New Coffee Club Ride

After a 4 week absence due to France and the Dartmoor Classic, I returned this Saturday to join our Coffee Club ride.

There's not been much to report on the Coffee Club ride side of things of late, other than we had a cup of coffee at Rousdon Village Bakery and did the Marshwood circuit! That's just about what we've always done for the past 18 months. Today was a bit different, we've a new Coffee Shop and route, so I thought I'd share.

After a round of indecision attempting to please all and with many key Coffee Clubbers otherwise engaged, it ended up that just 3 of us, Jolly, Richard and I, met at the new Colyford Filling Station Cafe for our pre ride coffee. This is a very new addition to our cycling coffee shops and harks back to the old Broom Wagon. Service is with a smile and the coffee is excellent. I've yet to try the cakes and sandwiches but with them showing Le Tour for the next 3 weeks, I'm thinking at least one lunchtime is going to involve a pedal over to try the full service!

Once we'd all arrived, it was touch and go as to whether we would be riding any further as the TdF coverage had started and with the heat building outside, we could have quite happily hunkered down for a bit of an all day viewing session. We did, however, do the right thing. We remounted our 2 wheeled steeds and headed on to Sidmouth in search of ice cream via Beer and Branscombe, with the contingency that if it got too hot, we'd make for the sanctuary of the place with the Donkeys! It's good to have a goal. As it was, the shady lanes up by Beer Caves enabled us to drop into Sidmouth past the Observatory .. which by the way, my Yorkshire friend thinks is, itself, a shady place, in that the signage suggests "Norman Lokyer Observatory" I'll let you think that one through! 😉

Ice creams were safely procured in Sidmouth, though Richard was lucky to make it, deciding on risking the ford crossing. I was hoping to have a film of this but forgot that my camera has a power saving feature such that it had not been on since we'd left the Cafe! The return to Seaton was via a smouldering climb to the Hare & Hounds followed by a cooling Team TT across Farway Common. Richard pealed off to Colyton while Jolly and I dropped back into Colyford to check on the TdF and partake in another, post ride, coffee. .. I can see this route and pre and post ride coffees becoming a new standard for the Coffee Club Ride 👍🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️