Join me as I cycle along the National Cycle Network Route 33 from Weston-Super-Mare stopping at The Owl In The Oak Cafe for lunch. I enjoy a gorgeous burger and Americano coffee before heading back home. On route I talk about litter, cycle clothing and my electric bike.
The Owl In The Oak cafe is located along Yeo Bank Lane, Clevedon, UK.
As a 58 year old retired cycle fan I want to encourage more senior people to get on their bike, any bike and explore the outside world. I talk about my low budget cycle equipment showing how you don’t need to spend much to have a great time.
The emphasis of this video is also to make the most of the time we have, you will often hear me say “Everyday is a gift” and “Living the dream”.
So what are you waiting for, come along with me, get some idea’s and….if you don’t do anything else……get on your bike and welcome nature into your life.
Hi, here we are again. It is uh Thursday the 11th of December and it’s approaching lunchtime. So, uh I thought what I’d do is go out for a a cycle ride um to a nice cafe. Um it’s about 11° centigrade. So, with the wind chill factor, I think the wind speed today is about 15 miles an hour. Um, so I’ve got my uh snood on top purchase bias. Very very useful for cold weather and uh kind of a balaclava thing going on which keeps your head nice and warm. So today we’re going to go to the Owl in the Wood, which is a rather nice cafe on the way to Cleaved when you go on the peer-to-peer uh cycle ride. Uh I like this cafe. I’ve been there a few times. Uh it’s a local cafe supported by local people that use local um um ingredients from the local area. So it’s very local. Um, but it does serve nice food. The people are lovely and it’s in a lovely location and it’s very popular with cyclists and ramblers and local residents walking their dogs and what have you. Local local community. Lovely place. So, we’re going to go there for lunch. I will video as much as this as I can. And I’m a bit wary of batteries being low because um didn’t charge him up from last time. I have put uh a music video on my site. It’s a Christmas one. So um if you like Christmas music, then that is worth a view. Anyway, it’s um it’s something past 12, so best crack on. And uh it’s going to take about uh 45 minutes to get there from here. Uh the weather is uh looking cloudy. A couple of blue bits up there, but on the whole it’s cloud. So um we shall make a move. But um we’re we’re nicely um layered. I think I’ve got about four or five layers on at the moment. So, um, we shouldn’t be, uh, we shouldn’t get cold at all. Uh, I’ll take you on the route and we will see what the owl in the oak is like today. So, uh, catch up with you soon. Okay, I’ve turned you on because uh we are now approaching Wick St. Lawrence Village and um I just wanted to say a couple of things really. First of all, I had an error code come up on my bike. The display is an SW 900 Sierra Whiskey 900. And the error error code was 09. And what that meant was uh the power was going to my display, but uh when I was accelerating there was no power driving the motor. So I don’t know what that’s all about. Um anyway uh what was I saying? Yes. And another thing I noticed was uh this is a lovely area. The hedges are maintained well. The buildings are all maintained well. The farms are nice. Really is very pretty. But it’s amazing how much litter is on the side of the roads and in the hedros. And I’m higher up on a bicycle and I can look down into those headphones and there is bags, a black bin line of bags. And it looks as though cuz some of them have been torn apart probably by foxes and stuff, but full of domestic rubbish. like nappies. I’ve seen loads of plastic bottles, fizzy pop bottles, um where somebody’s bought their sandwiches from the supermarket or a shop and uh the cardboard box that the sandwich came in just on the side of the road along with cans of drink and uh fast food um cartons of all sorts of descriptions. And this is a beautiful area. There we go. I’ve just gone. There’s a plastic container on the floor there that looks as though it’s one of those plastic containers that holds strawberries that you get from the supermarket just on the side of the road. Um, and I just don’t understand whether it’s people walking along, cyclists, people in cars. I mean, there’s one over the road there. What does that say? That is a large bag of crisps. The wrapper. I don’t think it’s not been day or anything. And some of these uh items have obviously been there for a while, but I just don’t And there’s another Chris packets. Chris packets everywhere. I don’t understand the mentality of why people can just chuck stuff on the ground and walk away. There was one there that was a a box that obviously held some biscuits, like Jaffa cakes at one point. You literally cycling along, you literally see something every 20 seconds. Not all the time, but