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MENDIP TIMES
The café ride – when cake is allowed!
THERE’S a great excerpt in the documentary about the 1962 Tour de France (Vive Le Tour!) that demonstrates even the CYCLING most intense and with EDMUND LODITE gruelling competitions have their comical and light-hearted moments. The entertaining clip traces the often clumsy yet pivotal practicalities of cyclists trying to grab their musettes, personalised bags full of food, from their support team on the side of the road. Later on, various riders jump off their bikes to drop into a café and raid any liquid they could find, including water, wine and beer! In those days, the rules didn’t allow riders to receive drinks from team cars. Nowadays the professional cyclists have everything provided to them en-route leaving the café run to be a much more civilised affair, for the rest of us. Entering a favourite cafe or discovering a new one mid-ride is one of cycling’s many pleasures. As well as some respite from the weather, gradients and effort, there’s an opportunity for camaraderie over the cake and coffee. And it’s a chance for some unbroken conversation which is hard to do on the road. The weekend club-ride inevitably includes a café stop and depending on numbers can mean a bit of a queue. However, the cafes frequently visited by cyclists are usually well prepped in advance, making the selection choices easy and quick. The café ride is good for planning and trying new routes – it provides purpose and a reason to reach a particular place. They also help cyclists progress from short rides to longer efforts. The break is great for re-fuelling and to gain the energy to get to the next milestone. For many cyclists, the cake or biscuits that are normally avoided off the bike now become a quick and enjoyable way of addressing a calorie deficit, providing an instant hit of energy. And this time you think it’s good for you! Everyone has their own favourite – mine is a bit of lemon drizzle cake with a nice mug of tea, you can’t beat it. It’s definitely nicer than a sachet of energy gel. There are some who would say a slice of cake is just a lump of sugar and fat with
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no nutritional value. Anything containing dates, nuts and oats is a healthier option. But there are some energy benefits from cake – providing you get back on the bike again soon. But the café stop is more than just the food and drink. It’s as much about the chat and an opportunity to check out the bikes on the bike rack. Refuelling on long distance endurance rides is very different, however. Now it becomes a purely necessary function to replace the lost nutrients and replenish energy levels. In the early days of racing there were no sports scientists to advise riders about their diet. When Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France in 1903, it was less of a race and more like trying to survive on two wheels. Competitors pedalled along dirt roads for 15 to 18 hours a day on heavy bikes. Race regulations required that riders
Tennis camp
PENSFORD Tennis Club is running an Easter holiday camp from April 11th13th, 2-4pm, run by the club’s two coaches, LTA accredited Dan Church
fend entirely for themselves, forcing them to scavenge for meals along the way. Riders would eat whenever and whatever was being served at roadside taverns, if they were lucky to pass one. Drinking alarming amounts of alcohol was also the norm. Beer, wine, and brandy were considered safer to drink than the water from questionable roadside wells or springs. These days, professional cyclists have team cars following them, and for mass participation events/sportives there are organised feed-stations along the route. You can still get some variety in the food though. In the early days of the Great Weston Ride you could get free fish and chips after you’d crossed the line. In Bike Bath I’ve had pasta served literally by hand (with gloves) out of a huge tub, during a thunderstorm. Not quite like the scavenger racers from the days of old!
and Dan Bellamy. The club’s juniors have entered the National Summer Junior league for the first time.
Details: www.pensfordtennisclub.co.uk or secretary@pensfordtennisclub.co.uk
APRIL CROSSWORD SOLUTION
ACROSS: 1. Unwrap 5. Blenheim 9. New Delhi 10. Pumice 11. Reorganising 13. Aqua 14. Wineskin 17. Mistreat 18. Cary 20. Port-Au-Prince 23. Marcus 24. Odysseys 25. Jettison 26. Earthy. DOWN: 2. Need 3. Redbreast 4. Pilton 5. Bridgewater Town 6. Exponent 7. Humus 8. Incendiary 12. Equivocate 15. Successor 16. Requests 19. Enzyme 21. Tacit 22. Fysh
