Month: January 2026

Ride report by Ian A

Four Wheelers met at PC with the promise of light winds, milky sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures than of late. They set off to collect Ian at High Kelling. On arrival Ian was told there’d been a loud bang and some fizzing. Had someone brought Champagne? No, Doug’s front tyre had spurted sealant over him. So there was a few minutes delay while Doug tended his hole but we were soon off again.
Some slight nervousness about any further delays as we had a deadline to make the breakfast service at Binham. The route took us over the NNR bridge towards Cley and we picked up Clive at the Holt/Cley Road junction. So now we were 6. The route took us down to Newgate then over the Glaven via the bridge at Glandford (Ian is pretty sure he saw a Water Rail fly for cover – it’s going on his 2026 bird list anyway!) From Glandford we went via Saxlingham, Field Dalling, Bale and up the Binham Road from Hindringham to arrive at the cafe shortly before 1130. Perfect timing. At that moment Doug said “I don’t get any more punctures than the rest of you!”. A dubious claim – the spreadsheet never lies… Anyway, moving on.

Although Mark McVeigh couldn’t make today’s ride, he had kindly booked a table for us. Spookily the staff seemed to know he wasn’t going to be there – see photo of the reservation card…

The Parlour is a splendid venue: The staff are friendly and welcoming, the breakfasts are stonking and the coffee is good. After 4 Full English’s, Smashed avocados with egg on toast and Huevos Rancheros for Ian (which was excellent) Neil kindly bought cakes as it was his birthday last week. Luckily for him as the breakfasts were huge, 2 pairs of us shared a cake and Doug declined altogether!
It was briefly suggested that Neil could maybe buy the 2nd half of the cakes next week? This was robustly contested: “You had your opportunity!”. Which, frankly, is fair enough. Anyway, thanks Neil, my courgette and lime slice was delicious.

After lunch we continued on to Warham, where we turned right to Copys Green, skirted Hindringham again (passing The Norfolk Brewhouse – home of Moon Gazer beers), and crossed the A148 at Gunthorpe Park. At the Bale Road/St. Mary’s Church junction Clive turned off to head back to Blakeney. The remaining peloton turned up the Gunthorpe Road towards Sharrington. Much hedge cutting had been going on but we survived the detritus unscathed. We then went via Brinton, Stody and towards Briston, taking the Briston Road up to Edgefield.
There is sometimes a sprint up here and there was one today. Andy was leading us up at a decent pace when Ian thought he was in sight of the top so “jumped the bunch” only to discover he’d gone too early and Andrew was reeling him in! Close to the top Andrew went past Ian but then seemed to ease off thinking he’d won/done enough but we weren’t at the summit yet(?!) and Ian managed to accelerate again and got to the top about a bike’s length ahead of Andrew.
Andy and Neil turned for Corpusty via Ramsgate Street (no road closed signs any more). That left Andrew, Doug and Ian to make their way back to PC (Cromer for Doug) via Baconsthorpe, Bessingham and Gresham, where Ian turned up the Holt Road to head back to High Kelling. A good ride in very pleasant conditions and an excellent lunch stop.

PC to PC was 46.1 miles at an average of 14.2mph
Riders: Andrew B, Andy S, Clive A, Doug H, Ian A, Neil M.

Club Social Evening Feb 7th – If you plan to be there, be sure to let Mike know you will attend and any dietary requirements, so he has numbers for catering, use the club email: nnwheelers@gmail.com
Full details here: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/2026/01/28/annual-club-event-7th-feb-final-booking-and-membership-reminder/

Upcoming Rides –
Wednesday 4th February – Lily’s Tearoom, North Walsham
Saturday 7th February – Algy’s, Bintree
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/

Ride report by Andy S

Five members met at P.C. on a cold, misty morning (Mark, Andrew, Duncan, Clive and Andy). With the threat of icy roads, we headed very steadily and carefully inland. We met Ian at Gresham and plodded on through the wet and muddy lanes . There was still frost on the banks and edges of the roads.