um quite often. There’s a plastic bottle, drinks bottle. just passering out of there, but I didn’t quite catch it. But, uh, rubbish, which is a shame. So, uh, come on people. We can do better than this. It shouldn’t be down to the litter pickers now. I’ve got to go down here. This is a very good bicycle gate. I like this bicycle gate cuz if you’re towing a trailer, it’s easy to get through. So, uh anyway, this is the uh National Cycling Network uh Route 33. Been along here a few times. putting the litter to God, there was a bit of litter back there as well, honestly. And this is a cycle route. This is nothing to do with car drivers here. This is uh and a can. This is uh cyclists and uh pedestrians cuz there’s no traffic allowed along here. So, uh we’ll let the uh car drivers off for this stretch. But um yes, I guess it’s all of us in a way, but uh we can do better than this. You don’t have to check your litter on the floor. And if you’re one of them, shame on you. Anyway, moving on. It’s a lovely day. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Although it’s a little bit windy. I think I’m cycling with the wind at the moment. But look at the countryside. No rain today until about 8:00 this evening. So that won’t affect us at all. We’ve got uh Cleaved in front of us that we are slowly approaching. We’re on the peer-to-peer cycle route. And um if you do get the opportunity of riding a bike, going for a walk, this is a very pleasant cycle route. Very pleasant indeed. Just harping back to litter. I haven’t seen much litter along here at all really. There’s a couple of bits, but nothing significant. So, it’s uh it’s the main road that uh the main road, the road through the village or the country road where most of the litter is. Outrageous. But moving on. So, um I I wanted to just say a bit about uh what I use, what I wear for cycling. So, during I I’ve got one of these jackets. In fact, I’m wearing it at the moment. I don’t know how it works, the science behind it, but it is super fluorescent. You shine a light on it and you shine up like a beacon. It’s very good. I think I got it from a mountain warehouse about 60 something like that. And uh it’s uh waterproof so it keeps the wind out and uh keeps the wind out and uh it is a great top layer to wear and it’s very light. Oh yeah. And then below that, I’ve got just uh three layers, I think it is. Yeah, three layers. And that’s uh you know, in these temperatures. What did I say? It was up through 11° today. That’s more than enough. That’s fine. Got a snood. Absolutely essential. Get a snood. If there’s one thing you do, buy a snood. Well, after you’ve bought your helmet and lights for the bike. We’re talking of which I was on the A370 with a friend of mine yesterday. It’s a busy main road that goes from Congress to Western Superman this stretch. And we saw I think it was two possibly three cyclists. Two of them were on the road. One of them was wearing all the Lyra stuff and it was dark and they had no I kid you not they had no lights. How could you go onto a busy Do they not respect their own life going onto a busy main road with uh HGVs busy traffic when it’s dark and they choose to do that with no bicycle lights. I mean, people need to be protected from themselves. They really do. Absolute insanity. I mean, you could you couldn’t make it up, but there we go. Anyway, so helmet, bike lights, and then a snood and a waterproof coat. And I’ve got like a balaclava thing to put around the head, which is great for keeping your head warm and uh keeping your ears warm cuz I’ve got short hair, so that is pretty essential. Um the snood was only a few pounds off Amazon, as was the balaclava gadget thing that I got. Um not very expensive at all. As it gets colder, we move into uh more waterproof type gear, which I’ll talk about another time, but um I don’t really go for the um designer stuff. I tend to buy something that is unbranded. But uh anyway, look, here we are. This is the Owl in the Oak Cafe and it’s open and the sign says come on in which is exactly what we will do. I was a little bit worried, I have to say, thinking that it may be closed, but fortunately it’s open. So, I just park up and uh we’ll go inside. If it’s uh busy, I won’t do a video because people don’t want uh somebody shoving a video in their face whilst they’re having their food. But if it’s quiet, I’ll do a video. But I’ll I’ll take some photos if uh all else fails. But um this is a lovely spot. Uh National Cycle Network 33. It’s in between um Western Superare and Cleaved Dub. A great little stop for um cyclists, ramblers, and local residents. As you can see, you’ve got a uh an eating out area, which is great in the summer. And if it does rain, there’s somewhere to keep your bike um in the dry. But as you can see, it’s a lovely spot. I’ll just show you the entrance. The entrance is through there. At the