Saturday 23rd February - Whitchurch

Sixteen riders turned up on a very cold day with snow in the air.
We set off for Whitchurch but about three people turned around at Congesbury. We continued on to Brockley to the ascent up to the airport and then across to Chew Stoke and up the A37 to Whitchurch. As usual the staff at the cafe had trouble coping with so many people but on the bright side Nick did manage to get his shirt tumble dried by one of the waitresses to warm it up! On the return journey we had a nice climb up to the top of the Mendips before a quick decent of Burrington Combe. The ride back through Sandford was its usual fast past and Richard decided to do an Ivan to Ivan ie sprint the last 200 yards to win!

Tea cake rating 8/10,
Suffer rating 8/10

Stats:- http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1148570

I do like the ride to Whitchurch but the cafe stop is a bit problematic. It's one of the few places where there is no advantage to getting to the cafe first - you have to wait for everyone else to arrive before the gates are opened. And of course, once you have parked your two wheeler against a stack of compost, only then do you realise they have shut the gate and locked you in!

Being a cold day I thought beans on toast was a good option. Obviously the kitchen had gone up-market and presented me with a two michelin starred deconstructed beans on toast, otherwise known as toast on beans. Being health conscious there was no butter either so a counter raid was secretly planned and well executed, securing 5 packs of butter. Churchill's SOE would have been proud of that one!

Wasn't expecting the Wells Way challenge on the way back either. The irony of the Castle of Comfort never passes me by either - it's clearly not a castle and there is little comfort to be had from standing on the corner of a busy road in freezing conditions.

Never mind - moaning over. Enjoyed drafting off Neal's wheels before a nice descent of Burrington. Enjoyed the one man sprint in Sandford having left Ivan out to dry on the front for a few miles before sneaking past in the last 200m. Traffic a lot calmer this time and returned home in good time - so no ear bashing from the missus this week!

I know Martin has rated the tea cake and ride, personally I would give the cafe a cake rating of 6/10 and the rider a knacker factor of 9/10. (<- Neals rear light!)

Great cafe report. It never ceases to amaze me that the staff that work in Whitchurch cafe find it difficult to cope with 15 cold and hungry cyclists :-)
Agreed about the poor naming of the Castle of Comfort - perhaps Cold Corner?