There aren't many blokes as nice as Deadly Dan. When my hardtail mountain bike seemed to be done for in the middle of August after doing its best to get round Penmachno, Dan told me that he could repair it. Apparently, it needed a new headset. Right, I nodded, blinking at him in the bright Welsh sunlight, unsure of what a headset was. Upon returning to the internet, and some confusing searches and conversations online, I discovered that what I needed was a FSA no11. What I actually ended up with was a small cardboard box labelled INTENSITY UNLIMITED steel semi-integrated aheadset (yes, aheadset, that's not a typo.) Inside was a collection of differently sized steel rings and some bearings. After quickly deciding I wasn't going anywhere near it, I patiently waited for Dan to have some spare time to fit it for me... I didn't have to wait long: Dan gave up his Saturday morning and appeared at my front door, before he had even had breakfast, with a very heavy toolbox and a determined attitude. He didn't even flinch as my dogs barked and jumped around him, such was his focus on the task at hand. After brief pause for homemade cake and redbush tea, we went to examine the patient. I had already stripped the fork as much as I could, removing the brake, stem and handlebar. After some confident bashing with a rubber mallet and 'The Persuader' (Dan's granddad's wooden mallet), we had removed all of the rusty mashed up bits of headset that Penmachno had chewed up and spat out. Dan then had me clean and grease the headtube before he put the new headset in.
We then took the opportunity to drop my stem down a little bit - Dan assures me this will help stability when descending! After a celebratory second helping of homemade cake and tea, Dan shot off to work and Lucy and I went round to visit a newborn addition to the family (welcome, Sidney Joe!) Upon returning home, Tilly helped me set up the brakes after I had put in new pads. I also put on a Bontrager saddle - replacing the old Halford's own model that had split. Then I set off on a test run.
After about three miles, I realised that the bike was painfully slow - I was still running Penmachno pressures of 20psi! I popped in to Uncle Jonnie's place to bring the pressures up to 50psi and then turned the bike towards the canal towpath. On the canal, the bike was running beautifully and I could have quite happily carried on right down to Stratford! I didn't notice any difference with the dropped stem but I did notice the Bontrager saddle - that thing is hard!
The priority for this weekend was to fetch the mountain bike from the caravan so it can be repaired in readiness for my 40th birthday cycle at Cannock Chase on the 27th of September. Lucy and I drove to Wales with the dogs on Saturday morning and arrived at about 3pm. Lucy was suffering the effects of the night before and opted to read the Times in the caravan while I walked the boys down on the beach. At about 6, Lucy and I walked into Tywyn for our dinner. I had reserved a table at a high-street restaurant called Proper Gander. Neither of us had visited the place before but had read good things about it on the interweb. We received a friendly welcome from the owner who was manning the tiny bar downstairs. He advised me on ales and kept us up to date with the Villa v Liverpool game. He was serving bottles of local Cadar Ales which are brewed less than 20 miles from the restaurant in Dolgellau, and I was eager to tell my story about climbing Cadar Idris. I tried two ales during my visit: TPA and Cader Gold. I was surprised to see that the owner was storing the bottles in a fridge and was even more surprised to see that the label of the Cader Gold recommended that the ale is to be served chilled! However, I will be sampling the bottles of Cader Ales which Lucy bought me at room temperature I think (Lucy was kind enough to buy a selection of the ales and a pint glass for me as an early birthday present!) The TPA was too bitter to be classed as one of my favourite ales but was still an enjoyable pint. The Cader Gold, however, was a wonderfully tasty, smooth beer and one I'll be on the look out for. The meal was fantastic. Everything was freshly made, without a hint of a packet or tin anywhere. The bread was hot, the soup was steaming. For my main, I chose liver and onions - a meal I hadn't tasted since I left university. It was the best meal I have ever had in a restaurant. Ever. Everything about it was perfect - tender pieces of liver served with mustard mash and a rich onion gravy containing strips of bacon. I ate slowly because I didn't want it to end.
Lucy went for the chicken and the portion was beautifully presented and there was lots of it! Her roasted vegetables came in a cloth bag tied with string. We don't know why, but it looked very nice. She couldn't finish her dinner. The staff were helpful and friendly and the prices were a little cheaper than I had anticipated. We had two courses and two drinks each, for a total of £44. The only criticism was the décor - The place was a bit tatty (but certainly not dirty) with some terrible wallpapers. It did feel as if you were sitting in someone's front room! We enjoyed the singing voice of the chef from the kitchen next door. We emerged from Proper Gander with a strong desire to return there again next year. Highly recommended.