The route took us through Bessingham, Matlaske, Plumstead, Edgefield, Briston, Stody and Sharrington (past the now famous telephone box!). Coming out of Sharrington towards Holt we encountered a tractor, hedge cutting, so for the next half mile we were dodging debris and holding our breath up splinter alley. Just over the Holt Road we heard the all too familiar shout “puncture!” Poor Duncan was the guilty party and he is indeed the first to puncture in 2026. In fact Duncan has a 100% puncture rate with his new bike. Two rides with two punctures. It wasn’t mentioned much !!

With the puncture fixed we went onto Saxlingham and down the Dragaway to Bayfield for lunch at Natural Surroundings. A friendly, warm welcome greeted us at the cafe. Soup and cheese on toast were the order of the day. Their cheese on toast is becoming famous with many tasty combinations and door step wedges of toast. The chatter varied as normal from water softeners to members haircuts, Duncan’s flowing, soft, silky locks to Ian’s well lack of hair.

Leaving the warmth of the cafe we headed down the long drive where poor Duncan, with mud in his road cleats, couldn’t get his feet unclipped proceeded to fall off in front of us all at the road junction .
Luckily he fell to the left so no damage to his new bike (not sure about Duncan’s pride).

After this we headed down to Blakeney where Clive headed for home. We carried onto the quay for a photo shoot.

From there it was onto Wiveton. The first climb of the day was taken by Andrew . At the top of this climb Ian turned off for a more direct route home due to a dragging front brake making it hard work (or was he being weighed down by all the cheese and toast). Just before High Kelling Duncan left us for home, leaving the remaining three members to pedal back to P.C. going through Hempstead and West Beckham. Andrew won the last two hill climbs without any competition. I think he is missing Chris to give him a race.

A good day out on our bikes.

PC to PC was 44.1 miles at an average 13.9 mph
Riders: Andrew B, Duncan S, Clive A, Mark M, Ian A, Andy S

Club Social Evening Feb 7th – If you plan to be there, be sure to let Mike know you will attend and any dietary requirements, so he has numbers for catering, use the club email: nnwheelers@gmail.com
Full details here: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/2026/01/28/annual-club-event-7th-feb-final-booking-and-membership-reminder/

Upcoming Rides –
Saturday 31st January – Binham Parlour
Wednesday 4th February – Lily’s Tearoom, North Walsham
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/

Ride report by Mark M

Well it finally happened, the rain stopped and the sun reappeared, so it was a dry and sunny morning that greeted Mark, Chris and Andrew at PC. The fairly strong south easterly wind was cold though and we would be heading into that on our way to Skeyton. We picked up Neil at Gresham Church and continued through Metton, across the B1436 at Felbrigg where Doug joined us, then on to Northrepps, Gimingham, Trunch and Knapton.
Most of the roads had been washed clean by the rain and dried by the wind, but as we went past Honeytop Farm, Edingthorpe, the road was a sea of mud slurry from beet harvesting, so bikes and overshoes were instantly filthy. One of the few benefits of riding on a wet day, is that the bike remains clean due to the constant washing action, that wasn’t the case today and the dried on mud took some getting off back home.

Through North Walsham and out to Lyngate, across a busy A149 and then straight down to Felmingham and Skeyton, here Chris left us to return home as he was off to Spain in the evening to endure 15c temps and pothole free roads. Why Chris why?

Being the first customers into the Goat bang on 12 noon, we saw the wood burning stove was just getting going, so we bagged the table closest to it and warmed up, Andrew took it a stage further and ordered a glass of hot mulled wine, fortunately this week he was able to remove his gloves (don’t ask).

We all had a variation of the wraps with chips and salad and they were very good. A number of other customers had arrived for lunch, which was good to see in January as so many pubs are closing down.

For the homeward leg we would have the wind helping us as we headed west through Buxton, across the A140 and B1149 to Cawston and then north to Itteringham. Neil took the Mannington road back to Corpusty, while the rest continued to Barningham Winter then up Bodham Hill to the pylon (no racing today) and to Red Barn Lane where we waved Doug off into a headwind back to Cromer.

No ride photo today, instead Ian shows off the thorn he pulled out of his tyre after Wednesday’s ride, apparently the tyre went flat overnight, so failed to qualify for this year’s Puncture Challenge!

