# 55 miles to buy a bike pump ...



## Arch (21 Aug 2010)

I half thought of trying for a century this weekend, but I've been feeling a bit lethargic this week. There was a plan for a CC East Yorkshire Posse ride, the Hull contingent heading westwards, and I thought of riding out to meet them, ride with them a bit, then back. But it's had to be postponed, and instead Uncle Phil suggested a jaunt to Harrogate and back. It's nicer to have company on a shorter ride, than none on a longer one, so I took up the offer, and we met at ten-ish at the Minster. To keep me company at low level, he rode his Bentech recumbent bike.

We headed out through Acomb and along the Rufforth Road, a bit trafficy but not bad, and better once we turned onto a minor road at Long Marsten. Through Tockwith and Cowthorpe, and onto the road to Knaresborough. As it was 12 when we got there, we decided to have lunch, and found a cafe combined with a greengrocers - neither of us had ever seen such a combo before, so we locked up the bikes at Knaresborough's vast rank of three sheffield stands, and took our table. Large Yorkshire puddings all round - chilli for Uncle Phil, and roast pork for me, with a glass of chocolate milk. Ever since someone on CC said it was good recovery food, I've been using that as an excuse to indulge my liking for it!

After lunch, enlivened by the camber of the outside table and the ensuing tendency for tea and gravy to succumb to gravity, not to mention the map's tendency to take off in the wind, we were back on the trikes for the short hop to Harrogate, where Uncle Phil had a serious shopping list for Spa Cycles. We stopped to admire this chap on a bench. He's meant to be a surveyor called Blind Jack apparently, but I think he's really a unicyclist:





There was a great hill down to the river crossing, and of course, a grind up the other side. There was another up hill further on, which we 'enjoyed', and enjoyed again when we found we'd missed the turning, so had to go back down it. The road into Harrogate wasn't major, but that meant not wide, and overtaking drivers didn't seem all that bothered by oncoming traffic... Eventually we made it to Spa - a relatively small shop front that I almost sped past.





Inside, it's just a mass of drawers and stuff, with a proper bell on the door that summons a chap from the recesses of the back. A veritable Aladdin's Cave. While Uncle Phil chose his bits and pieces, I looked round and spotted a Topeak Mini Morph pump. I've been meaning to get one to carry in my Trike bags - they are just too small to take my standard Road Morph. I kept meaning to order one online, but I thought I'd get it while I had the chance, and support the shop a bit.

Outside we stowed our purchases - easier for me than Uncle Phil, with rack, tyres, mudguards and bottle cages. Still he fitted it all on:





The it was off again, back to Knaresborough via a different route, which involved a lenthy wait for a level crossing, and a conversation with a local urchin.

Urchin: Has that got an engine?
Uncle Phil: Can you see one?
U: I can hear one.
UP: That's the car behind me.
U: So, what is that?
UP: A bike.
U: How much did it cost?
UP: Well, I don't really know, I built it up myself from bits.
U: Oh, so how much did it cost?
UP: £8 to 900
U: £8 to 900? Can I buy it off you?

Back in Knaresborough, we stopped for cake, in the tea shop over the Olde Chemists Shoppe (really!). I went for a lemon and lavender scone, which was big enough, and Uncle Phil opted for chocolate cake, which was vast!





Then it was home again, with a nice helpful tailwind in places, through Aldwark (where we were exempt from the 40p bridge toll) and Linton on Ouse, where powered gliders where taking off and landing, and via Beningborough to Shipton, were we parted, Uncle Phil to cut across to York-ish, and me to follow route 65 into York.

I wasn't sure how the trike would do on the off road part, which has a lot of gates and cattle grids - I prefer not to use it on two wheels, due to my cattle grid phobia. I stuck with it until just the edge of York, before giving up and taking to the A19, which has a bike path for part of it anyway. The gates are narrow enough that I had to get off twice to get the trike through, and the cattle grids rattle you to death, or if you go slowly, you loose all rear wheel grip. Since I got home I've recce'd the A19 on Google map, and there's cycle path some way out, so next time I'll ditch the off road bit altogether.

Back into town was straightforward, and as I'm heading out again early tomorrow for a cycling breakfast, I took the trike home instead of to the lockup - I'll swap back to the bike tomorrow after my social ride.

All in all, a very nice ride. 55 miles, at an average of 11.4mph. And I have a new pump!

Blimey, this is a long blog entry!


----------

