Sunday Ride 23th December 2011

[ValleyMan]

Meet at 0900 at Bloomfield and take advantage of the break in the ‘seasonal’ weather.

[Sweaty Eds]

Great Coffees I have had

1. Cultural – Cafe Grande in Piazza della Signoria, Florence following a trip to the Uffizi gallery and immediately before a stroll over the Ponte Vecchio and up to see Michaelangelo’s David in Academia Gallery in the hills overlooking Tuscany.

2. Sporting – an Americano opposite the finish line of the Tour of Britain stage to Caerphilly watching the ITV4 commentator, Olympic medalist Rob Hayles, interview Sky star of the future and new race leader, John Teirnan-Locke, before cycling up the mountain that the peloton had just climbed.

3. Personal Achievement – a Cappuccino after climbing and then descending Snowdon with Ruth. Bit of a grey old day, took over 2 hours to get to the top but then the Sun came out for 20 minutes at the summit. Glorious! Excrutiating descent into the fog and myre, knees killing, getting dark but a great feeling when we were sitting in the cafe with hot drinks.

One that didn’t make my top three

Out on very enjoyable ride with friends looking forward to cafe stop in top Amroth cafe with most excellent view or very agreeable garden centre in Tavernspite. Veer off beaten track into Deliverance country. See three shire horses approach advance party of cafe hunting cyclists, feel bum twitch slightly when I realised that they were not horses but massive bastard alsatians and that I was going to have to go past them next. Survive alsatians and approach next challenge, the impossibly slippy decking of the Port-a-Kafe.

When I was a boy I remember there were an awful lot of public information films on TV. My favourite ones featured a boy and his cat, Charlie. Charlie was terrifically mature for a cat his age and was full of good advice on a range of subjects such as talking to strangers, crossing the road and mange. Anyway, there was also a public information film about some numpty who polished the floor before her son, daughter in law and new grandchild arrived home from the maternity ward. Unfortunately, she then put a rug on the polished floor. ‘You might as well set a mantrap’. Obviously, tragedy ensued. Anyway, the Port-a-Kafe owners must’ve never seen that film because the deck was as slippery as a very slippy thing in Slippy Town. Not easy to negotiate in climbing crampons, very tricky in cleats. We are all going to enter ‘Dancing on Ice’ next year.

Coffees came and went in my Nan’s old china, conversation swung between routes from here avoiding/including sheer ascents to French kissing Italian attack dogs. Soon enough it was time to leave, ever to return….?

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