The Celtic Trail Day 1. (Newport to Swansea)

The Celtic Trail Day 1
Bradleys Coffee shop Aberdare

Open Tue-Sat 8-6, Sun 10-4
Cafe Espresso, Neath 
Open No idea as doesn't seem to exist

After the critically acclaimed success of last year's Great Ride North, where myself and Mrs Crusader (plus occasional guests) rode along National cycle route 1 from Norwich to St Andrews, then this year we have headed West to give the same treatment to the Celtic Trail in South Wales.

The trail actually starts in Chepstow but we skipped the early bit and started from Newport so we could follow a figure of 8. The inland part of the route is on Sustrans route 47 and the Costal part is National cycle route 4. 

Our first 2 days will be spent inland, although to make the distance doable we will be taking some short cuts rather than stick to route 47 all the way. The mission is again to find the best cafe on the route.

The route we will follow sticking mainly to the Celtic trail

As we awoke in our Holiday Inn Express en-suite room it was clear Mrs Crusader was a little apprehensive of what was to come. I had promised that this year's stages would be shorter than last year but had only recently mentioned they might be a bit (or a lot) hillier. This had not gone down well and she had insisted I installed the biggest cog I could find (36 tooth!!) on her bike to help her make it up. I had also only recently pointed out that today was mostly off road which is always a sustrans lottery as it could mean anything from tarmac cycle path to open fields. It had also started to rain.

So it was with some trepidation that we climbed on our bikes  and left the Holiday Inn Express car park heading for the Welsh mountains.

Ready for the off

It was slow going at first as we got used to the weight of the bikes and bumpy cycle path surface but we soon found our first sustrans route 47 sign and we were on our way.

On to cycle route 47 by the river

To help keep Mrs Crusader entertained I had recently bought her a new sports watch. One feature of it is that it constantly measures your pulse rate. So today she decided to have it on the heart setting which meant that every few minutes she shouted a random number at me that turned out to be her latest heart rate news. I just said "that's good" a lot which seemed to keep her happy.

The clever Welsh people seemed to have built a lot of good quality cycle track that avoided going over any of the big hills that surrounded us so after nearly 30 miles we still hadn't had to go up any climbs or mix with much traffic. We were therefore both still relatively fresh and in a good mood when we arrived in Aberdare where we found Bradleys Coffee shop in the old Town hall but the wrong way down the complex Aberdare one way system.

There was plenty of good off road cycle track in the early part of the rid

Bradley's coffee shop had a nice outdoor seating area but as the rain had just started again we went inside instead. Unfortunately it was very busy so all the best seats had gone leaving us the ones near the toilet. Nevertheless we still felt a good atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) score could be awarded.

Outside Bradleys

The cake selection was good too having both a fridge with cakes and another display area of traybakes and slices. Mrs Crusader had carrot cake with her Mocha and I had an interesting looking peanut stack with my hot chocolate.

All was looking good until the drinks and cakes arrived and my good mood changed. They had only gone and put the cakes on the serviettes, clearly my campaign had not made it to Wales yet. With use of calming breathing techniques I just managed to hold myself together before deciding to redouble my efforts to cut this dreadful practice out, nationwide. Remember #keepcakeoffserviettes #cadwch gacen oddi ar y gwartheg.

Cakes on serviettes !!!!!

The drinks and cakes were all very good with the peanut stack being the highlight so Bradley's had scored very well and set a high bar for the rest of the Celtic trail cafe contenders to meet.

After lunch we had a slow but steady climb up, this time along some proper roads but after a long decent we soon found ourselves back on tracks this time running alongside the Neath canal. They were fairly poor quality and it had also started to rain so by the time we got to Neath for our second stop we were getting rather tired.

