Month: November 2016

Bright and dry conditions greeted the 8 Wheelers who met at PC for the ride to Banningham.  Off we set towards Gresham but we were dodging freshly-cut hedge detritus.  We were 4 miles into the ride, just shy of Metton, when two punctures had to be fixed.  The first being caused by a very stubborn thorn that would not easily come out of the tyre; the second only being noticed when the first was fixed.  Malcolm joined us whist we were fixing things.  A third, this time slow, puncture revealed itself shortly afterwards.  By now we were seriously behind schedule and opted to shorten the outward run by some 5 miles. Ho hum!

Two more Wheelers met us at The Crown where we dined well – all 11 of us seated at the same table.

After lunch, the group split, with 6 heading off towards Tuttington.  And on we rode, only to see another puncture in Alysham.  The group returning to PC decided, wisely, to avoid the newly-trimmed hedge and approached via Matlask.

It was actually a good day out on nice lanes, but a bit stop/start in the morning.  We do need to avoid newly-cut hedgerows in future!

11 out.  35.1 miles PC to PC .  4 punctures.  1 lesson learnt.

5 Wheelers met at PC for Trevor’s ride to Cawston.  There was no rain in the forecast and some of the roads were even dry – whoopee!  And we had the welcome return of Stuart – things looked good.

The path to Cawston is well-trodden but Trevor had done some work on the route.  It started conventionally enough with us passing through Gresham and Itteringham.  At Itteringham we turned back north to find CJ riding in the opposite direction – this made him wonder if he had the venue right!  It was then off to Saxthorpe and the use of some seldom-ridden lanes to put us in Oulton for the final push to Cawston.  And push is a good word, because the wind had really hindered progress on the outward trip.

All Things Nice is an often-visited venue where we always dine well, and 4 more Wheelers met us there.  These included Geoff in shorts who admitted that this was a mistake!

After lunch we headed back to PC following the most direct route.

It wasn’t a blisteringly quick ride but it is winter and everyone was happy, which is what we are about.

Many thanks, Trevor, for putting this ride together.

9 out.  32 miles PC to PC.  1 puncture.

Hi all,

There is heavy rain forecast for tomorrow’s Drive and Ride.  Andrew and I have decided to cancel and reschedule the run for the spring next year.  This is a shame as these runs are always very enjoyable and Andrew has put a lot of effort into this one – still, next spring isn’t far away!

John