Month: December 2022

With the regular Wednesday Wheelers busy with family or recovering from injuries and with the forecast set to rain all day, it was no surprise that only the ride leader waited in the rain at PC.

As a shorter winter ride, it was a fairly direct clockwise route via Hanworth, Thorpe Market, North Walsham to Briggate. From here the strong south westerly wind became more noticeable as the route turned into it, through Worstead, past Tunstead Church and on to Coltishall.
After a brief stop outside the Rising Sun to check no other Wheelers had arrived and deciding that I’d skip the lunch stop as I had eaten plenty over Christmas, I headed for home, with the bonus of the wind on my back.

Again the route was direct and familiar, St James, Lamas, Brampton, Aylsham, Ingworth, Wickmere, Gresham to PC.
The ride was uneventful, though the forecast was correct, it rained the whole ride and there was a lot of standing water and leaf mulch on the roads, though the day was surprisingly mild.

PC to PC was 45.1 miles with an average speed of 14.3mph.
Rider – Mark M

Upcoming Rides – Saturday 31st to the Lighthouse, Walcott
Wednesday 4th January to a new venue, the Lemon & Rosemary Yard, Elsing (formerly the Mermaid pub)
Routes for rides on the website under Dates and Destinations: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/

The pre-Christmas run was scheduled initially for the 23rd, but Friday’s all day rain caused a sensible postponement to a beautiful sunny Christmas Eve. Only the ever-keen Brian and a diminishingly keen Harvey could make it for what became an impromptu ride to the Grey Seal Coffee House in the Bayfield estate’s converted barns at Glandford.

It was a fairly devious route out to the Glaven valley, taking in Bodham Hill, Baconsthorpe, Selbrigg, Salthouse Heath, Swan Lodge, Cley Newgate, the Glandford ford (stopping on the footbridge to discuss the value of water to the bushmen of the Kalahari Desert), the long climb up the back of the Downs, the descent to Wiveton village, Wiveton Hall cafe (closed until 10th February) and back through Wiveton to the Grey Seal for excellent coffee and a snack. It was than back over the ford, up onto the heath, Bridge Road, Lower Bodham, a split at Red Barn Lane and home early.

47 miles.

After some pre-ride discussions about the quantity of precipitation and the subsequent reassurances from the ride leader and chief meteorologist that very soon the clouds would give way to uninterrupted sunshine, four Wheelers met at PC in light rain, which then continued for the rest of the morning. In fact the sun remained elusive until somewhere around Southrepps on the return leg, but we did see the sun, so I will count that as a win.

As it was the shortest day of the year, our route was fairly direct, heading south east through Hunworth, Suffield, Felmingham to Swanton Abbott where we were pleased to be joined by John S, braving the weather to have lunch with us.
We continued through Worstead, then north via Honing, and Pollard Street looking forward to warmth and sustenance at our planned destination Watsons of Bacton, alas the Christmas holidays had come early and they were shut.

We quickly decided to go to Café Carmel (Brian P’s favourite café), it is very small and they were full, so we moved on again into driving rain to the Kingfisher café at Walcott, now closed for the season. With dissent in the ranks growing, we headed to the ever reliable Lighthouse Inn at Walcott, which was open, mutiny averted.

While everyone else ordered warming soup, the ride leader decided that the steak and ale pie was too good to miss and when it arrived it looked as if it was a portion for two. Every last morsel was delicious! We then decided that mince pies would round off the meal nicely, so we tested the kitchen by ordering them with a choice of cream, brandy butter, ice cream or custard. With one Wheeler choosing both brandy butter and ice cream (Chris). See Ian’s photo evidence in the Club Run Gallery: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/club-runs-photo-gallery/

As we reluctantly left, we were pleased to see that the rain had stopped and the wind was in our favour, though it remained cold. John S headed back south as we made our way to Bacton and picked up the original route home.

Around the back of the gas terminal to Paston and then through a very deserted Mundesley, onto Gimmingham, along the recently reopened Wellspring Road (closed for years due to Badgers- it’s true), Northrepps, Metton to the split at Gresham.
Did I mention the sun had come out.

PC to PC with our lunch detour was 47.6 miles at a 14.1mph average.
Riders – Andrew A, Chris S, Ian A (photography), John S and Mark M leading.

Upcoming Rides – Saturday 24th to Letheringsett
Wednesday 28th, the Rising Sun, Coltishall – I have checked it is open and serving food!
Routes for both rides on the website under Dates and Destinations: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/

With the Saturday ride postponed to Monday due to the recent freezing and icy conditions, plus it being Christmas week, it was not too surprising that only three Wheelers met at PC, and one of those wishing he hadn’t but more on that later.

The overnight rise in temperature was dramatic, with the ice melting and leaving a lot of standing water and messy roads. A warm, strong southerly wind made us feel overdressed as we worked fairly hard on our way south down to Itteringham.
We took some respite from the wind as we turned south east along the Itteringham Common road and all was going well until we reached Blickling Mill. Here the road often floods and we were expecting that, but on this occasion the water was only on the sides of the road and the centre was dry and appeared to be covered in the usual mud, leaves and gravel.

As the leading rider, I noticed a slip from my front wheel as I went over it but assumed it was due to loose gravel, unfortunately it was frozen, icy crud and Graham A lost his front wheel as he went over it and down he went. To add insult to injury, he then ended up in the puddle at the side of the road that he had been trying to avoid.
So we picked him up and dusted him down, checking for any obvious injuries and let him recover from the shock of hitting the tarmac. Once he had gathered himself, he decided it was best to cut the ride short and head back to Cromer via Ingworth and Erpingham, before the inevitable bruising took hold.