Starting to get cold and wet on way into Neath

I had carefully researched all the possible options for a good cafe stop in Neath and had only found one that sounded like it met my cafe cycle criteria.  However when we got to where it should have been it wasn't there. Even google maps said it should have been exactly where we were, between Barclays and Subway, but there was no cafe or even a gap to squeeze it in. I decided it must be like platform 9.75 in Harry Potter and as I was not from the wizarding world then I was struck in Neath with no refreshment stop. As it was starting to rain again we decided to abandon the second cafe stop and head for Swansea.

The rest of the way was mainly on cycle track along side busy roads which was a bit dull and noisy although we made good progress to our first overnight stop.

Mrs Crusader still smiling (for now) as we reached our first overnight stp

Although most of the route had been off-road and with no big hills the 60 miles had had us on the road for over 8 hours as it is hard to get up any speed on old railway lines and canal paths. Also the tracks were all lined with trees so you rarely got a glimpse of the views available so it wasn't the most interesting days cycling.

Tomorrow things should be better as the only dry day of the week is forecast and we will be going over a lot of hills so some good views and exciting pulse rate numbers are guaranteed.

Map route

Profile 

Cafe ratings for cafes reviewed on (or near) the Celtic trail

Cafe	Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Café Selection	Cake Taste Quality	Atmosphere and Ambiance	Total
Bradleys Coffee Shop	7.8	7.5	7.6	7.75	7.5	7.63
Cafe Espresso	Na	Na	Na	Na	Na	Na

Stats 

	Miles	Average Speed	Hours on bike	Meters climbed
Newport to Swansea	57.7	10.3	5:35:50	679
Swansea to Fishguard
Fishguard to Tenby
Tenby to Swansea
Swansea to Newport
Overall

  Tomorrow's weather forecast

Tomorrows forecast looks best of week

Half Marathon News (Mardle Cafe, Lound)

The Mardle Cafe,

Lound,

Opening times Mon-Sat 9:30-16:00,

Highly Recommended 

Not that I like to talk about it, but as well as being the self appointed number one cafe cycle reviewer in the Norfolk area I also enjoy running races and triathlons. When taking part in the recent Great Yarmouth half marathon (where I became the 50-54 county champion) I ran through a place called Lound which had a nice looking cafe. I decided it looked like an ideal destination for a ride.

The more cynical readers may believe I have only chosen to do this 55 mile round trip so that I can mention becoming county 50-54 half marathon champion. This is clearly true but in the end it also turned out to be an excellent decision.

For today's cycling guest I had opted for Big George. We had recently decided to try and up our cycling game and set ourselves the 50 at 20 challenge. This is to ride 50 miles at 20mph in a local sportive next spring. We probably will never achieve it as the fastest we have ever averaged is about 15 mph but 50 at 20 has a better ring to it.To get our training underway we attempted our own 10 mile time trial (with wind behind) down to Loddon at the start of today's ride. It was partially successful as we could manage the target speed but only on the downhill bits. Up hill looks like being more of an issue. Hopefully we can find a 50 mile downhill sportive.

After we arrived in Loddon we needed a bit of a rest before we headed further East to Lound where we found the Mardle Cafe in the village.

In the outdoor seating area at the Mardle cafe

There is a small outside seating area behind a picket fence which, on such a lovely day, we opted for. Inside was very nicely laid out and with the addition of some very friendly staff I awarded a high Atmosphere and Ambiance score.

Nice selection of table and chair options inside

There was an excellent looking cake selection of big cakes, plus scones and there were also Sausage rolls available which I took away to check out for sausage roll of the year #SROTY. This lead to a high effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Great looking cake selection

Note the sausage roll was very good and has made it into my current shortlist of finalists for the end of year sausage roll off.

Good looking sausage roll

I ordered a hot chocolate and was pleased to be offered the choice of Milk, White or Dark. In these circumstances I always go dark. I also had some ginger stem cake. Big George had a cappuccino plus lemon and coconut cake.