front of the cafe, they’ve got a little pond. And the little pond has got ducks and all that sort of thing. Someone’s left their bike behind. It’s been there for a few years. Bit of rust on it. And as you can see, this is the cycle route. And there we’ve got the owl in the oak. This direction goes to Cleveland. And if I turn you around, this direction goes to Western. And they’ve got a nice little A-frame here. The Owl in the Oak Cafe. So, we’ll go inside and uh we’ll have a bite to eat. Just to confirm, this is the uh the high viz jacket which is uh very shiny when somebody shines a light on it. It’s some sort of reflective material. I found this to be the best material uh for making yourself seen. at night or when it gets twilight. And uh I should actually do a thumbnail while I’m here. Owl in the oak. Let’s see if I can get that. Get it by the sign. That’ll be a lovely thumbnail. There we go. How’s that for a thumbnail? It’s almost as though it were planned. Anyway, let’s do one of the building as well in case for some reason that doesn’t work out. There we go. That’s nice. Right, we’ll go inside and uh see what the food’s like. Being a tour, I’m very excited about this because uh I love food. So, uh onwards. So Oh my god. Okay, so that was uh lunch at the owl in the oak. So I had a americano with hot milk. Um, and uh, I also had their burger and the total was approximately £19 something. So, it’s 20 quid. Um, and I had to wait 10 minutes for that burger. And what can I say? It was absolutely gorgeous. Um, that burger is a beast. Um lovely fresh burger with lovely salad. Um salad inside the burger and salad on the side with some coleslaw which I assume was uh homemade. It was gorgeous. Um so you could argue £20 is a bit expensive but look at the location. It’s in the countryside. The food’s gorgeous. The setting is gorgeous. The wildlife is gorgeous. There’s a wildlife everywhere. And the quality of the food is second to none. And compared to Well, so what did I have? A burger. So, compared to McDonald’s, I mean, this place is on a different different league. It puts McDonald’s to shame. U you’re paying more, but I mean the the quality of the food, the setting, it’s just wonderful. So, if you can support uh cafes like this, um if we just cycle past them all the time and we don’t support them, they will close. So, they uh you know, give them your business. It’s a lovely place. Um, they’re doing wonderful things. It’s it’s all local. Everything’s local and the staff are local. It’s just a wonderful place. Can’t recommend it enough. I would give it a 10 out of 10 any day. Um, so anyway, what more can I say? It’s it’s it’s a wonderful place. Owl in the Oak on the way cycle footpath. Um, it is actually on a main a road. You can drive here. Don’t know the name of the road. I’ll put a slide of uh photographs inside. I don’t like taking videos inside um restaurants and cafes and things because uh members of the public don’t want uh they don’t want uh to be on somebody’s video. They just want to go in there and eat their food. So, I’ve taken some stills when people have left and what have you. Um so, you can see what it’s like inside. and I’ll upload a uh um copy of their menu. But uh I’m walking around so you can see the location. It’s on the cycle network 33 in the middle of Western Superare and Cleaved the Peerto-Peer route. Stop off here. Wonderful place. It looks as though they’re doing reefs at the moment. Um, so while you’re here, you could purchase a reef, but uh yeah, lovely inside. Uh, here we have the bicycle. Chain’s a bit rusty actually. Um, I could do with uh well, I could certainly do with cleaning the bike, that’s for sure. But, um, I noticed that it was raining last time I went out on the bike. And uh the chain’s a bit rusty. That’s not a good sign, is it? So I need to um give her a bit of a show her a bit of love. Give her a wash and a wipe down and oil. But um anyway, as you can see, I have got my I mean, this is a low crime area, so I didn’t go overboard with the locks, but this is my padlock here. As you can see, one padlock. I’ve got my zip tie lock just about there. Don’t know if you can see that. That is very effective. Very sneaky. That would be hard to spot that one. I’ve also got my derailer lock on. Just did I say derailure lock? Front disc brake lock. Derail’s got nothing to do with a derailia. Um, and then finally, I’ve got my hidden movement sensor gadget. Let me give you an example of what this is like. Look at that. How sensitive is that? So, uh, anyway, I better switch that off else, um, somebody will think that a car’s being broken into. Um, so that was the cafe. I will uh make my way back home now and uh do a bit of video on the way back and uh have a chat about stuff as and when something happens on the way back. No rain, which is wonderful. So, uh onwards. Okay. Well, we’re about to go