Found Another Coffee Shop

I've always thought the most perfect bike shops are those selling coffee, and the most perfect coffee shops are those selling bikes. Over the past year, I've now discovered four such establishments.

In Bristol during my sabbatical, I came across the Mud Dock Cycleworks & Cafe. This is probably the most substantial twinned shop I've found, with a Cafe which does far more than coffee and cake. In Portland, on my first 100 miler of the year, I lunched at Cycleccino, probably the smallest bike shop duo, with a very informal and somewhat amateurish but honest cafe. The third was Veloton Bicycle Shop, found in Tetbury. This is a small cafe fronted shop where the coffee seems to be secondary to the fashionable Italian bikes and clothing. I had to really want to try out the coffee to stop here, as the welcome was a little cool, as though the shop itself was just "too cool for school!".

The forth I found today, whilst out on an early morning ride with fellow AVPer, Kelly. This was the new Cycle Service cafe and bike shop, much closer to home, located in the grand old Sidmouth Post Office. Although there were plenty of bike stands outside, not carrying bike locks with us, we ventured inside wheeling our bikes just for a look. We received such a warm welcome and not being overly busy,  having received the offer to park up in side, we could hardly refuse staying for coffee and cake!

They have a lovely setup there and I can see it being a regular stopping point, certainly during the winter short rides on the way out of Seaton or after a longer ride on the way back. The interior has a good sized bike service area near the entrance and a back wall lined with Park Tools to die for. This is then surrounded with bikes and bits to buy. The cafe and tables are through the shop to the left, giving good vantage point to brows the wares from a distance. Adorning the wall at this end, there is a blackboard advertising rides and an array of cycling jerseys, naturally including a number from the local Sid Valley CC .. I wonder if they would consider adding an AVP jersey into the mix .. it would certainly make for a warm welcome to their nearest neighbouring club? .. I'll have to bring it up in conversation when next in, I'm sure I can find a spare jersey in my collection!

AVP Evening Ride - Taking it Easy

Thursday, provided great conditions for an evening ride, storm Barney had moved on and we had no rain as eight Pedallers mustered at the Kings Arms. Quiff, Andy and the Near Naked Man were in our numbers, so it was either going to be a quick one or we'd need to split ranks!

Handbag and Gillian headed back to join the 7:30 ride after the climb out of Axmouth and Recumbent, Manx guy and I decided to wave goodbye to the Near Naked Man, Andy and Quiff in Lyme Regis, as there was no way we were all going to stay together. The quick group climbed over and into Charmouth, Wooton Fitzpane and Coney's Castle, while us three took the more gentle climb through Uplyme and Yawl. Although not too steep, this Yawl climb is quite relentless and a good one for me to remember when wanting to work on my climbing stamina.

Once at the A35, at the summit of this Yawl hill climb out of Lyme, with time still on our hands, we decided on adding in a circuit of Axminster before heading back to Seaton via Kilmington. It was on exiting Axminster at the crossing of the A35 into Kilmington that we picked up another rider - a college student returning from Exeter in jeans, trainers, carrying a rucksack and no mudguards .. oh to be young again! We shepherded him back to Colyton following which Manx guy & I finished the ride back at the Kings Arms, joining 3 MTBers for quality beer, chips & chat ... my kind of ride!

Get That Chimp Off My Shoulder

Have you ever been out riding with your club and you think you're in for a quiet spin until unexpectedly the 'keen quick one' rolls up. I've spoken in the past  of how the dynamics of a ride can change dramatically depending on who you are out with and this Thursday's club ride was a typical example.

What frustrates me most, however, is how quick I am to convince myself that it's going to be tough and I'll never keep up, so why bother even trying. It's like that inner chimp of mine, just sitting there on my shoulder, chattering negativity into my ear! It's become a little comical to be honest but I do just hate getting dropped!

Get That Chimp Off My Shoulder

So, perhaps that's going to have to be my 2016 New Year's Resolution .. to get that chimp off my shoulder!

Tarmac Gets A French Compact Upgrade

I've been on holiday in Norfolk this week, not cycling but walking on this occasion. Norfolk is a great location for for doing both, its expansive never ending horizons provide for long days even in winter. This is because it is generally flat, devoid of the hills and hillocks I've become so familiar with on my cycling tours of Devon. In Norfolk, I could probably pedal forever. Here in Devon, my treasured Specialized Tarmac has been beaten on some hills, its semi pro 52/36 crank just simply runs out of steam on some of the more severe climbs. You may remember that in the summer, I chose to take my older Roubaix with its 50/34 compact chainring to climb Mont Ventoux. So, while I've not done any cycling this week, I have taken the opportunity to Devonise the Tarmac. Yes, I've upgraded the chainrings to the hill climbing 50/34 compact configuration.

