FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast, Cardiff to Swansea 22nd August

[Aperitif]

Croeso i Cymru...Have a lovely ride

 

[StuAff]

Have a good one, ladies and gents.

 

[mmmmartin]

the bacon, pancakes, syrup, and clotted cream breakfast

If I had known about that I'd have cancelled other things to do this ride.......

 

[theclaud]

New breakfast destination or new beer destination?

New breakfast destination. Ripples - a smaller cafe run by a friend of mine who has been on the ride previously. It's less iconic than the pier, but right on the seafront path and well placed for the morning sun. The view from it corresponds roughly to that in Teef's last pic. The coffee is good. Full Welsh isn't really their thing, but there should be a choice of things involving sausages, bacon, eggs, beans and toast, and possibly porridge etc.

The halfway stop is the same location but now in different hands - Hilary & Iain by Sea...

 

[dellzeqq]

Would have had both Whitstable and Brighton above Felpham.

Felpham scores highly because the finish is so sudden. You turn a corner and the sea is just a hundred yards away.

For all that I like the dash across the Graveney Marshes, that's not really the finish. The turn in to Beach Walk is kind of dull, and you don't really appreciate the sea until you're on the terrace. Now.....if you were considering the breakfast spots, then they would be rated (on location, rather than the breakfast itself)
1. Southwold (which has two breakfast spots and a fantastic lunch spot)
2. Whitstable
3=. Brighton
3=. Swansea
5. Felpham
6. Southend (although that's really about the furniture and the tiling)
7. Morecambe
8. Hull

But, to redress the balance a little, if you were to rank the rides overall, it would be
1. Southwold (and by a long way)
2. Whitstable
3=. Cardiff to Swansea
3=. Manchester to Morecambe
3=. York to Hull
6=. Southend
6=. Felpham
8. Brighton

 

[Dibdib]

This sounds absolutely wonderful - it's definitely going on my "hopeful" list for next year. Have a great ride

 

[swansonj]

It is absolutely lovely and the pier cafe is good as well, although the bacon, pancakes, syrup, and clotted cream breakfast deserves to remain a niche interest.

I took my family for coffee in that cafe last week specifically to point out that breakfast on the menu to them....

 

[theclaud]

So that last lovely ride round the bay ... will still be the route for beer? At least it would do away with that horrid little hill .

Yes the beer spot is onwards round the bay, accessible by a more gradual climb...

 

[martint235]

But, to redress the balance a little, if you were to rank the rides overall, it would be
1. Southwold (and by a long way)
2. Whitstable
3=. Cardiff to Swansea
3=. Manchester to Morecambe
3=. York to Hull
6=. Southend
6=. Felpham
8. Brighton

Still not sold on Southwold although that is probably tainted by the one time I did it we arrived at 1 minute past when the pub stopped serving food. Rather than the intelligent and economic thing to do of actually serving several very hungry cyclists they said "No. Kitchen is closed". Fish and chips on the way to Ipswich, good though they were, didn't make up for it. Of the joint 3rds, I've only done the first half of Manchester to Morecambe which was a joy (although very wet).

 

[theclaud]

Still not sold on Southwold

Perhaps you didn't notice much of it....

 

[CharlieB]

I've only done the first half of Manchester to Morecambe which was a joy (although very wet).

…even with all the 'phone calls home?

 

[StuAff]

That list is incomplete.....

Brussels-Ostend wins on start point (by a nose from the Minster) & the route is awesome. Breakfast stop more than makes up in quality what it lacks in scenery.

 

[Aperitif]

That list is incomplete.....

Brussels-Ostend wins on start point (by a nose from the Minster) & the route is awesome. Breakfast stop more than makes up in quality what it lacks in scenery.

Marcel Sprout used to live in Brussels...Agent Hilda's favourite writer.

 

[CharlieB]

Apologies to all the non-Whovians among us, but I've been in Caerdydd since lunchtime and thought I'd visit the Doctor Who Experience.
£15 is a little on the pricey side, but it's a very entertaining and highly interactive show.
You even get to fly the Tardis.
I think you'd have to be a fan on the slightly obsessive side , tho' but.

Is anyone meeting up in Pizza Express in The Bay Area later?

 

[clivedb]

Hi Charlie
I won't be in Cardiff until just before 10.30, but will be looking for a coffee at that point. But my memory of the last time I did this ride was that the pizza places were closing down around 10.30.