30 March 2025 : I've set up this Blogspot account to post photographs instead of using Instagram - for a whole host of reasons! All of the Instagram content has been transferred and it's unlikely that I'll return to that platform.
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One of my bike-servicing customers brought his bike in today - I've seen perished tyres before but this one takes the biscuit, remarkably the tube is up to pressure.
Two new tyres have been ordered - along with brake blocks that were close to the metal.
Back from the tour - usual fun, food, beer and wine with a group of, this year, 7 friends - a few random photographs:
A typical route, in the forest near Chambord.
The "mural" is a trompe l'oeil staircase in Blois.
Chenonceau - one of the "top five chateaux" - we also saw Chambord and Azay-le-Rideau - and stayed in hotels at Cheverny & Villandry.
The Apothecary at Azay.
The obligatory stop at the Pegasus Bridge cafe on the way to the ferry home - coffee rather than beer this time as I was driving.
. . . and five of the group l-r : Linda, Mike, Richard, Jenni & Keith (Clive and Joan had departed for their extended holiday) - I took the picture from my hotel room balcony at Villandry.
Off to LA for 2026 . . . . . . Loire Again* - eight of us from the usual gang leaving at the end of May for 12 days of cycling, food, wine and good fun.
Ferry from Portsmouth and then 3 different hotel locations in the Loire Valley with ~50 mile day cycle rides taking in the odd chateau and few other sights.
How it started . . early 2005 – discussion with Bernadette Halton from Macmillan Cancer Support: "Why don’t we run a charity cycle ride at Stratford-upon-Avon? . . . BUT - if we can’t raise £5,000 it’s not worth doing"
October 2005 - the first event starting at Stratford-upon-Avon High School, 25 mile and 50 mile routes. 180 entries, £14,000 raised (net of costs) - so we carried on! In 2007 we moved the start to the Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway Station "Park & Ride" site to allow the expansion of rider numbers.
From 2006-2016 the MacRide evolved into 3 different styles of event each year, plus a few special events in partnership with some commercial businesses - all raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support..
Getting the riders underway - the biggest event day (September 2013) saw 1,300 riders across 2 events.
Statistics: 35 events in 11 years - Over 6,500 rider participants - More than 550,000 miles cycled - Over 2,000 MacRide cycling jerseys sold - £800,000+ (net) raised for Macmillan Cancer Support
No, I didn't ride but I was a volunteer safety marshal out on the course today.
At a junction on the Fosse Way near Leamington - just had to wave the flag and blow my whistle to warn about the traffic lights and bollards and for riders and/or team cars to pass to either side.
A four-rider breakaway about 3 minutes in front and then the remainder of the riders spread along about 150 metres - that was it! Handed my hi-viz jacket and flag to the broom wagon and drove home.
I have worn a traditional cotton cycling cap under my helmet since about 2002 (with the peak turned up, obviously) - keeping my head warm in winter, and soaking up sweat in the summer.
Over the years I think I've had four helmets and have just moved to the third new cap. All have been SAECO branded, an Italian coffee machine manufacturer that has sponsored various pro cycling teams.
The three caps with the obvious signs of wear from oldest to the new one.
On the recent cycling trip to France we crossed from Portsmouth to St Malo on the new hybrid-electric powered Brittany Ferries ship - I was greeted by the Captain as I was on my way to the restaurant.
. . . and the group enjoying an excellent dinner on board.
. . . breakfast the following morning at the cafe in St Malo that we've frequented several times (Warning: don't fall for the freshly squeezed orange juice up-sell at 8 Euros!)
UPDATE
A second curtain at right angles and the area up to the ceiling boxed in (with scrap pallet wood).
Now that I have just two bikes storage is somewhat simpler - hanging up on a rack behind the LH garage door that is never opened. The box on the wall houses the e-bike motor, spare battery and charger.
The workshop environment gets a bit dusty with my woodworking so re-cycling a curtain creates some protection.
The yellow arrow is a Tour de France "souvenir" from 2003!
Cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End - 20 years ago this week.
I did ride again, the other way, from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2010 - arriving at JOG on 21 June when we were so far north there was almost no overnight darkness.
I had also ridden the length of France from Calais to Montpellier in 2008.
If you've been following the blog, the shoes I'm wearing are the the pair that fell apart at the end of the Seine a Velo ride in June 2024!
Ten days in Brittany and the Sarthe - 3 different hotels with day rides.
The group of 8 setting off on the first morning to Carnac and the standing stones, via La Trinite s/Mer.
l-r : Joan, Clive, me, Jenni, John, Keith, Mike, Linda
My "tour plaque" now displayed on the wall above my desk (with my brothers and my racing Land Rover)
The 2025 cycling club tour
10 days in Brittany & Normandy with 6 friends - ferry to St Malo tonight, 4, 4 & 2 nights in hotels at 3 different locations - ferry home from Caen to Portsmouth overnight on 19 June 2025.
This magnificent chap, goes by the name Norman, was parading around at today's cafe stop at Island Meadow (Great Alne, near Alcester) - the place has a whole menagerie of birds with chickens, geese, ducks and a few swans wandering around.
Toured the Brooks Saddles factory at Smethwick today - third time (previously 2010 & 2013) but still fascinating. The factory is a classic of the British manufacturing industry employing age-old techniques, but with a few modern innovations - producing bicycle saddles for over a century.
Most of the saddles are made with leather in various styles, shapes and designs on a metal frame (steel or titanium) - they've been a cyclist favourite forever! Prices (RRP) start from around £110 and go up to £200+
All three of my bikes sport Brooks saddles, two in black an one in brown.
I went to the PlanetX factory when I bought the bike, and along with a small group of other customers built the bike myself from a pile of components - great fun and something different, with a small discount.
Sorry to see it go but it was time - and I did get a good price for it.
25 March 2025
I keep a stock of about a dozen of each type of gear & brake cable for my modest bicycle servicing and repair micro-business.
Fed up with grappling with cables I devised a simple storage solution with some wooden dowels and plastic waste pipe (there is another length of pipe lower down for the cables to go through)
Works a treat with instant stock level control and access!
9 August 2024
My room and bathroom at the hotel in Jumieges on our la Seine a Velo trip - the room was called "Fez"
I think "interesting" is probably the word I would use, verging on awful!
Not just one pair of cycling shoes wearing out, but both at the same time! - both having covered many thousands of miles.
- touring shoes have lasted from 2002
- road shoes from about 20115 July 2024