PC to PC was 50.9 miles at an average 14.1 mph
Riders: Chris S, Andrew B, Mark M, Neil M, Doug H

Club Social Evening Feb 7th – If you plan to be there, be sure to let Mike know you will attend and any dietary requirements, so he has numbers for catering, use the club email: nnwheelers@gmail.com
Full details here: https://nnwheelers.co.uk/2026/01/16/nn-wheelers-annual-club-event-7th-feb/

Upcoming Rides –
Wednesday 28th January – Natural Surroundings, Glandford
Saturday 31st January – Binham Parlour
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/

Ride report by Ian A

Four Wheelers met at PC. The mood was sombre. It was cold and it was raining. Why hadn’t Mr. Sensible cancelled the ride? Best guess is it was Ian’s fault. His message the previous evening said he’d join the peloton at Gresham Church so if conditions were OK for Ian nobody would want to show weakness and cancel! So the Damp Four set off and duly picked up Ian at said church, a couple of minutes late, apparently due to Chris adjusting his new head gear. Picture below…

The route took us on very wet and very muddy lanes via Sustead, Metton, Northrepps, Trunch, Bradfield, crossing the Norwich line at Antingham, then swinging south soon after and (via Tuttington) meeting the Norwich Road just south of Aylsham. It was then just a short way up the cycle track alongside the busy road to reach the welcome site of our lunch stop.
Apart from the last 30 minutes or so we’d cycled in constant light rain (plus a headwind most of the way too) so we definitely needed hot drinks and food. The cafe at the garden centre was busy but we were quickly seated, and the hot drinks and sandwiches, panini, soup and a salad for the lady arrived promptly which was very welcome. As usual, the conversation was wide ranging: progress on Andrew’s new build, wardrobe angst, how to slice your thumb off using a log splitter and why Ian probably doesn’t need (and according to Sue, can’t be trusted with), a chainsaw. A bow saw was recommended by the group as a more cost-effective option for cutting up a few small trees into logs and Mark even showed Ian a fine example in the shop.
After lunch was done there was a moment’s pause as we debated whether we should stay in the cafe until we’d dried out or just crack on. So we cracked on. The better news was that it wasn’t raining any more and we had a dry run back with mainly a tailwind to boot.
The post lunch route went via the back streets of Aylsham to emerge onto the Heydon Road via Sandy Lane. At Abel Heath we swung onto the Aylsham Road to Oulton Street then shortly after turned north to Itteringham. We waved Andy off at the Mannington Hall turning to make his way back to Corpusty. Then we took a short detour to avoid the even filthier roads of Little Barningham to take the Matlaske Road to Plumstead and on towards Hempstead. At the Marlpit Lane junction Ian followed the route as the most direct way back to High Kelling via Hempstead and Selbrigg Pond while the remaining trio went back to PC via Baconsthorpe and West Beckham.
Footnote: There was the customary sprint to the mast at Bodham Hill. Chris set off but Andrew gave chase and won by a few lengths. Although allegedly in the process his flying elbows nearly put Mark in a hedge! Clearly it’s getting serious…..

PC to PC was 43.8 miles at an average speed of 13.9 mph
Riders: Andrew B, Andy S, Chris S, Ian A, Mark M

Upcoming Rides –
Saturday 24th January – Goat Inn, Skeyton
Wednesday 28th January – Natural Surroundings, Glandford
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/

Ride report by Neil M

Five Wheelers met at PC on a misty winter morning. It was neither cold, raining or windy, which makes a pleasant change after the preceding fortnight’s weather. The roads were very wet and muddy though with the sugar beet mudfest in full swing.

The planned route had been revised due to the two-week closure of the Holt road and the impact on all the little lanes we normally use, so the outward route was via Baconsthorpe and Plumstead and then down the Matlaske road to Saxthorpe. We caught Harvey T out for a ride near Baconsthorpe and he rode along with us until we turned off at Plumstead to head toward Barningham. He was looking fit & well and had been getting the miles in with solo rides which also meant he hadn’t fitted the extended mudguard flap that is essential for group riding, so we all got a good splattering!

From Saxthorpe and Corpusty we carried on down the flooded Blackwater Lane to Thurning, Guestwick, Themelthorpe and across the Reepham road via Jordan Green to join Nowhere Lane. From here it was only a short ride to our lunch stop, the Chrysalis cafe at Bugz.

