Monte Grappa cycling adventure day 1. (30 miles east of Feltre)

Monte Grappa cycling adventure day 1

If you are about to read this post expecting some European cafe based cycling action then I suggest you hit the back button now as there isn't any. However if you enjoy an exciting story of bicycle mechanicals and Italian cycle repair shop action or you are a fan of cycling guest cycling top tips then this is the post for you.

This trip all started to go wrong last week when, after months of planning, Big George phoned me up to say he had developed a back injury and wouldn't be able to come on the 4 rides I had planned in the Monte Grappa region of Italy. I could have quit then and used my holiday insurance to refund the current outlay. But I remembered the motivational poster I saw at the Magna Rosa cycle cafe near Bury St Edmunds that said pain is temporary but quitting last forever and I'm no quitter. Fortunately my son George agreed to come and do some of the rides instead, as long as he could bring his girlfriend Meg. So yesterday the three of us plus two bike boxes arrived in Italy ready for action.

When I awoke this morning then the first task was to rebuild the bikes as quickly as possible so me and George could get going and not abandon Meg for too long. I have rebuilt my bike on 4 previous occasions with no issues but this over confident, some may say almost arrogant approach, proved to me my undoing. I had even put my 'nothing is impossible with the right attitude and a hammer' tee shirt on to get me in the zone.

Bike chaos ready for rebuilding

Things started well as I had my bike with its snazzy electric gears back together in no time at all. I had slightly more problems with Georges traditional geared bike and was worried I had put his derailleur on wonky and knackered the thread but hoped it would be OK. I then posed proudly for my photo so every one could see how clever I was.

Bikes 'rebuilt' ready for the off

As we mounted our bikes to set off I clicked the button to change gear but nothing happened. Strange I thought, I must have forgotten to connect something but despite endless fiddling and much swearing no matter how many times I clicked the button the back derailleur was completely dead. I referenced the Internet and tried all their suggestions but no luck. Fortunately, as my tee shirt says, I have the right attitude and equally fortunately hotel reception didn't have a hammer as if they had I probably would no longer have a bicycle. They did suggest I try the local bike shop and gave directions. With no other alternative we loaded the bike in the car and drove to the bike shop in the next village.

The bike shop man spoke good English and was very helpful but seemed to know less about electric gears than me as he also tried repeatedly pressing the button hoping the gears would magically spring into action but they didn't. He did say he knew of another bike shop mechanic who was an expert in these gears so sent me there. The chance of doing today's planned ride was looking increasingly unlikely but without a working bike so were the remaining three days of rides as well so I decided to give it a go.

We followed some winding roads up a hill to a tiny village where to our surprise was a bike shop. Inside was a big man with a bald head and large side burns. He looked like you might imagine the local village blacksmith would have looked like in olden times but as there were no longer horses to be shoed he had moved on to bikes, and he wasn't very happy about it as he never smiled.

The blacksmith spoke no English, nor me Italian, and grabbed the bike in one big hand and took it round back to his forge. I was not optimistic as when previously I have had problems with this type of gear the local bike shop (LBS) plugs the gears into a laptop and runs diagnostics. The blacksmith just pressed the button a lot and grunted, before trying a lot of mechanical fixes to no effect. He eventually shrugged and gave me back my bike before returning to his furness.

Back at the hotel the holiday appeared to be in tatters, but despite still having no hammer, I was determined not to give up when I remembered cycling guest cycling top tip no. 52. 

Cycling guest cycling top tip no. 52. When putting your handle bars back on your bike with electric gears make sure you don't trap a gear wire or you may irreparable damage it.

So I checked and that is exactly what had happened. At least I knew what was wrong so asked at the hotel reception if they knew a shop that might sell a cable or at least mend one. I don't if I was more upset that the bike was broken or that the receptionist thought it was an ebike (one with a motor to help you pedal) and not just a fancy way of changing gear. I was concerned that she had decided that I was the type of cyclist who would use such a thing and it severely dented my enormous ego. However I forgave her when she came up with a possible option for fixing the cable but as it was nearly lunchtime they would now be shut until 3:30 as in these parts they all like to have an afternoon nap.

