We've Got a New Cycling Themed Coffee Shop

On Sunday 2nd December the AVP Coffee Club did a 50 mile circuit to visit The Feed Station in Merriott, Crewkerne on their grand opening day ... fantastic to have another cycle friendly coffee shop in our area !

Sabbatical Day 2/65 : Wet & Windy Crewkerne Circuit

I found myself driving through Crewkerne at the weekend and thought this would be a great destination for one of this week's rides. It's about 20 miles from Seaton and has two routes one can ride in and out of, both of which I always seem to drive; via Axmouth on the way out and Lyme Regis on the return. The roads are also smooth and well covered, a novelty for around our lanes and perfect for the Tarmac.

I awoke this morning to rain .. yes rain! This was not in the plan. I had set today aside for this Crewkerne ride, Wednesday being the Wibblers, Thursday the Club, and Friday the Flyers. By 10 am,  thankfully, the sky over Seaton had miraculously cleared and all was well again. I saddled up and rode out towards Axminster, moving more swiftly than in yesterday's strong winds, getting a new PB on the Boss Hill to A35 segment.

Rain on the road from Axminster towards Chard

As I crossed the single lane bridge over the river at Weycroft, no more than 5 miles into my ride, the rain returned and over the next 10 miles I became quite soaked. On every turn of the pedals my feet sloshed in my shoes and water ran relentlessly down my back. Confident that this would blow over and once the sun shone again I would soon dry out, I pressed on. Just after Tythleigh and before entering Chard, I turned off the main A358 down the quieter and more direct Roman Road to join up with the A30. I'm not one who likes riding the major roads, getting buffeted by speeding vehicles has never been a favoured pastime of mine. This, however, is a quieter stretch of the A30 but the road width and surface is perfect for cycling on .. I just wish that, as in France, we could have a clear metre or two of space at either side of the carriage way for bikes to ride in. I appreciate that we have less open land than on the continent but for such major roads, I can not see it making that much difference.

The drop into Crewkerne came up before me quicker that I had expected and after such a time riding on my own, it was a shock to the system to be thrust into the throng, dodging cars, lorries and a parade of tourists who seemed to be on a walking tour of the town; it was bedlam. I had thought of seeking out a friendly cafe for an alfresco coffee. I had visions of slipping out of my damp shoes and drying my socks in the sun, but the state of traffic control and rammed streets led me to make a b-line for the road to Lyme and out of Crewkerne.

A quick stop between Crewkerne and Lyme

The quiet and calmness of the countryside soon returned to me as I climbed out of the town and up to Clapton; it's name making me chuckle as I imagined how different this was from its North London namesake. The road I was now riding on, the B3165, would take me all the way to above Lyme Regis, no turnings to make, no risk of a navigation error, I could just sit back and enjoy the scenery. I was also starting to finally dry out, the process being enhanced by the now higher winds and warmer air. There would be those pieces of clothing which would need longer than I had left to cycle; my cap was still dripping, perspiration now combining with the rain water, my feet were still damp but it would be a few days before I would be at risk of trench foot and most uncomfortable were my shorts and the soggy chamois pad!

The final 10 miles from Lyme flew by, the Tarmac had performed well, albeit over some of the less even ground it jared every sinew, bone and tooth in my body and totally justified me having the two bikes; the Tarmac for the smooth quick flat circuits and the Roubaix for the rough lumpy lanes. All that remains to be decided, is which bike joins me on the Wednesday Wibble tomorrow.

First Tuesday AVP Evening Ride

As a preparation aid for this year's AVP 100 at the end of August, a couple of weeks after my RideLondon 100, it has been suggested that the club re-establish the regular Tuesday evening rides.

Five keen Pedallers, Buster, the famed mountain biker, Curtis, our North American member, Kelly, Shaun and myself were to be the first to take up this challenge. Our rendezvous was at the Round Orchard for 19:00. Our route was to be a 42 mile circuit out to Crewkerne and back, through 3 counties and along roads I'd never covered before on the bike, with or without the club. Quite a rarity these days.

Not only did this give me some enjoyable additional miles of training, it also gave me the opportunity to test out my new GoPro in a group ride situation. I've since been told, by my non-cycling friends, that this makes for much more interesting viewing, and I tend to agree. While I'm happy with the general camera position, now that I've cleared the brake and gear cables from view, the vibration noise is still too excessive for me to include sound in the playback. I have another mounting bracket on order but the solution may be to come up with my own soundtrack ... perhaps, Queen's 'Bicycle Race'? Other ideas gratefully received!

While out on the ride, my Roubaix's wobbly wheels - which I first noticed had been pummelled out of alignment by our disgraceful potholed roads, whilst out with Jason on the Taunton Circuit last weekend - became so out of alignment that I had to loosen the brakes off to almost their maximum; something which is usual to do only when removing them from the frame. This was not a good situation. They will have to be fixed before my next ride, I can put this off no longer. The dilemma is, how long will I be off the road and will my Crosstrail, sadly sitting in the garage with a puncture, have to be my steed for Thursday night's ride? I need another road bike!

Epilogue:  As I am a little tardy with this posting, I can add this epilogue to inform all that no new bike was required ..  not just yet anyway. On Wednesday morning, I phoned the local bike shop, Soanes, in Colyton and Jeff the mechanic was able to realign both front and rear wheels in quick time, such that I had them back on the bike later that afternoon! The poor Crosstrail will have to sit out another AVP evening ride, but I did buy it the gift of a new inner tube and I'll give it a bit of TLC over the weekend.