The cafe was quiet when we arrived, but we could see a long table set out for a children’s party, so we sat at a safe distance! As usual, the food was hot, excellent value and served very speedily, so it is always a good option for a winter lunch stop. Lunches ordered seemed rather lighter than usual with everyone obviously compensating for Xmas excess. I’m sure normal Full-English service will be resumed soon.

We timed our departure to perfection with the children’s birthday party just starting to kick off as we left. The rather warmer conditions meant that leaving the lunch stop wasn’t as grisly as is usual for winter and we quickly got under way to retrace our route before turning down Blackwater lane to head toward Great Witchingham and Alderford.

The main excitement of the day occurred just outside Alderford when a large dog burst out of the hedge immediately in front of Mark and Neil. By a miracle we both missed it and it shot back into the hedge heading toward a distant whistling which must have been the owner. It was very fortunate that we weren’t a car as that dog would most likely have been killed. A heart-stopping moment indeed that Mark captured for posterity on his shiny new dashcam. (handlebar cam?)

After that disaster averted, we carried on to Swannington, Brandiston and Cawston then on to Itteringham via Oulton Street. Neil left the group at Itteringham to head for Mannington Hall and home at Corpusty. The remaining riders headed to Aldborough via Wickmere and then on toward Bessingham where Doug carried on to Sustead and home to Cromer. The final three carried on to Gresham, East Beckham and back to PC and home.

A nice day’s riding for winter despite all the mud and water, with even some sunshine when the mist cleared.

Riders: Mark M, Chris S, Andrew B, Doug H, Neil M
PC to PC was 43.6 miles at an average 14.5 mph.

Upcoming Rides –
Wednesday 21st January – Aylsham Garden Centre
Saturday 24th January – Goat Inn, Skeyton
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/

The Spreadsheet of Shame

With the first Club Ride of 2026 being puncture free, let’s take a look back at the last two years to see what is likely to happen this year on our flint and debris strewn lanes.
While this could be seen as educational and a real world test of tyres, in reality it’s an opportunity to once again point at the Puncture Fairy’s hapless victims and snigger, while crossing your fingers and hoping that you are not going to be next.

Special mention to Doug H for his unwavering belief in the benefits of road tubeless, despite our roads providing plenty of contrary evidence. Always seen with his pockets stuffed full of tubeless plugs and the recent addition of an electric pump to “just top up the tyre pressures” mid ride.
We might need another category this year of Tyre Plugs Used.

And now a look back at the 2024 results…

Ride report by Andrew B

Four riders met at PC on a very cold but dry winters morning for a ride to Horstead. The planned route took us through East Beckham, Barningham, Lower Street, Wolterton, Itteringham, Ingworth, Aylsham, Burgh, Oxnead, Stratton Strawless, Waterloo, Hainford and Frettenham. There were some slight tweaks to the route due to concerns of ice but the ride was uneventful and enjoyable once we had warmed up!

On arrival at the pub we found Ian there who had already bagged a table for us. Shortly after we were joined by Graham A who had also made his own way there. Choices ranged from BLT baguets, soup and the old faithful ham, egg and chips. Although expensive, the food was excellent, the portions big and served quickly by the friendly staff. There were some interesting conversations as usual, with Chris telling us of his latest motorbike purchase. Apparently, it’s a rare model BMW which is a homage to the R65, whatever that means!
Andy was presented with his prize for the highest number of punctures (six) last year. A hotly contested competition, with him only pulling away at the very end of the year.

Ian and Graham left us after lunch to make their own way back. The planned route back took us through Coltishall, Lamas, Skeyton, Tuttington, Banningham, Colby, Erpingham, Matlaske, and West Beckham. There was the inevitable sprint towards the end of the ride won by Andrew B, although this was largely uncontested, with Chis claiming to be suffering from cramp!

Overall, a good ride despite the cold weather and the muddy conditions.

PC to PC 46.7 miles
Average speed 14.6 mph
Total Elevation 1718 ft

Riders: Mark, Chris, Andy S, Ian, Graham A and Andrew B.

Upcoming Rides –
Saturday 17th January – Chrysalis Café, Sparhamhill
Wednesday 21st January – Aylsham Garden Centre
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/