As I suspected my hot chocolate was very nice but the ginger cake was amazing and one of the best bits of cake I have had for sometime. Big George's cake wasn't quite as good and could have been more zesty but I still gave high hot chocolate and cake taste quality marks.

Cake and drinks

There hasn't been a new entry in my cafe top ten for a very long time but with a good coffee score the Mardle Cafe would make it in. Big George worked his way through the froth to declare it was a first class cup of coffee and I had a new top 10 cafe on my hands.

As the Mardle cafe scored highly in each category I'm likely to take other cycling guests there which has the added bonus that I can tell them about how I found it during my half marathon win (for old blokes). I therefore highly recommend a visit.

The way back was hard work as we were tired from our earlier time trial and had the wind against. However we did get to go on the excellent Reedham Ferry and also got to see the Cantley sugar beet factory (which is my all time favourite sugar beet factory) for the second time in a day. I don't think you could have a better cafe cycle ride than this one.

Waiting for the ferry to arrive and dock

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.8	7.75	8.0	9.0	8.5	8.21

Route

Click here to download 55 mile Norwich Lound loop gpx file for your GPS

Rant Lite (Vera's Coffee shop, Stalham)

Vera’s Coffee Shop,

Stalham,

Opening times Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30,

Sat 8:30-4:00, Sun 9:30-3:00

Cycling guest have been at a premium this summer and I have not been able to ride with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) for sometime. I was therefore expecting a full blown rant-a-thon from him on yesterday's ride from Hard to Please House in Aylsham.

To make sure the trip went soothly I had planned both the route and the destination myself, despite knowing this would lead to much criticism of my road choices as I was in Andrews manor.

We were heading to Stalham in Broadland but first we rode out to the coast to lap up the summer seaside atmosphere. 

At the East coast. You can't see the wind in the photo but there was a lot of it.

As it was rather fresh and windy there didn't seem to be any summer seaside atmosphere so we continued towards Veras coffee shop at the Meades Garden centre on the far side of Stalham instead. Unfortunately the only way you can get to it by bike is along the busy A149. As a cafe cycle rider you are a slave to the establishments location which sometimes forces you on to such roads, but are any of us really free, are the birds just slaves to the sky? I think that's enough philosophy for now, what about the cake?

Once at Vera's things got off to a bad start as there was nowhere one could easily leave a bike so we hid ours behind some bags of potting compost and secured them with my extra heavy lock.

Outside Vera's, no bike in photo as it was hidden behind some John Inness No. 3

We made our way through the garden centre to Vera's which was extremely busy, probably with people who had found it too cold and lacking any summer seaside atmosphere for a day on the beach. I had only come after receiving a couple of recommendations to check out their sausage roll for #SROTY. 

At the counter I was impressed by a good cake selection which also had an excellent cake of the day (carrot) and scone of the day (date and walnut) feature. Andrew opted for the cake of the day with his cappuccino while I went for the date and walnut cake with my hot chocolate as I didn't fancy a scone.

Great cake selection including a cake of the day blackboard

I also purchased a couple of sausage rolls to take back to Crusader Towers to test later. (Which were very good and led to much debate with Mrs Crusader as to if they should make the final sausage roll off, especially as they were short crust and not flakey pastry. As I go to press the jury is still out.)

One of the sausage rolls being debated

The drinks were both of a good standard and the cakes excellent which was a pleasant surprise as garden centre cafes can be a bit hit and miss.

Drinks and cakes both scored hiighly

Vera's Coffee Shop had a very high quality product but wasn't a very cycling friendly stop so you need to be brave to cycle there.

We set off again on another long stretch of A149 before returning to quieter roads and I suddenly realised Andrew hadn't ranted or complained all ride. It wasn't until we were nearly back in Alysham and we passed the new MandS convenience store, built as part of a new garage on the Cromer road, that he could contain his ranting no longer as he described the queues that had formed when it first opened last week, which somehow led on to why he could never go in an Ikea and he was back on form.