To pass the time I thought I would take George's bike for a spin to at least get some riding done today. I hadn't gone far when I noticed it wasn't changing gear properly either and the gears kept slipping. Despite much fiddling I couldn't fix the problem and knew that thanks to my clumsy reassembling it was pretty much out of action too.

I had no choice but to now bundle both bikes into the car and head for my third Italian cycle shop of the day. When I arrived I held out little hope as due to the confusion at reception she had sent me to a shop that mainly sold ebikes. However now I was here I thought I might as well try as they did have normal bikes in the window as well.

The man in the shop spoke no English, nor me Italian, but me both knew about cycling guests cycling top tip no 53.

Cycling guest cycling top tip no 53. If you and the local bike shop mechanic don't speak the same language continue to each say what you mean in your own language until one of you gives in and pretends to have understood.

Using this top tip plus international sign language for the gear wire is broken (pretending two of your fingers are scissors whilst they try and cut a finger on your other hand) the problem was understood and resulted in much tutting, head scratching and teeth sucking as the LBS mechanic wandered aimlessly around his shop. Then from nowhere, like a scene from Harry Potter, he suddenly produced the exact right cable, he seemed more surprised than me that he had one and in no time had swapped it over and the bike was back in action.

There was still the second bike in the car to be fixed but despite much use of top tip no 53 and pointing I couldn't convey the message that I had a second bike to fix so I just got it out the car and handed it over. He was much more at home with a traditional bike issue and quickly spotted the wonky derailleur, had the hole rethreaded in no time at all and everything was working once again. 

I thanked him for saving the cycling holiday and to cap it all he only charged me 20 euro which I'm pretty sure the cable would cost more than on its own.

When I got back it was only 4:30 so I decided to see how much of today's route I could do. The answer was 15 miles before it was time to turn back.

View of the mountains when day 1 ride finally got underway

 

In this time I did uncover one last cycling guest cycling top tip that will prove useful for the rest of the week. 

Cycling guest cycling top tip no 54. If you chase after Italian cyclists when they overtake you they will chase you back forcing you to got flat out for two miles so as not to lose face, so don't do it.

With everything now in place hopefully tomorrow will be more successful and will actually feature a cafe as me and George attempt to ride over Monte Grappa which I took a photo of on the way back.

View of Monte Grapa in the distance (although it turned out it wasn't)

The route we should have done of which only the 1st 15 miles were covered

Puncture repairs. (Gardeners Kitchen, Burgh Apton)

Gardeners Kitchen,

Bergh Apton,

Opening times Mon- Sat 9:30-4:30, Sun 10:00-4:00

Highly Recommended 

I have cycled to the Gardeners Kitchen at Bergh Apton twice. Once in October 2015 and again in August 2016. As seems to often happen the one criticism I had on my first visit (no where to safely leave bikes) proved to be totally wrong on the second visit. I have therefore updated the original post below with combined findings from both trips.

October 2015: I'm not having much luck with my cycling guests at the moment. First I was meant to ride to Sheringham with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) but he had fallen off his bike the day before and so was too stiff for a ride (bless). I have rearranged for next week when he will have loosened up and fitted stabilisers on to his bike.

Then yesterday I was meant to be going on a long 65 miler with Big George but just before he was due to turn up I got a text saying Mrs Big George had hurt her back and was taking the day off work expecting Big George to look after her. He had explained to her that he was meant to be on an all day ride with me. She did say that if he went she would be fine, but he wasn't going to fall for that as like all experienced husbands he knows that 'fine' doesn't mean 'off you go, and have a lovely time' but that it is actually a test and it isn't fine at all.

So as a compromise Big George asked me if we could go on a short morning ride so he could do the nursing bit for most of the day whilst not letting me down, in a display of good husband solidarity I obviously agreed.

