I met up with Andrew at hard to please house in Alysham and put him in charge of route selection. It looked like a straightforward trip so we set off while discussing matters of the day.
After a few miles I went over a pothole and was disturbed by a loud crack. I immediately slowed down and looked at the usual suspects on the bike. The tyres were in one piece, no spokes had gone, the chain was still in place etc so I thought no more of it as we continued on our way.
When we arrived at the Cliff top cafe I got in traditional cafe pose for the cafe snap. As I stood there with my handle resting artistically on the saddle I noticed that it was wobbling and on closer inspection realised the loud crack from earlier had been the seat post partially snapping.
Outside Cliff top cafe when I first realised problem with my seat post |
Examining the pole damage |
View of sea from outdoor seating area |
Good cake selection |
Cakes and drinks |
As Andrew had had a disappointing guest hot drink experience he suggested we make a short detour to Holt so he could go to his favourite hot drink provider, The Black Apollo. It is also one of my favourites too so I didn't take much persuasion.
Once on the hill out of Overstrand it was clear that all was not well in the saddle post department as it started to bend backwards with my saddlebag scraping against the wheel. I had an image of it suddenly snapping in half causing me a potential serious cycling injury so we stopped to investigate further.
As I picked the bike up to lean it against the hedge the seat post snapped leaving half of the pole stuck down the tube and the saddle half in my hand.
Cycle post in more than one piece |
Fortunately I'm a regular follower of cycling guest cycling top tip no 63 and so with a bit of a wiggle managed to free the broken half from the frame as this could have been a real problem if it had got stuck. I then put back in the half with the saddle on which meant my saddle was now a few inches lower than normal but I could safely cycle it again.
Repaired bike with low saddle |
The black Apollo in Holt |
Cakes plus empty cups as we had already enjoyed our excellent drinks |
There was no more drama on the rest of the ride but I will urgently need to find a new seatpost before my next planned ride in a couple of days time to save my knees and back from any permanent 'low saddle' damage.
Scores for Cliff Top Cafe
Guest Hot Drink Quality
|
Effective Cake Selection
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Cake Quality
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Ambiance and Atmosphere
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Café Rating
|
|
6.5
|
5
|
6.2
|
6
|
8
|
6.34
|
Click here to download 41 mile Alysham Overstrand Holt loop GPX file to your gps
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