my undoing. On the final Stockland climb, as I pulled up to join Ed for a quick food stop, my left thigh cramped up with the worst pain and immobility I have ever had the misfortune to experience. Just working out how to get off the bike took a feat of joint ingenuity. After a few minutes of stretching it miraculously cleared, albeit leaving that feeling that it could return at any time I over stressed it.

Lucky for me, I have two great cycling pals in Ed and Shaun, who returned to see how we were doing. Both stayed with me over the remaining 5-10 miles of gentle pedalling back to Seaton in the spirit of true domestiques.

Once showered it was off to the Christmas party. Sat chatting with friends, beer in hand and the anticipation of a hearty Christmas meal, the pains in arms and legs, shredded skin and aching muscles, were soon forgotten. Such is the power of friendship and laughter .. bring on the festivities!

Another Soggy Thursday Night Ride

Two years ago, Cycling Weekly published a top 40 list of Cycling New Year's Resolutions and I was satisfied in making an early start in ticking off number 20, "Ride in the Rain". It was day 319 of my Tour on which I headed out with Rex. It was a typical AVP evening ride but less typically, on this occasion, there were just the two of us, obviously no one else feeling the need to ride in the rain!

Last night's ride followed a similar script. My weather app said rain would cease at 6pm and I was prepared to believe it. Pedalling over to the Kings Arms through a light drizzle to meet Buster, Handbag and Ed, I was still prepared to believe it. By the prerequisite wait time later, with still only us four in attendance, it was clear that no other Pedaller was, however, prepared to believe it!

Unperturbed, Buster headed off to pick up the hardy MTBs who would never let a little precipitation get in the way of a mud bath. Handbag headed home to prepare to lead the 7:30 ride, should anyone believe the rain would relent, while Ed and I hunkered down and headed north, into the hills.

Agreeing on a strategy of keeping clear of the main roads, cyclists being notoriously difficult to spot in such conditions, we repeated the route of the Sunday Ride, I led back in March. This is the one which took us through Colyton, Whitford, Kilmington, across the A35 along the Yarty to Stockland. Up Stockland Hill we climbed in near zero visibility, rain splattering on my face and glasses and mist steaming them from the inside. There was no light in the sky, the moon being truly masked by the low cloud, and our light beams struggled to pick out any discerning bumps and pits in the road.

For the first time in 3 of my previous rides along this road, we correctly made the left turn off Nothcote into Hutgate Road, negating the need then to have to decide on which climb to make out of Honiton which has, for me, become the recent norm! Instead, we soon found ourselves back across the A35 by the Colourwheel. We gingerly took the Northleigh Hill Road descent, and making a change from the Sunday Ride, crossed over the River Colly into the terrifically named Bonehayne and Purlbridge Road returning us to Colyton.

Colyton Christmas lights

Riding through Colyton, the Christmas lights were stunning, probably made even more spectacular through the kaleidoscope vision of rain splattered glasses. Back at the White Hart, it being an away night, we tried to dry out a little by the fire. We met up with 4 mud splattered MTBers and Handbag who while having not had any takers for the 7:30 ride were joined by Barbunny for the amazing feast of cheesy chips and chicken pieces. Like true athletes, we did not let the mound of food defeat us .. the perfect way to end a soggy good ride!

Day 1000 - The End of The Pedalabout

It is just over 1000 days ago that I started my Tour de Fitness. This was when I returned to cycling some 30 years since I last owned a bike. It was in March 2013 that I collected a shiny new heavy hybrid cycle and proceeded to puff and wheeze my way to fitness and oh how I needed to get fit.

It was on Day 83, as I was measuring my tour in days back then, that my cycling took a momentous step change. It was a warm Thursday in May and I was enjoying a lunchtime treat of fish & chips on the beach. Reading the local newspaper that I'd picked up from the chippy, there was a writeup on the local cycling club having just returned from a trip to Brittany. It stuck in my mind as I walked through the roundabout on the seafront,  when I spotted a sign "The Pedalabout .. Seaton Town Council in partnership with the Axe Valley Pedallers Cycle Club".. a seed was definitely sown, I needed to find out more about this club, the AVP.

The Pedalabout - May 2013

Back home, I looked the AVP up on the internet and the following words leaped out at me  .. "Thursday night is club night. We meet at the Kings Arms in Seaton for plenty of chat, chips, a beer or two, maybe a cake and perhaps even some cycling! Thursday nights are all about socialising and having fun. We depart at 6:30 pm when a road ride and a mountain bike ride will set off aiming to return to the pub for beer and chips around 8:30pm." .. I was hooked, I went along, we did more miles in that one evening than I'd ever done before and the rest is history!

Over the past 900 or so days, since that first meeting with the Pedallers, I have always looked fondly on the Pedalabout. I've even joined the gang re-painting, sweeping and tidying it before the annual Grizzly runners from across the country come to town. It came as quite a shock therefore, to find it unceremoniously dismantled last weekend, bikes piled in a corner, to make way for Christmas lights!

I had to hit social media to express my concern over the lack of 'partnership' in making this decision to tear down the Peadalabout! The Town Council to be fair, came straight back .. such is the power and immediacy of social media. @TownClerkDrake replied "not torn but taken down for new Christmas lighting display and then new features to be agreed in new year" .. yes I was being a little emotive in my 'torn down' statement ..  perhaps little tabloid, but it got me noticed!

The Pedalabout is 'Torn Down' - November 2015

@TownClerkDrake went on to say "the display was shot to pieces and not a good reflection on the town, so once lights are down we will ensure proper display".

I my view, there is much in Seaton which looks shot to pieces and not a good reflection on the town, but I would have to disagree that this could be said for our set of Google coloured bikes. I believe they have been there since the Tour of Britain passed through in 2009 and such I would agree that such a time spent in salty air and sea spray does take its toll on steel .. but through my rose tinted specs they looked fab to me!

Some fellow social media followers also commented: GM "I would have wrapped the bikes in lights"  .. CA "I loved them" ...  DR "Quite disgraceful !" ...   RG "Oh Goodness" ...   GB "R.I.P colourful bicycles" .

We will have to see what @TownClerkDrake thinks is a 'proper display' in the new year,  whether the AVP 'partnership' can continue and if the Pedalabout's replacement will equally inspire someone else to go and do something inspiring and that they've never done before.