I was aware of a newish cafe at the Green Pastures garden centre Burgh Apton which we could take in on a 30 mile loop down to Loddon. To make sure he wasn't away too long we went at our fastest pace and were well ahead of schedule as we approached our stop.

At this point disaster struck as we both heard a loud pop and hiss to find Big George had a rare front wheel puncture.

As Big George started his repairs I though I would take the opportunity to publish a Big George puncture repair master class (BGPRMC). 

BGPRMC Step 1. Take the wheel off. For some reason Big George spent sometime stroking his tyre before he actually took it off saying he was looking for the cause of the puncture. This is a waste of time at this point in the puncture repair process but seemed to get him in the right frame of mind for the task ahead.

BGPRMC Step 2.  Once wheel is removed take just one side of the tyre off the wheel using tyre leavers and remove the inner tube. For some reason Big George decided to stroke his tyre again before eventually getting on with tyre removal. Fortunately I had brought a short novel with me and settled down to read it.

BGPRMC Step 3. Check inside tyre for flints and thorns that are still in tyre and then put in a new inner tube. Despite much searching and more tyre stroking Big George never did find the guilty object. I had finished my book by now but luckily had brought an easel and water colours so decided to paint the landscape.

BGPRMC Step 4.  Push tyre back into rim. Getting the last bit of tube in can be quite tricky but as a rule the more expensive the tyre the easier it pops back in. These were clearly very cheap tyres. My art work was complete but fortunately I had brought with me a note pad and pen so while Big George struggled with his tyre I started writing my memoirs.

BGPRMC Step 5. Put the wheel back on and pump up the tyre. Unfortunately Big George has an overly complicated pump and it took a few minutes to get it out of crossbar mode to pump mode, but once set up he quickly filled the tyre with air. I spent the time starting to write this years Christmas cards.

Hopefully Big George's puncture repair master class was useful to you but I hadn't realised just how useful it would be for me later in the ride.

With repairs complete it wasn't long before we arrived at the Gardeners Kitchen at the Green Pastures garden centre and farm shop.

On arrival we couldn't find anything to lock our bikes to so locked them together at the front entrance and went inside. However on the August 2016 ride I had warned my cycling guests of the potential security issue only to find that on arrival the nice people at the front entrance said to bring our bikes through the shop and escorted us to the outdoor seating area where we could safely leave them. So thumbs up to the gardeners kitchen and thumbs down for my previous remarks.

Outside entrance to Gardeners Kitchen

With or without bikes you have to go through the garden shop to find the large Gardeners kitchen restaurant. Here we found an exceptional cake selection which covered all the basic cakes and scones plus some unusual things like snickers cheese cake. I awarded a very high effective cake selection (ECS) rating. (The range was equally as good on my second visit).

Just some of the excellent cake selection

I went for a chocolate cake (on both occasions) and cheese scone (as part of my cheese scone serving temperature research, served cold) but the choice was too much for Big George who couldn't cope with the large selection so ordered a fried egg sandwich instead.

Big George's posh fried egg sandwich which clearly isn't cake

The outside seating area looked a bit too cold in October and too windy in August so we opted to sit inside in the large indoor area. It was nice but lacked a bit of tearoom character and charm. My 2016 cycling guest thought this comment was harsh, especially after the excellent customer service with the bikes, and made me up the atmosphere and ambiance mark.

Indoor seating area

My hot chocolate was a good one being nice and strong and not too sweet, Big George found his filter coffee a little too weak for his tastes. (In August 2016 we cycling guest all rated their coffees more highly upping the guest hot drink quality (GHDQ) score). The portion size of the scone and chocolate cake were certainly on the large side which got my approval although size is not always a good indicator of cake taste quality. However on this occasion I thought the chocolate cake was very nice retaining enough moistness and having a good chocolate flavour plus the added benefit of a lump of cadburys flake on top.