on the Western Cleveland and Portis Head Railway that is now part of the peer-to-peer national cycle route 33. Um, so yeah, this used to be the old railway line between Western and uh Cleveland. Very nice. So, we could have obviously carried on to Cleaved if I’d have had more time, but um I don’t know what the time is now. It’s something past 2:00 and uh things to do. So, I’ve got to head back. Um I was talking about gear, wasn’t I? So, hello cows. They look pretty muddy. Um yeah, so I was talking about so my bicycle my bicycle is a um a Carrera Crossman 2 sort of a hybrid mountain bike. I like it. Um it’s obviously been converted to electric which makes it absolutely awesome. because you can cycle to places. You can put as much effort as you want into it as you like, but it gives you access to so many places that maybe you couldn’t normally go to if you weren’t fit enough or what have you. So, um I paid about £1,200 for the bike. Somebody um somebody sold me the bike from Birmingham and uh they obviously put them together, you know, electrify them. This is bizarre. Look, see if I can I don’t know if you’re going to be able to see this. I will just turn now. Grass fields. I don’t know if you can see that. If I just stop in front, there’s like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. There’s got to be about 30 swans there. And they’re in the grass field. What’s that all about? Why aren’t they in the water or by the um by the water generally? Why are they in a grass field? Anyway, what do I know? Move on. Um yeah, so this guy uh converts these bikes. Uh I bought it off him. Um and um I must say it’s wonderful. absolutely wonderful the freedom that it gives you. Um it’s great. Anyway, so the bike was about and then by the time you put your panas on your bags and other bits and pieces, I bought a trailer as well cuz I like to do a bit of camping. What I do in uh January, February and March, I go to um I go to caravans caravan sites like a havens park dean. um can’t remember the other one but anyway um so in the January February March time I can I can rent a lodge which would fit four to six people um for about just under40 a day and uh so I I book these places Monday to Friday And um there’s another swan over there on its own in the in the field. All on its own eating grass on its own. Poor thing. Anyway, um what’s a swan do in the middle of a grass field. Um and uh yeah, Monday to Friday I use it as a base and I put the car in the uh put the bike in the car and uh go off to the south coast and uh I’ll be doing a video. I think I’m going to v didn’t video it last year. Went a few times, but I’m going to video them this year. And um and uh yeah, I use the caravan or lodge depending on what I rent as a base and go off cycling. Uh last year I went to um by Regis. Ha. Um, I won’t be going there again because um, it’s as hilly as you like and it absolutely hammers the battery. So, um, I mean I’ll go down to that part of the country, but I won’t go into Limery just because it’s very hilly. Like seriously hilly. Um, yeah. So, um I’ve got that lined up next month. Uh January, February, March, one week. My partner would uh be very unhappy if I went for more than uh 5 days cuz she has to work. And uh anyway so um so for uh Monday to Friday um in January, February and March I will be off on me bike renting a caravan or a lodge. Really looking forward to it. Um they’re a bargain. Why me more people don’t do it I have no idea but uh it’s really good fun. So, and of course, I mean, I get um like two or three bedrooms in, especially if you get the lodge, two or three bedrooms with um a couple of uh bathrooms. Uh all the gas and electric that I could possibly burn. Um, and uh, obviously it includes your accommodation, £40 a day. In fact, there’s one place I go to. And they’ve even got a spa on site, and the spa facilities are included. Absolute insanity. So, I can go out on the bike, come back, and uh, use the spa facilities. They’ve even got a bar on site with a restaurant. Um, I mean, what’s not to like? Absolute bargain. What a way to spend the winter. And of course, I can uh charge up the battery while I’m there, ready for the following day. Awesome. So, that’s to uh that’s to come for next year. Well, next month. It’s already in December. So, uh, we are looking forward to that. Um, I like to take a trailer when I go camping, not when I’m going to the caravans and that cuz I I don’t need the trailer because I’m staying in a caravan or a lodge, but when I do my camping in the summer, I like to take a trailer because you haven’t got to worry about the weight of things. I’ve got quite a bit of freedom with space and so you know with electric motor as well um I can um I can be a bit lax on how much things weigh. So um so I’ve got a trailer. The only problem with the trailer is when you go to cycle pass, you got to watch out