Ye Olde Jinney Ring Route

Opened the curtains this morning to see okish but not sunny weather, got ready for a departure at 10am to find it was lightly raining so sat about in cycling kit for half an hour... looked out again and rain had stopped! Thought I was going to resort to the gym for a second!

As the forcast said light rain at 2pm I decided on a shortish 35 mile ride on Ye old Jinney Ring route I used to take regularly as has a nice mini mix of undulations.  

Test of new rear wheel a success (I can throw the big box it came in away now!)

Old chain and cassette on for now, currently have my eye on a replacement chainset on ebay, or might just buy new chain rings... we'll see...

The old chain and cassette have plenty of life in them yet so not too urgent to replace.

No cake stop today boooo!!!
I did stop to spend a penny at The Jinney Ring and made a mental note to visit the chocolate shop there next time as have never been inside 😮

Had a few showers while out but nothing to bother me, rained quite a bit after I got back ha!

Today's Fuel:
Porridge, Weetabix & Honey combo (pre ride brekkie)

3 Fig Rolls
1 Litre water and Sis Go Electrolite mix.
Egg and brown sauce recovery toasty upon my successful return (Hurrah!)

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 27, 2017 at 7:00am PDT

Charlecote Garden Centre

Solo ride out to Charlecote Garden Centre Cafe today, weather was dry and bright.

Was originally considering a hill fest route (Arley) but after checking my wheels I discovered the wear mark on my rear wheel rim had disappeared so figured a more flat route was in order plus if the rim does blow I would be close to the train stations all the way back.

Another test of the new chain and cassette also revealed the small 30 tooth chain ring on my chainset is wearing out, had a slight grinding noise whenever I put pressure on. Had originally thought it was just the derailleur rubbing but after adjustments en route I soon discovered nothing was rubbing against the chain at all. (testing old chain against new chain a few days later revealed the culprit)

Arrived at Charlecote to find they had moved the cafe outside table and chairs from the rear of the building to the side, much nicer setting sitting with plants etc however I observed there isn't much room to lean bikes if there are a few riders. As I was the only rider there and the only person sitting outside I was ok. Cans still put bikes at the back of cafe but would be out of sight.

All in all a very pleasant ride out, 62 miles covered.

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 23, 2017 at 4:32am PDT

Moved seating area

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Oaks Farm Shop

Today was the inaugural visit to the cafe at Oaks Farm Shop (www.oakesfarmshop.co.uk)

The weather remained nice enough and a fairly flat route, covered 46 miles altogether.

The cafe is nice in itself and as the sun shone upon our arrival we decided to sit outside, I had an awesome white chocolate and raspberry flapjack. Bob and Paul however had a slice of cake each... unfortunately the slices were measly, such as shame as they reported it being very nice cake.

Had a quick looky about the farm shop as we were walking through and very pleasent indeed.

Test of new chain and cassette (bigger cog than usual cassette) a success however there appears to be slight rubbing noise when on the small chainring, suspect front derailleur needs slight adjustment.

Also had an ice cream stop at Earlswood on the way back 'coz we are tarts! 😜

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 20, 2017 at 8:21am PDT

Cycles for Chocolate!

Was on a mission today for suprise Easter choccy treats for my sister and her fella.

So I went to Henley Chocolate at the Yew Tree Farm for some tasty treats, I did an extended version of Ye Olde Yew Tree Route and covered 43.6 miles.

No tea and cake stop today as was riding solo, the sky was a little dull to start with but brightened up as I went along, ended up with blue skies but no sunshine, temp of around 12 degrees which was just about right for the kit I was wearing - no complaints from me.

Lovely trip out and about and mission completed! 😳

Today's Fuel:
Special K, oats & golden syrup combo (pre ride brekkie)
1ltr SIS energy drink
4 Fig rolls
1 banana on tour

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 13, 2017 at 6:44am PDT

2 x Fudge Brownie, 1 Raspberry Crumble, and 1 Madagascar Dark.

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Poor, tiny signage which is easy to miss - shoot the designer! (and no it isn't me!)

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A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 13, 2017 at 5:36am PDT

Ha! The banana is back!

Hilliers Cafe and Hayfever Season

The first t-shirt & shorts day of the year yippee!
A forcast of 19 degrees and it wasn't wrong! However, it was a one off and the following day returned to a cooler 11-12 degrees...

Myself, Bob, Paul & Tim embarked on a 60 mile tour with a tea and cake stop at Hilliers Garden Centre Cafe and an ice cream stop at Anglo Welsh Marina.

Stopped at Hilliers cafe at mile 35ish but alas, they had no tables and chairs out... we looked inside to find, (shock horror!) all tables taken or reserved... so ordered our tea and cake and decided to sit on the grass under a tree picnic styleeee. 😀

Personally I had the Dundee cake, a full 10/10, I also had a look round the sizable farm shop and was suitably impressed.

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 9, 2017 at 6:06am PDT

Unfortunately usually I suffer a little hayfever for a few weeks at the start of 'hayfever season' (tree pollen is rampant currently) and as the sun was at it's hazy hottest in the afternoon the pollen was pungent - I soon found myself quickly getting affected whilst cycling back and ended up shooting off home on my own, a hayfever tab saved me but by the time it kicked it I was way past the designated ice cream stop... no ice cream for me booo!!

A nice ride out hampered by the funny ride back, 60 miles covered!

Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats and Honey combo (Pre ride brekkie)
SIS Go bar
Dundee cake
Brown cheese & pickle bap
1 Litre SIS energy drink
1 banana
2 gels

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 9, 2017 at 3:11am PDT

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 9, 2017 at 3:11am PDT

Churchfield's Thursday

Today was the first ride this year to Churchfield's Farm Cafe near Worcester, A 50 mile round trip with the ascent of  Forhill at the end.

The forcast showed dull black clouds and a high of 11 degrees however when I opened the curtains at 8am it was blue skies and sunny - BBC got it wrong yet again! So wrong it was infact a fantastic sunny day with a high of around 20 degrees yippee!

Met up with Bob and set off from McD's at the usual time of 10am.
Cake of the day was choccy fudge cake, we contemplated having ice cream from Churcfield's too but decided we would top up our fuel tanks with ice cream at Marina on the way back, it nice to see the freezer freshly restocked for the summer ahead. My choice was a Double Raspberry Magnum, hadn't had that flavour before which turned out to be an excellent choice although I noted it is smaller in size compared to the Classic Magnum Bob had booo!

Notable Moments:
Waiting with phone camera poised for 10 minutes on a railway bridge in an attempt to capture a train because Bob thought the level crossing in the distance had closed it's barriers... it hadn't (d'oh)
The sea of yellow appearing in the fields around us, how lovely :)

Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats and Golden Syrup brekkie (Pre Ride)
Decathlon nougat bar
Wiggle blackcurrant energy gel
Sis Blueberry Go Bar
Banana
Sis Go Electrolyte water mix (750ml)
Choccy fudge cake
Double Raspberry Magnum

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 6, 2017 at 6:50am PDT

A post shared by TheKay (@thekay666) on Apr 6, 2017 at 6:52am PDT

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