Cakes and drinks

Cakes and drinks from August 2016 looking remarkably like the October 2015 ones

As I had 3 cycling guests in 2016, including coffee and walnut cake expert Mick, I was able to have a wider range of cakes tried and they all scored well. Chris (Mrs Crusader) and Ali both went for coffee and Walnut Cake, Mick was obviously a little put out and had Almond slice instead. However he insisted in trying their cakes and passing on his expert opinion, which was that the cake was good, so I then didn't need to know what the others thought rendering their input useless.

Overall the Gardeners Kitchen was a good stop that scored well especially on the cake front. Now I know that I know you can safely leave your bikes their I would certainly highly recommend a visit.

Back in 2915 we set off on the short ride back and despite the earlier puncture drama Big George was confident he would not be in too much trouble for being out for too long instead of on nursing duty. This was until I too got a puncture, my first for ages*. Fortunately I had been paying attention to Big Georges puncture repair master class and got it mended in no time at all enabling him to get back for brow mopping on time. 

Mend puncture after seeing BGPRMC

Hopefully next week I will have more luck with my cycling guests and get a full ride in. (Which I did).

*Records show this was the first time both me and a cycling guest had had a puncture on the same ride since 26th February2015

Scores based on three visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.25	6..17	9.00	7.42	6.75	7.32

Route

Click here to download Loddon - Norwich loop GPX file to load on to your GPS

I do like to be beside the seaside (Breakers Cafe, Cromer)

Breakers Cafe,

Cromer,

Opening times Everyday from 8:30

Apparently Barry and Helen and their Tandem had not been to the seaside for a long while so I felt it was about time I took them there. As the seaside is a long way from Norwich (in cycling terms) it would mean an over 60 mile ride, which is a lot further than their Tandem can normally manage but it was happy to give it a go. It was also a good opportunity to continue Chris's (Mr Crusaders) training for our sponsored ride to St Andrews in October. Finally to keep sprints high on our marathon effort I had invited Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) to join us as I recently discovered he is a big fan of the seaside (see the Sting).

So on a slightly chilly day myself and Chris set off from Crusader towers to pick up my cycling guests on route. First we met Barry and Helen and their Tandem at a convenient crossroads. However it was not a smooth transition as before we could set off again Helen decided she was too hot and faffed about taking off her jumper claiming she had been cold when she first left home. She clearly hadn't been paying attention to my cycling guests cycling top tips feature as number 9 from January 2015 says

Cycling guest cycling top tip number 9.   When you set off on a ride you should start off feeling slightly cold or you will get too hot later on.

We were now late to meet Andrew, my next cycling guest, who we found 30 mins later twiddling his thumbs on Brampton humpy back bridge. Once collected we now had a full peloton of riders as we made good progress up to Cromer and found Breakers cafe on a road down to the sea.

Outside Breakers cafe near the sea

Breakers cafe had the look and feel of a typical seaside cafe attracting both a clientele of locals and holidaymakers and on a pleasant day in August it was pretty busy. The staff were very friendly and let us wheel our bikes through the back to a micro outdoor seating area, which we were very grateful for as I had forgotten my lock.

Bikes left safely in micro outdoor seating area

I checked out the cakes in order to awarded the effective cake selection (ECS) mark, who's qualifying items today were two traditional sponge cakes (chocolate and Victoria) and some scones.

Cake Selection

I went for Victoria with my hot chocolate and Chris chocolate. On the coffee front it was mochas and cappuccino. As always Barry refused to engage in cafe cycle reviewing activities and had a can of coke.

It was now that I discovered the one thing Barry hates more than rating the quality of cake is British coastal towns and he had a good rant about them. Andrew, however, maybe notoriously hard to please but loves being by the sea and was enthusing about the cafe's atmosphere and the possibility of buying beach goods at the shop next door. It ended in a full blown seaside off with neither party prepared to give any ground. Fortunately before it turned nasty our drinks and cakes arrived.

Drinks

The general consensus was that the drinks were all a little weak but better than the instant coffee on offer at a lot of seaside establishments these days. I thought my Victoria sponge was rather good so awarded a rather good cake taste quality (CTQ) score.