This is a change I've been pondering for some months. I originally added the Tarmac to my stable to give me greater speed on the straights. My feeling being that the Roubaix was soaking up power through its gel suspension system and that the Tarmac's rigidity and better gear ratio would give me the increased speed I was seeking. In the stats below, the Tarmac (semi-pro) is shown above the Roubaix (compact). The left figure shows the gear ratio for the big ring / small socket - flat riding and right the small ring / big socket - climbing configuration ..

In moving to the compact chainring, I assessed - using a handy iPhone app - that over 10 miles, I'd be just 43 seconds slower and have to spin my legs an additional 65 rotations .. this assumed the impossible that I'd find a 10 mile level piece of road and was physically able to maintain 90 rotations a minute and a speed of 33 miles per hour! This settled it, until I move to Norfolk, being able to actually make it to the top of hills was going to be more important than any 'marginal gains' over the non existent flats! 

The next job, was tracking down the parts and fitting them. I had some really good advice from Chain Reaction, Wiggle and a new find, Tweeks Cycles. Both Wiggle and Tweeks recommended a French manufacturer's chainrings, TA Zephyr. Chain Reaction and Tweeks provided the most useful advice, so I sourced the rings from Tweeks and the tools from Chain Reaction, it seemed only fair .. particularly as Wiggle get most of my other business.

Fitting them was surprisingly easy. The 5 screws came free after initially breaking them free and then it was just a simple case of swapping one for the other. I think the new black TA Zephyrs look much smarter than the standard FSA fittings, and perhaps even a little lighter - may be I will find 'marginal gains' after all!

I was not sure if I would need to shorten the chain. The forums did not seem to agree on this. My plan was to compare chain lengths with my Roubaix, now of the same configuration, but could not believe it when they were an identical 54 links! I found, however, that the chain clunked a little when leaving it unchanged, so removed a link and found it to run much smoother. This was most odd, considering the bikes are the same size. The other change was to the height of the front derailer. This was, however, another inexact science. I think the final position chosen is OK as in the test ride gear changing was smooth enough, naturally time will tell!

I'm now hoping for a dry weekend sometime soon to take it on a hillclimb test .. may be even another trip to Mont Ventoux in the summer?!

Firmly Back in the Saddle

Yes, Thursday has come around quick and it is lucky that I did break the curse of the reluctant cyclist last week, as with the clocks going back on Sunday even my afternoon tea breaks are now taken in the dark. Building the motivation to cycle out in what one can only consider to be the middle of the night is taking some effort!

Feeling like that French tyre manufacturer's advertising fella, I waddled in goat feet to the road wheeling my trusty Roubaix, rear wheel still complete with its mighty dent which has the effect of blurring the transition between smooth and bumpy road surfaces. Arriving at the Kings Arms, I team up with 8 other Pedallers. It is always interesting to see who is going to be out, as rarely are there the same faces. Tonight we are joined by Glenn, Airfix and Andy but have lost Steve, Peter and Derek. The faces also determine the style of ride. If Clive had arrived, he would have joined up with Glenn for a sprint ride and I would have to make the decision to join them or stay with the slower ride. Had my old friend Andy turned up, he too would have joined the speedsters and the decision would have been made, the slow ride would be the only way I would live to see another day!

As it was, these 9 riders who had found this dry gap in the weather were happy to stick together and temper the speed for another day. The route we took was hatched by Barry following last week's ride, over an apres cycling beer. The first 11 miles took us up a steady climb, through Colyton, Shute, across the A35 and along the full length of Stockland straight turning west just before meeting the A30. The second half of the route should have been all down hill, had, Glenn, Airfix, Gillian & I not been deep in conversation so as to totally miss the Golf Club turning (Note: this is the third time I've done this!). As it was, the four of us, with Tigger & Relay forced to follow in our wake (although wondering where on earth we were going), descended almost to the bottom of Northcote Hill before realising Honiton was not our intended destination! All six of us then had the unplanned additional hike back up Northcote Hill to rejoin Barry & Andy who fortunately had bumped into Kelly, out on a later solo ride, and so was delayed talking else we'd probably not have seen them again that night!