because some of the gates are not very trailer friendly. You can just about get a bicycle through, but if you’re long, then you can’t get through the gates and you got to take the tra Oh, that’s a nightmare. So, I tend to stick to more uh roads, footpaths and things when I’ve got the trader on. Anyway, I shall do a video this year of that as well. Um, because you don’t see that many people towing trailers on bicycles. And when you do, they’ve either got kids in it or they’ve got the dog in it or maybe carrying some shopping, but you don’t see a lot of videos with bikes with trailers. And the trailers are awesome. They really are. Anyway, maybe if I do a video, it’ll encourage people to buy a trailer. So, we’re coming into uh Wix and Lawrence. If you remember, I did a video here where they’ve got the church and uh there’s an A-frame outside and it says that people are welcome to come in and uh make themselves a cup of tea and what have you. An absolutely fantastic facility. And um yeah, if you’re coming this way, I would definitely recommend popping in and you can even leave a um financial contribution or um they’ve got a card card reader that you just tap. So, you type in how much you’d like to donate and uh tap this card reader that’s on the wall. Very good. A really nice um service. Shame more people aren’t thoughtful and generous. Here it is here. Church is open. Refreshments available inside. We hope you enjoy the peace and quiet of our church. They are a credit to their community. That is the second lorry that’s passed us. Normally this road is very quiet. And that is a second lorry. people putting their Christmas lights up. Very nice. Just round a corner here is uh some chairs as we leave the village. That’s the village hall in front. But to the right is a little parking area and there’s some chairs. That’s a nice place to uh stop and uh if you got your stove with you, have a little bit of a brew in the summer. Yeah, just that you can’t actually see it. It’s to my right, but um there’s a couple of chairs where you can sit down. Uh this is quite a quiet road. So um it’s quite peaceful. You can watch all the wildlife. Lovely. I must say, I don’t know if it’s my glasses, but the green grass in the fields looks very green. Is it my glasses? Yeah. Anyway, more of that litter. I can see bags of litter. Can’t get my head around people throw. Should I show? No, I won’t show you. You don’t need to see litter. Well, look at this. Look. See if I can capture this. I don’t know if you can see the litter. I don’t know if the camera’s going to pick it up, but uh someone’s obviously finished their quality straight. And we’ve got all sorts of plastic bags. How can you just chuck it in a ditch? Plastic bottles, milkshake bottles, bottles of gin. Terrible. Not what you want to see in the countryside ditch. I’d love to know who uh who chucks their rubbish in the countryside ditches or out the car window. or if it’s a pedestrian or a cyclist who would just chuck their litter on the floor, put it in your pocket, take it home, do the right thing. I got to let that go. But it is so annoying when you see it. Anyway, around the corner here, uh, I’ll be going over a bridge. It’s only a little bridge. It’s one of the smallest bridges you ever did see. And, uh, it’s quite a nice bridge. It’s got, uh, water going underneath it. And, uh, you can often see ducks. Not as nice at this time of year, but in the summer it’s beautiful. And I always mean to stop and uh hia I always mean to stop and uh record it on the camera. Car behind. Now is that car coming this way? I bet it is. I shall stop here so that I can It is as well. I’ll stop here so that I can let the car pass. Oh, it’s two and show you. Oh god. And there’s a there’s a car coming as well. I’ve never known this place so busy. Normally you don’t see anything. And the one time I want to film there are cars. So, uh, what do they say? Murphy’s law. Sods law. I don’t know. Oh, no. There’s a car behind me now. Oh, rats. I’m going to have to go back and show you. I can’t talk. Oh, that’s the van man. Not happy about having a cyclist in front. Yeah, I can’t talk this up and then not show you. Oh, actually, should I do it from there? No, I do. Here we go. Look. Isn’t that a beautiful site? Can you see the There are ducks on the river. Well, river on the water. um looks better in the summer probably, but uh you you go over this bridge and uh you don’t realize um how pretty it looks. But in the um winter things never look quite as nice, do they? As during the day, in the in the summer months, I remember I shall show you in the summer. Gosh, another car. There’s a lot of traffic coming this way. Maybe there’s some road work somewhere. I don’t know. So, we are uh obviously getting closer now to the outskirts of uh world. Now when um cyclists uh cyclists pedestrians are walking on the road, I believe you