Forest of Bowland

[Blue Hills]

But you have been known to use a wall...!

Here is where we stopped for your coffee break on our Forest of Bowland ride last year. Despite being the end of May there was a very chilly wind blowing, so we took shelter.

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Yes, there were fine views!

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I'm not sure which one of the Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks that is in the top left...?

For a while when I had the alert for your post colin I thought maybe you had taken a sneaky pic - but of course it's the all-knowing google.

And a fine wall it was too - I'd far rather sit in the open and drink coffee I can rely on rather than drink questionable stuff inside.

Still hoping to convert @PaulSB to such pleasures.

As I recall I very probably had a fair few mouthfuls of my home-made cycling snack with my two espressos as well.

You of course @ColinJ weren't so well prepared so had to nip in a shop (Wray?) for some no doubt dodgy stuff.

Self sufficiency folks.

 

[Blue Hills]

I did veto the second pot, because I was starting to get cold in the wind!

Ah just noticed this -I think I did strictly have two - I think I was carrying my two-cup pot - it could even have been the three-cup one.

 

[Blue Hills]

So you allowed @Blue Hills to stop for a coffee break?

Pah, I remember being ticked off for stopping for a mini cigar.

You need to change your drug.
Caffeine is a performance aid.

 

[Sea of vapours]

@Blue Hills , how long does one of these middle-of-nowhere coffee stops take then, typically?

For context: I'm almost afraid to ask as my idea of a long stop is more than five minutes, with 'normal' being 2-3m.

Oh! And @Pale Rider can get through a mini cigar in about 5m I seem to recall ...

 

[geocycle]

The Applestore Cafe is part of the Wyresdale estate. It does have its attractions.

 

[Blue Hills]

@Blue Hills , how long does one of these middle-of-nowhere coffee stops take then, typically?

For context: I'm almost afraid to ask as my idea of a long stop is more than five minutes, with 'normal' being 2-3m.

Oh! And @Pale Rider can get through a mini cigar in about 5m I seem to recall ...

No idea - not long - don't time myself - am there to enjoy the day - the actual coffee brewing is very fast as long as you can shelter the stove from wind (windsheld or body) - I use one of those long gas cartridges with a chinese adaptor/stand - mini vango stove goes on top - all faster than it would take someone in a caff to make whatevever ponced up creation is deemed so this week.

(subtract from my coffee making time and drinking colin's desperate recourse to a shop and @PaulB s cafe stops - so comfortably into minus time. And I can be revived from a near death state with 3 espressos and some Lidl wine gums in me.

 

[Pale Rider]

Mmm, @Blue Hills says his coffee pot does two cups, must remember to bring a cup with me and talk nicely to him if he's on a ride I'm on.

An espresso (and a mini cigar) in the Forest of Bowland mid-ride sounds bloomin' marvellous to me locked down in Sunderland.

One of the joys of CC rides is getting to ride with people with a different approach to riding.

I'm a bugger for stopping and might not get anywhere if I wasn't chivvied on a bit.

At the other end of the scale is @Sea of vapours.

He is excellent riding company (if you are fairly fit or have an ebike), but he likes to get on with it.

I get the impression he only does cafe stops to fit in with the rest of us.

 

[ColinJ]

I get the impression he only does cafe stops to fit in with the rest of us.

TBH, I too only do cafe stops because other riders want them. I follow the SoV philosophy when riding solo.

 

[Sea of vapours]

I get the impression he only does cafe stops to fit in with the rest of us.

That's a fair comment That said, the novelty value is good. I appreciate being obliged to do something different once in a while :-)

 

[ColinJ]

That's a fair comment That said, the novelty value is good. I appreciate being obliged to do something different once in a while :-)

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... HONEST!!!

 

[Pale Rider]

I appreciate being obliged to do something different once in a while :-)

Bang on.

I might grumble a bit at the time, but I appreciate the opportunity to do some peloton style riding which some of the CC rides has given me.

 

[PaulSB]

No idea - not long - don't time myself - am there to enjoy the day - the actual coffee brewing is very fast as long as you can shelter the stove from wind (windsheld or body) - I use one of those long gas cartridges with a chinese adaptor/stand - mini vango stove goes on top - all faster than it would take someone in a caff to make whatevever ponced up creation is deemed so this week.

(subtract from my coffee making time and drinking colin's desperate recourse to a shop and @PaulB s cafe stops - so comfortably into minus time. And I can be revived from a near death state with 3 espressos and some Lidl wine gums in me.

Typically we are in the cafe for 30-40 minutes.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... HONEST!!!

Pah! Whilst it may look as if I'm thinking "How much longer is Colin going to lie their whimpering", I was actually thinking "How much longer can I stay with the group and still get home in daylight - given that I have no lights?"

So yes - HONEST!!!

 

[Blue Hills]

On the brewing up thread slight divert, just remembered this I got from Planet X the other day.

https://mailchi.mp/planetx/have-a-brew?e=50209ebaed

(edit - my stove set-up is a lot smaller than that)

So maybe I'm actually ahead of the curve/not so odd after all.

Not sure I'd be doing that at the moment unless very very remote/out of the sight of marauding Derbyshire police - maybe when this Godgiven hell is over I'll start a photo thread on bikes with a brew and scenery.

On the main thread, some more pics to encourage @gbs

Pendle Hill from Clitheroe Castle.

Pendle Hill from the doorway of Downham church (bike out of shot)

To put some steel into him for trip back north, a shelter between Settle and Horton in Ribblesdale in some not exactly rare weather.

A bike in front of Stoneyhurst College, but the slightest divert on a ride from Preston to Clitheroe. It's a Hewitt, from Preston (OK Leyland) ridden to the Ribble Valley when it was picked up (with a 20 minute shelter in a church lych gate near Longridge when the heavens briefly opened).

 

[ColinJ]

Pendle Hill from Clitheroe Castle.

That's a good view, and one that I have never had. I never linger long in Clitheroe because I am always on the way to somewhere else, with a lot of distance to cover.

A bike in front of Stoneyhurst College, but the slightest divert on a ride from Preston to Clitheroe. It's a Hewitt, from Preston (OK Leyland) ridden to the Ribble Valley when it was picked up (with a 20 minute shelter in a church lych gate near Longridge when the heavens briefly opened).

Every time I have been up there the gates have been open so I have ridden up to the college and round to the left as we look at it. There are often lots of pupils wandering about. They certainly don't look like poor kids from a rough housing estate. Last time, I wondered exactly how much it costs to send children there. I was pretty shocked at what I discovered...

I didn't stay on the B-road for long though - I soon turned right to climb up to Longridge Fell past Stonyhurst College, a posh Jesuit college. When I say posh, I mean ... full boarding fees for UK children of £34,800 per annum! (If you live in the area and prefer to ferry your little darlings there and back each day, it only costs £19,950 p.a. ...)

How the other half live, eh!