Ride report by Mark M
A cold, damp and foggy morning greeted Mark, Duncan and new member Andrew S. Chris wasn’t sure when his guests were leaving, so thought if he could get out he would meet us at the Star.
At Gresham church we found Doug, dressed for an arctic adventure, what will he wear when it does get cold?
We carried on to Bessingham, Thurgarton, Town Green, past Brian’s to Suffield, then Antingham. About half way down the Lyngate Road, we found that the road closed sign was correct for once, as tree felling was taking place, so we retraced our route and diverted along Pond Road, to collect Graham at North Walsham.
For a change, we took the Happisburgh Road out of town to White Horse Common, then to Briggate, Honing, East Ruston and Brumstead Common, here Chris caught up with us. When he could finally talk, he told us that he had reached PC at 10:21 and averaged 16 mph without stops to catch us, as it turned out he didn’t need to be so fast. Continuing on and turning opposite Sands Agricultural onto Brumstead Road and to the Star, we arrived about 10 mins before they opened, so we had to hang around the car park until they unlocked the door and were surprised to see us waiting.
Once inside, they quickly sorted out a big table, drinks and the menu, with the chef coming out to tell us that his home cooked ham and gammons had just come out of the oven. So, three of us had huge portions of ham, eggs and chips, the other three opting for equally large sandwiches. While we were having lunch, three other groups of people came in for lunch, so a popular place. We often cycle past it and finally made it our destination and I’m sure we will be back.
After lunch the day had improved considerably as the sun was out and the temperature had risen. As Chris had to see a man about a boat later in the afternoon, he set off while we got ready. We visited Happisburgh car park to see what had changed since our last visit on Sat 04/05/2024, when a huge section of cliff had been washed away, restricting access into the car park. The proposed new car park access road has not been built, though there are now granite boulder sea defences along the cliff base.
Shortly after leaving Happisburgh our route had to diverted again, this time due to cable works for the Vattenfall Wind Farm. We were soon back on course, through Ridlington, Witton, Pollard Street, Bacton Gas Terminal to Paston. Here we met Chris, who had stopped to try another tube in his rear Schwalbe Marathon Plus and then his Garmin had a fit and deleted all his routes, so now he was keen to join us!
It was on to Knapton and Trunch, where Graham left us for Southrepps and Cromer, the rest heading for Thorpe Market then Hanworth, here Andrew headed for Aldborough and Corpusty, Doug set off for Felbrigg and Cromer. The remaining trio continued to the final split at Gresham with Duncan heading for Holt, leaving Mark and Chris to return to a warm and sunny PC.
PC to PC was 50.6 miles at an average of 14.7 mph
Riders: Duncan S, Andrew S, Mark M, Doug H, Graham A, Chris S
Upcoming Rides –
Saturday 26th October – Fairhaven Gardens, South Walsham
Wednesday 30th October – Back to the Garden, Letheringsett
Routes for rides on the website under Dates and Destinations: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/
Visit the Clubs Runs Gallery for larger and more photos: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/club-runs/club-runs-photo-gallery/
North Norfolk Wheelers 