Ride report by Ian A
On yet another day that promised wall to wall sunshine (or should that be wheel to wheel?) with above average temperatures, five Wheelers met at PC for the second ride out to The Chequers pub at Hainford. With Mark leading, the five headed out via West Beckham and Lower Bodhan to pick Ian up at the Selbrigg Pond junction. Winter Longs had been discarded and replaced with shorts/knickers by most if not all of us (Doug what were you thinking!) and a fair number of calves honed by winter training were on display. These ranged from chicken drumsticks to medium-sized legs of lamb. And a bit more on dress-code later. [Note: The previous evening, 39 toads had been rescued crossing the road from the woods near Selbrigg Pond by the local Toadwatch patrol, 3 toads were lost (i.e. run over) and 3 frogs saved. The warmer evenings have kick-started their annual march into Selbrigg Pond to spawn.]
The route took us on to Hempstead, Plumstead and down to Corpusty. We then skirted Heydon, went through Cawston, gave the centre of Buxton a near miss and rode through Stratton Strawless to reach The Chequers just before midday. As on our previous visit, we received a very cheery welcome from the barmaid. It was Ian’s birthday the day before so he kindly offered to ‘get a round in’. Well he’s got to spend his new state pension on something! Beers, plus a latte and even a pot of tea were taken outside while we studied the lunch menu.
We all opted for the good sandwiches and some upgraded to chips instead of crisps for a very modest £1.50. But then it was quite a modest portion of chips. The food and drink was all good and we sat outside in warm sunshine. As usual, the conversation was wide ranging: Cromer Tennis Club and its splendid grass courts, playing sweaty squash smelling of farmyards (let’s just leave it there…) and the merits or otherwise of orange socks with an orange bike and white socks with black shoes. No real consensus was reached. The thorny subject of who owns which tea rooms in Holt again raised its ugly head and I can categorically state that it’s all still a bit unclear. But The Folly Tearooms in Holt is definitely under new ownership and comes highly recommended if you’re over that way.
We slightly reluctantly remounted after lunch (more beer in more sunshine was certainly tempting, but we’re athletes with homes to get back to). So just another mile or two into the gentle southeasterly headwind before we turned for home to enjoy a tailwind most of the way back. Soon after leaving the pub we passed the rather splendid All Saints church opposite Hainford Primary School, then down to Frettenham before turning north to head back via Badersfield, Swanton Abbott, Colby, Erpingham/Calthorpe where Andy and Neil diverted back to Corpusty. The other four riders continued on through Aldborough where soon after we pointed Doug back to Cromer via Sustead & Metton. The remaining trio continued on to Bessingham and Gresham, where Ian turned up Holt Road to head back to High Kelling via West Beckham, leaving Chris and Mark to head back to PC. All in all a very pleasant ride in warm sunshine and well-deserved after all those cold and muddy miles through the winter.
PC to PC was 51.4 miles at an average speed of 15.1mph
Peloton: Andy S, Chris S, Doug H, Ian A, Mark M, Neil M
Upcoming Rides –
Wednesday 12th March – Old Reading Rooms, Kelling
Saturday 15th March – Station Café, Reepham
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 