Our return to Seaton was a mirror of last week’s ride, with a quick blast across Farway Common and back along the A3052. This did wonders in bringing up our overall average speed from 12 - 14 mph, a much more respectable figure. It was a great route, although may be a little testing on the long straights - I'm going to have get some turbo training in - and the views were apparently stunning, so we're going to have to repeat it again in the summer when we can see them! I wonder where next week will take us ..

And the stats: 29 miles covered in 2hr 3 min an average of 14 mph 1,737 ft of ascent, and the route ..

Motivation Needed

After returning to work, following my 3 month sabbatical, I am certainly feeling less than motivated to get out on the bike. The temperature has dropped, the nights start before I down tools and the layers of kit now required feels heavy and restrictive. Having missed a series of Thursday night rides because of business commitments, I could very well decide to just take the winter off and hibernate until Spring!

I coincidentally bumped into Jolly, my club cycling buddy who guided me through my first chain and cassette change earlier in the year. He was leaving the Broom Wagon as I arrived for my long very black caffeine fix. He too had missed a number of rides and we empathised over the arrival of winter. A pact was made, however, that if both agreed to go, we'd attend this week's evening ride.

The day, Thursday 22 October arrived and reluctantly I suited up and rolled down to the Kings Arms where I joined 8 Pedallers in the dark under a silvery moon: Barry, Derek, Gillian, Handbag, Peter, Relay, Steve, and Tigger.  No Jolly! But the good news was that ‘routemaster' Tigger was back. We'd been lacking a ride leader of late and even I, one who has the route sense of a lemming has had the dubious honour of stepping in. So this was great news for me. The route Tigger crafted took us over the new Stop Line Way Cycle Path, too dark unfortunately to see the river bridge, such that I did not even notice we’d crossed it! There was then the ubiquitous climb which today took the road up from Colyford, through Shute Vale, briefly across the A35, and then the down hill return to Seaton via Wilmington, Offwell and Farway Common.

Handbag & Gillian peeled off after Colyton to join the 7:30 ride, leaving the the remaining seven to continue the climb. Some of the back roads to the A35 hardly deserve to be named as such, with central grass patches and broken tarmac. It is becoming a real challenge these days to find traffic free routes with quality surfaces. The Roubaix, however, nimbly traversed the moonscape, with its gel suspension and newly shod winter tyres; its dented and squared off rear rim, however, does now need some attention; I’m sure I was feeling bumps where there were none!

After the slow and steady climb, we then had the joy of that gradual descent over the swift and smooth surface that spans the 10 miles from Honiton golf club to Seaton. Barry, Peter, Steve and I (now christened Tacho, something about being the single true source of ride telemetry!) took up point, performing a pro style chain gang that even a hooting car could not upset. An array of wildlife was also out and about. A luminescent barn owl crossed between us as we made our way to the common and a pack of baying hounds was released as we paused too long at the Northcote Hill junction of the A35, although fortunately the owner’s perimeter fence was sufficient to keep them tethered.

So, after a little early trepidation, a very enjoyable ride was had and to top it all were back at the King’s Arms for the strike of 9:00 to join the MTB and 7:30 riders in a round of drinks, chips and chat, the perfect way to end a day in the office and may be my motivation restored!

Oh yes, and the stats .. 23 miles covered in 1hr 46 min an average of 13.3 mph 1,644 ft of ascent, and the route ..

End of My Sabbatical

If you workers out there ever get the opportunity to take an extended time away from the office, just do it! Back in July, after 25 years with my employer, I embarked on a 3 month sabbatical. The word sabbatical comes from Latin: sabbaticus, from Greek: sabbatikos (σαββατικός), from Hebrew: shabbat (שבת) (i.e., Sabbath), literally meaning a "ceasing". Sabbatical is mentioned in the Bible, Leviticus 25, when God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, instructing that in the seventh year he should let his land have a year of sabbath rest. Thus, I probably waited a little long and took too short a time! Either way, I had a terrific rest and completed the majority of those things I set out to do, those things that work just gets in the way of. My final act, and it had to be this, didn't it, was to go for a long cycle ride with my friend and favorite Broom Waggon coffee shop proprietor, Glenn .. also known as the Near Naked Man.

Glenn shut up shop to ride with me, on this last day of freedom, what a way to end my sabbatical!

Glenn shuts up shop to ride with me

The weather was fantastic, more like summer and it turned out to be not only the last day of my sabbatical, but also the last day of wearing shorts and t-shirt!

Our destination was Bridport where we refuelled at the amazing Soulshine cafe. 

Thank's Glenn, much more that I can say about this ride, it had the weather, company, great food & coffee and terrific route .. cycling at it's best. Back to work next week :-(