Day 326 - For Once A Dry & Puncture Free Ride

For once a dry and puncture free ride awaited our 11 cyclists who braved this evening's AVP road ride. The circuit was a brisk 20 miles out to the mast on Stockland Hill and back, via Shute, Wilmington, Dalwood, Kilmington and Musbury.

Regrouping at the A35

Waiting to cross the A35

1200 ft of climb, average speed of 12.5 mph and 30 mph descents, most noticeably down Ham Road from Worham's Lane at the top of Stockland Hill - for those interested in stats - meant for a highly enjoyable workout. The beer and chips back at the Kings Arms were also good!

The Ride profile .. that did seem a long climb too!

As for the route art .. back by popular demand, I am thinking a bunny on a pogo stick!

Day 312 - Cheesy Chips Were Never So Good

While Luke Rowe and the Sky team enjoy riding in 40 degrees down under, 8 AVP riders braved a clear starry winter's night on the weekly Thursday evening ride through the blacked out Devon lanes. Tonight, Tigger led us - Handbag, Jolly, Andy, Rex, Richard, Killen and me - out to Axmouth and up Combe Road to Rousdon. We bypassed Stepps Lane, on this occasion and also avoided the school which, following an altercation with a disgruntled resident during last Friday's AVP ride, thought it best to give it a wide berth.

Richard's Boardman punctured

With no more than 5 miles covered, Richard's Boardman punctured. Two inner tubes later and with a hand from from Handbag, who is always in the thick of it with either a tube or pump to loan or bandaid to affix, we were back on the road making swift progress towards Axminster. I was having a tough time keeping up with the chain gang on my Crosstrail, my legs spinning rapidly but seemingly making little gains on the twinkling red lights of the riders ahead. I should have brought my Roubaix.

Sticking to the roads, pleasingly keeping clear of the cycle paths which cruelly punctured me when I was last out this way, and it being an away night, we returned to Colyford via Kilmington and Musbury having covered a good 18 miles.

Apres Ride Beer & Cheesy Chips

The pace was a quick for our standard evening ride, clocking an average of 13 mph, which meant that even with the stop we were back in the warm well before the mountain bikers and in good time to get in a pint and a chat before the very welcomed cheesy chips were served. I'm going to need a thicker winter jersey, it's getting cold out there, Bar Bunny please get the order in.

Day 284 - AVP Evening Drenching

Tonight, Tigger led Chris, CJnr, Rex, Richard, Kilian, Gillain and me on a night ride out to Wilmington and back. We were relishing the opportunity for a ride in the dry, last Thursday's rain having reduced the group to only two riders and further damp weather expected over the weekend.

As we crossed the A35 towards Shute, I commented on how it felt like we were doing the 100 miler in reverse, little did we know then, that just as on September's eventful ride, the second half of tonight's circuit would mirror the 100 miler's return drenching.

Wearing glasses in the rain has always an unpleasant experience, travelling down hill, at speed, in the dark over potholed asphalt is doubly unpleasant and possibly not the safest or most comfortable way to spend the evening. This was, however, how I spent the last 9 miles of our evening ride. With the strength of the wind and rain ever increasing as we rode, our pace built and the usual social stops became less frequent, resulting in me even achieving 2 PBs and a top 10 position on 3 Strava segments!

We were back in Seaton for around 8:30 pm .. an hour earlier than usual and no pub stop tonight as none of us felt like sitting around in damp kit. Hopefully next week will be dry as we have a Christmas lights ride spectacular planned .. looking forward to that! (No pictures this week .. was not carrying waterproof camera).

Day 249 - A Night of Hills

Another evening ride with the AVP tonight saw 14 hardy souls head out of Seaton in the direction of Lyme Regis .. oh yes, this was going to be a night of hills!

Taking Chapter Street out of Axmouth we took the relatively gentle climb up to Dowlands, avoiding on this occasion Stepps Hill, a notoriously steep climb which Andy and I had taken when previously out this way and one which I was in no rush to repeat this early in the ride. Maybe we'll return and use it in our training for next year's Dartmoor Classic but that's a little way off yet.

Taking a breather - glad we'd not taken the Stepps

From Dowlands we proceeded to Rousdon and into Lyme along a side route I'd never taken before. This was Roman Road, a steep decent and apparently a favourite rat run for many before the town planners put a stop to this with strategically placed giant concrete blocks, similar to dragon teeth installed generations before to halt invading tanks. While these provided the decent with challenging chicanes, it was a hidden curb which halted my forward momentum, forcing me to make an unceremonious and hasty exit from the saddle! Luckily, while Handbag was on hand with his first aid kit, this was this week not required. All that was hurt was my pride and a minor battle scar for the bike.

Chris stikes a pose!

We climbed out of Lyme Regis up the 3052 and unconventionally crossed the A35 roundabout for a pleasant roll down through Charmouth and on to Wooton Fitzpaine. It was from here that we started to climb again, ending with a thigh busting 12% assent along the Fitzpaine to Crewkerne Road Strava Section .. which don't tell Andy, but along which I somehow beat him by 20 seconds!

