Five Wheelers met at PC for Harvey’s ride to Pensthorpe, with both Graham A and Graham J only going to ride part of the route.
With showers forecast and a cold and strong NNE wind, Harvey’s figure of eight route minimised the amount of headwind miles, though it was still a tough day out and my legs were pleased to reach the end.
The first 21 miles were easy and downwind and when the sun came out it was very warm. We went on the familiar route to Briston and picked Harvey up around Craymere Beck, then continued through Guestwick. Near the end of Peddlars Turnpike, Graham J had a puncture (Gatorskin), here the group split in two, with the Grahams going to leave the route at Foxley and go to Bawdeswell for coffee anyway and Harvey stopping to assist and then make his own way back home, leaving three to continue to Pensthorpe.
Between Billingford and N Elmham, Chris S decided to stretch his legs and left his companions in his dust. Regrouping in N Elmham we now headed north into the wind to Gately, Great Ryburgh and the testing bergs of Little Ryburgh before joining the main road for the last mile to the cafe.
Despite the wind and the cold, Pensthorpe and the café were fairly busy, though we found a table indoors with the sun streaming in through the window. I think the menu has changed since I last visited and I can recommend the Breakfast Bloomer, we all enjoyed our much needed lunches, knowing it would be harder work getting home. After a photo op in front of a plastic woolly mammoth it was time to head off.
These and more photos can be found here:
https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/club-runs-photo-gallery/
An initial uphill headwind section to Kettlestone was followed by a relatively easy 10 miles of crosswinds through Hindolveston, Thurning to Heydon Park, were we negotiated suicidal sheep before turning north east. This was the hardest leg with hedges providing some shelter from the wind but with the added bonus of being uphill from Itteringham, through Wickmere, Thurgarton, Sustead to Gresham.
As we recovered outside Gresham church, Ian asked about the grasshopper on the village sign, unable to receive a sensible answer from his companions, he said he would undertake painstaking research when he got home.
Three seconds of Google searching later he had fulfilled his quest:
“In 1571, the Royal Exchange opened in London. The building (or rather its Victorian replacement) still bears a golden grasshopper, the emblem of the Exchange’s founder Thomas Gresham. He chose this to commemorate one of his ancestors, who as an illegitimate baby was abandoned in a Norfolk field.”
https://londonist.com/london/secret/why-is-there-a-giant-grasshopper-on-the-royal-exchange
PC to PC was 57 miles at an average speed of 14.3 mph
Riders; Chris S, Ian A, Graham A, Graham J, Harvey, Mark M.
Upcoming Runs –
Wednesday 1st March – Junction 21, Themelthorpe
Saturday 4th March – Reepham Station
Routes for club runs and Wednesday rides on the website under Dates and Destinations: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/
North Norfolk Wheelers 