Cakes which were sadly served on their napkins. Remember keep cake off serviettes

If you like the seaside and a good traditional seaside cafe then Breakers is for you. 

Much to Barry's disgust Andrew insisted that we pop to the end of the road to see the sea before we left which was harder than it seemed as Cromer was packed.

Cromer sea front looking busy

With Andrew and Barry still not speaking on the ride home I promised that we would stay inland next time this particular grouping of cycling guests got together.
Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	5.5	4.5	7.0	7.0	6.00

map of route

Click here to download 61 mile Norwich to Cromer loop gpx file for your GPS

The sting. (The Shed cafe, Henstead)

The Shed Cafe,

Henstead,

Now Closed Down

Friday was very sunny but rather windy so I didn't fancy a long cycle slog riding into the wind. I therefore came up with a cunning plan. Our cafe cycle ride would head out East, with the wind behind, before sneakily catching the train back home avoiding any unnecessary hard work. I was again joined by Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) who claimed he had been suffering from a virus which was why he performed so badly on our last ride (see more training less sofa) and therefore liked my plan in order to aide his recovery.

As we set off the weather conditions were difficult to judge with sun, some clouds and a cool wind. The forecast had promised temperatures in the mid twenties but it certainly felt colder. Andrew asked me for some advice on if to bring his gilet with him or not.

Cycling guest cycling top tip no 51. To avoid later recrimination never offer a fellow cyclist your opinion on the clothing layers they need for a ride as you will only get it wrong.

Knowing all about cycling guest cycling top tip 51 I refused to offer an opinion on his clothing options although I decided to go with the forecast and just wear a short sleeve top with zip open. This proved to be a big mistake but not from a temperature point of view.

I like to find cafes a bit off the beaten track and felt today's destination, the Shed cafe at Henstead hit the mark and we made good progress out there as we left Norfolk and rode into deepest Suffolk with the wind hurrying us along. Suddenly I felt something enter my cycling top via the open zip and before I had time to investigate I felt a sharp pain. I quickly came to a halt and ripped open my top to see an angery wasp fly off having giving me a sting. Andrew offered to pee on my chest but I said I thought that was for jelly fish and that it probably wont help here. Despite his disappointment I said I would attempt to continue the ride without any form of pain relief.

It took all my mental powers to shutout a small throbbing and slight itch on my chest as we continued our ride to Henstead arts and crafts centre where we found the Shed Cafe.

Outside the Shed Cafe

Inside the cafe was decorated with the sort of tools and bits you would expect to find in a good shed, including a bike dangling from the ceiling.

Great feel to the Shed cafe 

Despite the high quality of the indoor surroundings we decided to sit in the outside terrace as it was in the sunshine. It had the feel of a cafe in Spain or Italy and we could easily have been abroad, although to some extent we were having crossed the boarder from Norfolk into Suffolk.

Mediterranean based outdoor seating area

I went to check out the cake selection in order to award the effective cake selection (ECS) mark. It wasn't the biggest but the inclusion of an interesting marmalade and hazelnut cake gave the ECS a boost. I obviously choose that one while Andrew went for the chocolate one.

Cake selection

As we lapped up the excellent atmosphere and ambience our drinks and cakes arrived. We both felt our drinks, hot chocolate and Cappuccino, were a little weak but I really liked my Marmalade and Hazelnut cake so it was a good cake taste quality (CTQ) mark.

Cakes and drinks

If you like your cafes away from it all, with a great atmosphere and ambience, than the Shed cafe is well worth a visit.

We set off again for the last few miles to Lowestoft station. Andrew was getting really excited as we entered the seaside town as he is a big fan of the seaside. He therefore insisted we went to look at the sea rather than go straight to the station. Which we did although I wouldn't let him buy a bucket and spade as we had a train to catch.