So, the remaining duo continued via Blickling, Cawston, Swannington and the Witchinghams to Reepham Station, where we found Harvey, who had already had his lunch, though he joined us for a chat and then for the wind assisted ride back home.
The ride home was a shorter and more direct route, heading out towards Kerdiston then to Wood Dalling, Corpusty, Edgefield and Plumstead, where we all split for our respective homes.

A post ride report from Graham A, said he had got home ok and later went for check-up at Cromer’s minor injury clinic, where an X-Ray found an aggravation to an old injury plus a broken rib. He now has an appointment at the fracture clinic at the Norfolk and Norwich on Friday. Let’s hope he makes a speedy recovery.

PC to PC was 44 miles at an average speed of 12.6 mph.
Riders were Brian P, Graham A, Mark M and Harvey for the return leg.

Next Saturday 24th is Christmas Eve and so the ride has been brought forward to Friday 23rd, 10am start at PC, going to Back to the Garden at Letheringsett. The next Saturday ride will be on January 7th.
There is a post Christmas ride on Wednesday 28th to Coltishall, if you feel the need to burn off a few mince pies.

With the Wednesday ride postponed to Thursday over fears of showers, only one Wheeler braved the Thursday morning cold.
With a moderate but cold NW wind blowing in dark clouds across the coast, the lone Wheeler headed south and was soon greeted by sunshine. That sunshine remained for most of the ride, only turning to dark clouds and the odd spot of rain close to West Beckham on the return leg.
What was noticeable though as the route headed south of Corpusty was the first frost seen on a club ride this winter. The frost was clearly evident on the goat track (classified as a road) west from Heydon Park, through Norton Corner to Tyby, where the overhanging trees had kept the road wet and covered in mud and leaf mulch, which produced a frosty crunch under the wheels.

Around Foulsham the temperature dropped lower and there was more frost on the verges and some ice on the top of puddles, though the roads themselves were mainly dry and free of mud and frost, which was a relief on the descent down to Bintree Mill.
The route now started to turn into the wind for the next few miles through Gately, Horningtoft, Oxwick to the Tittleshall Road and the fast descent down Beacon Hill to Hempton and to the Garden Centre.

As Thursday is Market Day in Fakenham, the garden centre car park was very busy, so as I was alone, I decided to give lunch a miss and continued on some back lanes around Fakenham to the Thorpland road, Great Snoring, Hindringham, Field Dalling and Saxlingham.
At Saxlingham our route planner for the day, Graham A, had incorporated a track known as Tansy Lane. It was also noted that absent from the day’s ride was Graham A but also Ian A with his gravel bike with 38mm grippy tyres, ideal for such a track.
So for ride report completeness I set off down the track on 25mm Gatorskins. The first part was hard packed stone and water filled holes, not too bad, this then turned to two muddy tractor tracks and water filled holes which offered only occasional traction and a rough grass central strip which provided a little more traction, plus there was no end in sight.
Eventually the end was reached with the bonus that the water filled holes had washed my brakes and mudguards clean of the mud acquired earlier in the ride.

Then it was a long downhill into Letheringset followed by the long uphill to Holt, through Holt to High Kelling and the regular route back to PC.

PC to PC was 53.6 miles at a 13.9mph average. Home by 2:15pm, quick bike wash then plenty of tea and biscuits!
Rider – Mark M

Next week’s ride is to the Old Reading Rooms, Kelling (plenty of tea, hot soup and cakes), 40 miles: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2100957

With a strong easterly wind and rain greeting Wheelers as they awoke, it was a surprise to find that five had ventured out to PC. The rain as forecast had stopped by 10am and we didn’t see any all day, the easterly wind helped us as we headed SW down to Hoe and had eased on the return leg and the sun came out! As we returned to PC we were treated to the sight of the sun setting, squashed between clouds and the moon rising in a clear sky.

Harvey’s route was a fairly direct run through Briston, Foulsham and south of Bintree we met Harvey heading north. So after a quick chat we left Harvey and continued to Billingford, Worthing, Hoe, all ready for a good feed at the Fork.

Alas, the Fork and Corners garden centre has permanently closed, the lease has expired. Who knows what it will become next, probably housing.
So, we decided to re-route to Darbys at Swanton Morley which was just off the planed route and re-join the route further on. Swanton Morley seemed to have grown in size as we approached from the south west, which caused some confusion as to where the pub was, Brian was keen to get into the first pub he saw, but we pressed on downhill and found Darbys.

They had a big party coming in for lunch and were keen for us to order quickly to free the kitchen up, which we were happy to do and then we could enjoy the warmth of the woodburner and general ambience.
We all enjoyed our different meals, though Andrew’s choice of just a starter failed to satisfy him, but the huge wedge of cake that followed seemed to do the trick.

Reluctantly we left the warmth and ventured back out into the cold. Brian, reinvigorated having had his Senior Special fish and chips, was keen to get going so he led the way and took us to Elsing. We stopped at the old Mermaid pub, which is reopening on Dec 14th as the Lemon & Rosemary Yard Café & Deli. We had a quick word with one of the proprietors about their progress and told them we would be back to try out the coffee and cakes.

We continued through Bawdeswell, Foxley, Corpusty, past Mannington Hall, where Brian turned off for home and the rest continued to the next split at Red Barn Lane and back to PC.

Riders were, Brian P, Chris S, Andrew A, Ian A, Mark M.
PC to PC was 53.6 miles at an average speed of 13.7mph
Next week’s ride (10th Dec) is to No.77 Café, Coltishall