As we were nearly back by now his ranting was curtailed and it will be another 3 weeks before we meet up again and I can hear the end of his thesis as to the evils of flat pack furniture.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	7.0	7.5	7.75	5.5	6.85

Route

Click here to download 38 mile Aylsham Stalham loop GPX file to your GPS

Mass review. (Cadence Cafe, Old Buckenham)

Café Cadence (now OB Cafe),

Old Buckenham,

Opening times Thur 9-3, Fri-Sat 9-5, Sun 9-4.30,
Highly Recommended 

One advantage of being a self appointed cycle cafe reviewer is that fellow cyclists and cafe fans often send their recommendations or news of new establishments opening. Recently I have had several emails and tweets telling me about Cafe Cadance that has recently opened in a field. Not only is it a new cafe, but it is cycle themed and an optimum distance from my house for a 40 mile bike ride to boot. 

So today I organised a group ride down to Old Buckenham to try it out. It was a high risk approach as I normal only take groups to cafes I have already been to but sometimes you just have to live on the edge.

My large group of cycling guests ready for some group reviewing

One drawback of a large peleton is the increased likelihood of a puncture so it was no surprise when less than 5 miles in Mrs Crusader's friend Tracey (on her first Cake Crusader ride) shouted the dreaded words 'Puncture' and the group came to a stop. As Mrs Crusader is a veteran of these things she knew exactly what to do and handed me Tracey's bike, pointed to the wheel to be fixed and then returned to chatting while I got down to work.

Fixing the puncture while everyone else stood around and chatted

Once back on our way there were no further incidents as we found Cafe Cadence in a van in the middle of a field just the other side of the aptly named Cake Street in Old Buckenham.

Outside Cafe Cadence at Old Buckingham Country park

I was very impressed with the setting, the excellent bike rack facility and the fact it sold puncture repair kits, inner tubes and lube so awarded a very high atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) mark.

Our bikes part on the excellent bike rack facility

As the cafe is only van sized there was not much room for a large cake selection but what there was was excellently judged as chocolate cake, brownie and banana loaf are three of my favourites so I awarded the highest effective cake selection (ECS) score I could for a choice of 3 cake varieties.

Small but effective cake selection

On the drinks front I felt my hot chocolate was a bit weak although the other two cycling guest who had hot chocolate were far more positive. The remaining cycling guests were all over the place rating the Guest Hot Drink quality (GHDQ) but after much debate the consensus seemed to be it was good coffee and scored well. 

Cycling guests debating coffee and cake ratings

it would seem that a disadvantage of having your cafe in the middle of a field is that the drinks cool down quickly and every felt they could have been a bit hotter for really top marks.

Some of the coffee and cakes we enjoyed

The cakes were excellent with the banana loaf a real star. Once again my cycling guests started to debate the quality of their cake but as I had already updated the spreadsheet with my cake taste quality (CTQ) mark then frankly I had lost interest by now. Some of the newer cycling guests actually seeming to believe I cared about what they thought and have much to learn. 

Experienced cycling guest Big George is well aware of this and attempted to undermine things by refusing to have cake but a pain aux chocolat despite knowing full well that cake reviewing rules state that a pastry can only be rated as cake before 9.00am (see poor plans post if you want to know why). I obviously ignored his sarcastic attempts to give me a mark for it.

We all agreed the Cadence Cafe was an excellent cycle stop and I highly recommend a visit. It is definitely the best cafe in the middle of a field I have been to. 

Purchasing so lube for the ride home

I liked it so much I even bought some lube and was not only able to deal with my bikes chain but offer a good lubing to several other members of the group, who were a clearly a bit dry, for a squeak free ride home.

Note since my first visit a proper cafe building with an indoor seating area has been built.

