Rame Ride
I hope I never take flexi time for granted, this particular afternoon away from the office wasn't my idea, but that of Chris who felt it was about time we got some quality men-in-lycra-time together. I countered his suggestion of Dartmoor with the Rame peninsular for two reasons: first that it's a really nice place to ride and second that parts of his route have been surfaced dressed recently, the cyclists worst road surface.
And third, we can use the Torpoint ferry for free.
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| View from the ferry |
Sadly the day picked from our work calendars turned out to be more than a bit windy with a stiff Easterly blowing and for a minute I did wonder if we should. But a quick read of the Rules, particularly
rule 5 and the decision was made for us, harden up. Ride time.
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| Cremyll, saddle wedged into railing to stop Ruby blowing over. |
Met up in the office car park, Strava started then a wind assisted ride through the traffic to the ferry. Not sure why but every car I drafted on the way there was a Jag. At least with the wind behind us keeping up with, then overtaking cars was easy, until Milehouse hill.
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| Cawsand, windier than this looks. |
Join the back of the moving ferry queue with almost perfect timing, a minimal wait before being waved forward and wonder how much the slow ferry would drop our average speed. Then banish that thought, not all rides are Strava challenges.
Manage to get ahead of the busses leaving the ferry as they stopped and as a result get a traffic free climb through Torpoint, always a good thing and easier for everyone, me and the decreasing minority of impatient drivers. Then enjoy the tailwind to Anthony before getting to the significant climb to the top of the hill and the burger van, we resisted the temptation to stop.
Headwind into Millbrook, as aero a position on the bike as possible then enjoy the drop at the end, slow through the village and then turn left to take the road alongside the lake, new for the other Chris and a nice flat break from the undulations to get there. Left at the end of the road for the pointless descent to Cremyll, take a photo and then enjoy the climb. Wind assisted in places, Strava PB when I got home. But not all rides are Strava challenges...
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| From the Cliff Top Cafe |
Up and then down into Kingsand, check the sea state and feel the salt in the air, pick our way past out of season visitors to Cawsand, check the sea there and I'm glad not paddling. Then climb up away from the village towards the cliffs above Whitsand Bay. As the road meanders we get some assistance as we head towards our coffee stop at the Cliff Top Cafe.
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| Man, machines and coffee. |
No problem finding a seat on a mid-week September day and enjoy a good cappuccino courtesy of Chris, this way he'll need to ride with me again soon before I forget it's my round.
Then head back via Anthony into the wind, bit and bit taking turns at the front on the main road as it's relatively quiet, for a little while we probably look like we know what we're doing, holding position an inch from Chris' back wheel cheating the wind back to the ferry.
One ride, 67 Strava achievements.