should walk on the other side of the road, but you’re facing the oncoming traffic. Is that not right? That’s what I think. Um, anyway, it’s a quiet road, so um it’s not not really an issue, is it? I got a car behind me. I think they’re quite uh keen to get past me. There, he’ll go now. I will say though on the whole I rarely get an issue with um a motorist. Everybody seems to be, you know, it’s easy to criticize and uh motorists, if they’re not cyclists, then they don’t realize the uh issues that cyclists have and cyclists probably don’t realize some of the issues that motorists have. But um as a driver and a cyclist, I must say on the whole, I don’t know if it’s cuz we’re in the southwest and maybe things are a bit more laidback around here, but uh I rarely have an issue with uh somebody driving a car or a lorry. very rarely. In fact, more often than not, people are very generous and give you lots of room. Apart from the A370 between Western and Congress, that road is a death trap, as is the cycle path in parts because it’s so busy. And that footpath in parts is very narrow, easy to slip onto the road and it would be onto incoming traffic. Not very good at all. But apart from that, the roads generally are uh very pleasant. you get off the beaten track and you go along the uh country lanes. It’s lovely. So, um anyway, we are coming towards the end of our cycle ride today. We’re just going past just going past the Ebton Road crerematorium and cemetery which uh from November to February closes at 5:00. From March to October closes at 6:00, April to September it’s seven. And for the rest of the year it’s eight. anybody that’s remotely interested, which will probably be nobody. So, we’ll go this way home the way we came because it’s prettier and there’ll be less traffic off the main road. Takes slightly longer, but it’s a far prettier ride. So, uh, I think what I’ll do is I’ll switch you off and switch you back on again when we arrive. Okay, we are back. Um, that was only about 11 miles, so quite a short cycle ride really. So, uh, anyway, that was the Owl in the Oak Cafe. Uh, very nice. Uh, lovely food, lovely people, lovely setting. Um, I would say it’s uh it’s a little bit on the deer side. However, it is a lovely setting. It’s all local produce. It’s all cooked fresh. Um, you know, you wait 10 minutes for your burger and it comes out piping hot. Um, quality ingredients. Um, it’s all locally sourced. Uh so um I think it’s definitely worth paying a little bit extra for. So, uh if you are passing um do pop in because um you know we need to support our local businesses uh cuz they care about the community probably more so than some of the national and international food establishments that are around where they don’t really give a monkeys about the local community as long as they uh keep the shareholders happy. um not really in our best interests and all the ingredients, raw quality at, uh at the Owl in the Oak Cafe. So, uh thumbs up to them. Um I, uh kind of got sidetracked a little bit cuz I was talking about some equipment and my bike and that. Um but uh anyway, I shall uh talk about equipment and things um on another video. Um, I’m going to uh make a song about golf. Um, I play golf couple of three times a week and um anyway, so look out for that if you like that sort of thing. Tend to do a bit of everything on this YouTube channel. Is it a channel site? My site, whatever it is anyway. So, um, that would be interesting. And uh yeah, maybe more of an update on uh those holidays that I’m going to go on, little cycling adventures in January, February, March. Um looking forward to that as well. Um so, uh what’s left to do? Edit this video and get it on YouTube in the next couple of days. Um if you are watching, thank you very much for doing so. I hope you enjoyed the day out and uh you know if you do go cycling around Western then um these videos will give you an idea as to sort of coffee shops that you can go to on your journey. Um like and subscribe if you feel that that’s uh a good thing to do. um can’t say it makes much of a difference to me, but uh everybody seems to say it and these algorithms, whatever that is. Um and uh anyway, that’s it. I’m going to go off now and do meaningful things. I will be putting Christmas lights along the house. Got some rather tasteful white yellowy colored Christmas lights that will look perfect along the guttering of the house. It’s going to look beautiful because um what are we 11th of December? So coming towards Christmas. Anyway, I sense I’m waffling. I shall look forward to uh um seeing you guys soon and uh take care and uh you really need to treat every day as a very special day because it’s important that we all live the dream. Every day is a gift.
2 Comments
I love watching the U.K. sometimes it seems brutal though yet refreshing. Here it's dry and typically windy 😏
What's a snood?