The Tandem Club

Chris and Chris organised the August ride for the Taunton and West Country Groups where 14 tandems and 2 solos assembled at The George Hotel in Castle Cary on a warm and overcast Saturday. Members Carol & Tim and Mandy & Mike were making their first foray into Group rides.
After pre-ride coffee and cakes we followed the South Somerset Cycle Route south out of town and through charming villages such as North Cadbury, South Cadbury (past the site of the Iron Age hill fort, Cadbury Castle) Corton Denham, Sandford Orcas and Trent.
Splendid “sheep dog” work was done by Malcolm to gather up strays that missed one of the many twists and turns.
Lunch was taken at The Lamb&Lark @ Limington and both very good service and meals were fully appreciated.
Following lunch a gentle return through Kingsdon and Babcary to Castle Cary completed the 35 miles of occasional undulations.
Afternoon tea and cakes were enjoyed by several at The George once more and an enjoyable event was concluded without any mishaps.

Having recently taken over the role of Regional Officer from John & Judith Skinner, we would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their hard work. Kay and I were approached to take over this role whilst on the International Tandem Rally in Oland Sweden. If you haven’t tried one of the clubs rallies, either National or International, we would highly recommend it.

We would love to hear from anyone in the region who would like to suggest or organise rides. Please make contact with John & Kay Fazakerley either by e-mail jdfazaks@yahoo.com or by phone 07581630033 we will endeavour to assist with the organisation and advertise the ride to our members.

Karl and Lisa organised the November ride for the Taunton Group where 8 tandems and 4 solos, including a recumbent, set out from Lutzy’s coffee shop at Exeter Quay. 

Fully satisfied with the home baked Portuguese tarts (the house speciality) we headed off for a level ride to Dawlish along the Exe Estuary. The weather couldn’t have been better, a cold sharp day with awesome clear blue sunny skies. We passed many train and bird spotters lining the way, giving them a rare but fabulous sighting of an exotic group of tandemists.

At the mid way point of 12 miles we visited Daisy’s Tearoom in Dawlish to sample their cakes and once again satisfied we headed back to Exeter Quay for a leisurely lunch at the Puerto Lounge.

Although this was a level ride, not too taxing!! it provided a chance to take in beautiful scenery and a chance to catch up with the happenings of the group along the Estuary.

Due to a poor weather forecast the decision has been made to cancel the ride out from Market Drayton on Sunday 12th August.