New Cadence cafe building

Scores based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	7.875	5.45	8.5	9.05	7.38

Route

Click here to download 38 mile Norwich Old Buckenham loop GPX file to your GPS

Its Official (Broken Egg Cafe , Harleston)

Broken Egg Cafe,

Harleston,

Opening times Every day 8:30-4:30

Recommended

It has been a frustrating time in the world of cafe cycle riding as I have been unable to review a new cafe for over 3 weeks. This is not for the want of trying but I have been frustrated by closed cafes, last minute call offs and inclement weather. So it was a relief to finally get a successful trip in the bag.

Despite the lack of new cafes I have not been idle with several more sausage rolls tested for sausage roll of the year #SROTY and I have been planning a trip to find the best cafe in South Wales in September. As always I will need a cycling guest to accompany me and have chosen Mrs Crusader for this tour. Due to injury and ongoing toothache then Mrs Crusader has not been able to get out on her bike much so will need some serious training up, starting with this 60 mile round trip to Harleston (slightly longer than one shown below).

On the way we stopped at the Spoon cake cafe in Loddon.

Quick stop at Spoon cafe in Loddon

Here I was able to audit their current ratings (still very good) and check out their sausage roll offering. It was a good one but just missed out on my current finalist shortlist.

Sausage roll at Spoon cafe

From here we headed to the border, which gets a bit hilly, so Mrs Crusader started to flag as we hit one 'climb' after another. Using my excellent motivational skills I pointed out it wasn't as hilly as Wales will be, which for some reason didn't seem to help.

After nearly 40 miles we made it to today's target cafe the Broken Egg, just outside Harleston. It has an outdoor seating area but it was mainly filled with very young people on toy tractors so we opted to sit inside.

Outside Broken Egg near Harleston

I checked out the cake selection which had scones (fruit and cheese), a tart thing but only a single slice of cake (chocolate) so I couldn't award a very high effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Rather small cake selection with just one piece cake left

I obviously ordered the only piece of cake to have with my hot chocolate which meant that Mrs Crusader would have to do without and just have a Mocha coffee. I told her it was part of her new nutrition plan, which for some reason didn't seem to help.

They were very busy so our drinks took a little time to come, the very nice waitress lady was very apologetic about the delay and kept us fully up to date with progress.

When the drinks arrived they were both very good indeed. It was nice to have a hot chocolate that wasn't overly milky as is often the case and Mrs Crusader thought her Mocha was of a good strength too.

Very good drinks

As it was lunchtime,and the cafe specialised in egg based dishes, I had an omelet and Mrs Crusader posh eggs on salmon. Again it took a while to arrive but, despite it forming no part of my cafe ratings system, I have to admit it was one of the best omelets I have ever had.

Sometime later there was still no sign of my chocolate cake so I politely approached the counter to ask for it. The waitress lady was so busy apologising to me that she took her eye off the ball (or cake) and dropped it on the floor. Fortunately while we had been having lunch a victoria sponge had been baked and had appeared on the counter so I had some of that instead and must admit it too was excellent cake.

Fortunately a Victoria sponge had appeared before the chocolate cake dropping incident

The Broken Egg was a nice stop and it's food and drink were very good but we had spent a lot longer there than planned and this meant we might not get home before the forecast afternoon rain.

As we set off again it was clear the long stop had done Mrs Crusader no favours and with 10 miles to go she announced that she was knackered. I checked if she was just tired or officially knackered and unfortunately she confirmed the later. This was a shame as it meant forms had to be filled in to make her knackeredness officially official.

Mrs Crusader who was officially knackered

By the time admin was completed the first drops of rain had started to fall. Fortunately I knew that Mrs Crusader knew the way back from where we were so I could happily abandoned her to make sure I got home without the paperwork getting wet. 

I'm sure you will be glad to know that Mrs Crusader eventually got back and as she was officially knackered was allowed a sit down, while I planned her next training ride.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.0	7.5	5.0	8.5	5.5	6.85

Map of route

Click here to down load 43 mile Norwich Harleston loop GPX file for your GPS