Lowestoft Beach

The combination of seeing the sea and then going on a train was too much excitement as Andrew started acting like a toddler out for the day in the school holidays. Once on the train it was clear I had to calm him down so spent the trip home pointing out all the cows and tractors in the fields to keep him entertained.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5.0	4.0	6.0	7.5	8.0	6.10

Map of route taken

Download GPX file of route to load onto a GPS. 42 miles Lowestoft to Norwich

More training less sofa. (Foyers Tea room, East Rudham)

Foyers Tearoom,

East Rudham,

Under New Management as Sue's Coffee Corner
Click here for review

I have had my busiest summer of cycling ever. So far I've cycled in the Slovenia mountains, trained for ironman Austria (did I mention I did an ironman triathlon) and I've still got to go cycling in the Italian Mountains, train for two more triathlons and do a sponsored cycle to Scotland with Mrs Crusader so my cycling miles are currently high. Sadly the same doesn't appear to be true for a number of my cycling guests

All the extra cycle training I have done has made it harder to go on so many cafe cycle rides so I hadn't been on a trip with today's cycling guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) for a few weeks. I had planned a long ride today from Andrews gaff, Hard to Please house, in Alysham to Foyers Tearoom in East Rudham near Fakenham. It would be a fairly long 58 mile ride but several cyclists had recommended Foyers to me and as I hadn't got too many cafes on that part of my cafe locations map it seemed to be worth the effort.

However when Andrew appeared on his drive, ready to set off, it was clear all was not well as he had not been out on his bike much recently due to a severe bout of laziness. After a few miles he complained of being stiff and tired so we had to take it easy on the way out.

Cycling guest cycling top tip No 50. To avoid being tired on your cycle rides try getting off your sofa and out on your bike more often.

We arrived in East Rudham and found Foyers tea room. It had a two table outdoor seating area although they were both in use when we got there. 

Outside Foyers tearoom

We went inside to find that there was a soft furnishings shop bit plus a standard indoor seating area section. However before I could select our seating choice for the day Andrew had spotted some comfy sofas and insisted on sitting on them as it was clearly where he now felt most at home. Even when an outdoor table became free there was no shifting him.

Andrew refusing to move from comfy sofa indoor seating area

I had to go and check out the cake selection by myself and report back to his sofa. There was a fairly small selection of scones, cakes and tarts but still quite interesting so I awarded a quite interesting effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Cake selection, note scones and bakewell tart were on a separate table

I ordered a lemon tart cake with my Hot Chocolate and Andrew a Bakewell tart with his cappuccino.  

Our drinks soon arrived and after a quick sip it was clear that they wouldn't disappoint people who like their hot drinks proper hot. As I don't have a fully asbestos mouth I needed to let it cool for a bit before I could rate mine. I have often found that when cafes concentrate on the hot part of hot chocolate then the chocolate part of the drink is a disappointment so I was very pleased that Foyers had ticked both drink boxes and it had a good chocolate taste. I was therefore able to award a high hot chocolate quality (HCQ) mark. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) wasn't quite as happy with his coffee but still found it a reasonably good drink.

drinks with spoons but no saucers

Andrew was in a picky mood as neither of our drinks came on a saucer but they did have teaspoons so he was unclear where he should put the spoon post stirring activity. I suggested he either start a #keepcupsonsaucers campaign or just put it on the table like everyone else which due to his new found apathy he did.

Our tarts arrived and were nice offerings and scored well. I also took some flapjack away to test as part of my search for flapjack of the year 2016. I thought it was excellent and it is high on my potential lists of finalist for the flapjack off at the end of the year.

Bakewell and Lemon tarts with a splodge of cream as a nice touch

Foyers tearoom was a very pleasant stop with good refreshments so like a number of my fellow cyclist I would recommend a visit.

After sometime I managed to persuade Andrew out of his sofa and back on to his bike for the return trip, where fortunately we had the wind behind. It wasn't the fastest trip back but Andrew did promise he would make sure he had done more cycling before our next ride but then told me that he would be spending the next two weeks sitting on his sofa watching the Olympics.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.0	6.0	6.0	7.0	8.0	7.00

route

Click here to down load 56 mile Alysham East Rudham loop gpx file to your gps