Handbag was on hand with his first aid kit

After a quick dogleg crossing of the A35 we were on the home run along Trinity Hill Road back to Rousdon, Axmouth and into Seaton for 9:30 pm. A late finish and no apres beer and chips for me, I think the hills got the better of us today but would love to do this again come summer, as I am sure in daylight the views would be spectacular!

Stats: 24.7 mi, 2hr 19m, Avg 10.6 mph, Max 30.3 mph, 1417 kcal

Day 220 - APV Night Rider

A night ride with 16 good friends of the AVP is a particularly special occasion. I have surprised myself, having very much dismissed such an activity when it was suggested towards the end of summer, in really enjoying the experience!

We headed out as the sun set, through Colyton towards Offwell. This 3 mile climb out of Colyton is a steep one and it was not long before the group split with Ed racing ahead on his new racer. Having left his pannier clad, flag waving tourer at home, Ed was feeling the benefit of lightened aluminium frame and carbon forks, just as I did a few months back after first riding out on my Roubaix; a euphoric feeling!

10 miles in, just before we hit the junction with the A35, we punctured. I say 'we' as it is a very communal affair when any one of us suffers this unavoidable cycling event. The manufacturer who develops a truly puncture proof tyre will be a hero indeed, but just as with our oil companies who may know the secret of renewable energy, inner tube producers would never equally pursue such a profit destroying innovation!

While the experienced puncture fixers set to work on the tyre, with the efficiency of a Ferrari pit crew, the rest of us huddled like Emperor Penguins in an attempt to protect ourselves from the now plummeting temperatures, quite a change from the warm evening we enjoyed last week. 

What else is there to do, standing in the dark watching a tyre being changed under the power of a several thousand lumens, other than to record the event for posterity on our camera phones!

Inner tube replaced and back on the road, we headed south along the fast straight road that leads through the common, past Farway and towards Seaton. Andy lead out a three rider 'chain gang' with Ed and Chris. I attempted to get on the back wheel but after getting knocked back by the jet wash of a passing lorry, I could not generate sufficient speed out of the natural shelter from the wind that a close riding team provides. As much as I pounded on my Crosstrail's open peddles the three slowly pulled away until the pulsating red glow from their rear lights disappeared into the blackness ahead. In the distance behind me I could see the pin prick white lights of main peloton and I had visions of the many scenes shot over the summer of the grand tour cycling events, where the breakaway rider gets gradually pulled back into the main body of cyclists unable to maintain sufficient speed to stay out ahead alone. After a couple of miles the inevitable happened, the group happily reformed around me, it is surprisingly lonely to cycling alone in the dark.

On joining the main road from Sidmouth to Seaton we caught up with the breakaway three. Reforming as we started, our group of 17 riders continued on the final 3 mile into Seaton and while a couple peeled off on their homeward journeys the majority of us climbed Tower Hill to then experience the thrill of the steep 40 mph drop down into Colyford and the draw of the apres cycling beer and chips at the White Hart .. what a way to end a fabulous night's ride! Looking forward to next week already, oh yes and the 40 miler on Sunday, weather permitting.

Stats: 23.02 mi, 1hr 45m, Avg 13.1 mph, Max 37.5 mph, 1,306 kcal

Day 213 - AVP Night Ride

This was my first night ride, not just with the AVP but since time began! Having purchased my awesome set of Beema AS-2000 front lights last weekend, this was the test of tests for them. Back on my winterised Specialized Crosstrail hybrid, we headed out at 6:30ish pm towards Beer, just as the sun was setting ahead of us.

As one of our number was riding on wheels fixed with security locks for which he had neglected to bring the key, not the best position to be in should he puncture, the objective of our ride was not to stray more than a few miles from our starting point, but still to complete a 20 mile circuit. Luckily, we have  many small villages and interlocking lanes around us which meant that this challenge was easily achieved.

By the time we'd reached our first pause, after climbing Quarry Lane, it was officially dark and the 'magnificent' 7 riders lit up the Devon country roads as we snaked our way down narrow lanes through Colyton, Shute, Kilmington, Whitford and Musbury. Tonight was an 'away night', which meant that rather than returning to our Kings Arms base in Seaton, those wanting an apres cycling beer and chips would rendezvous with our fellow mountain bikers at the the White Heart, Colyford. I, however, with an annual medical checkup scheduled for early in the morning, had unfortunately to forego the welcomed carbs and return to Seaton. The smells emitting from the Chinese restaurant, curry houses and chip shops was tormenting!

Having driven this route many hundreds of occasions before, the final ride into Seaton, along the estuary was somehow different from any other. In the darkness, the lights from the town reflecting in the river was wonderfully atmospheric. I was also surprised as to how the whole evening ride had been equally atmospheric and how glad I was that I made my weekend light purchase! I'm now looking forward to next Thursday's ride and hope the weather stays kind to us pedallers.

Route art this evening: a seated rabbit at the alert!

Stats: 19.42 mi, 1hr 34m, Avg 12.3 mph, Max 30.8 mph, 1,122 kcal