Ride report by Neil M
Three Wheelers and guest Ray met at PC on a dry, (fairly) warm August morning. Rain was forecast later on, so everyone had their rain jackets stashed for the inevitable soaking.
Neil and Ian were collected at Gresham church and then Doug at the junction of Hall Road at Metton Road. The Peloton complete, we continued to Hanworth where the first puncture of the autumn season struck Chris. The culprit was a large flint, as usual. This took a bit longer to fix than expected as the rear axle didn’t want to fit properly when trying to re-fit the wheel, but it cooperated eventually and we set off again with the sky looking increasingly threatening.
From Hanworth we continued on to Thorpe Market, past Gunton station, through Bradfield and into the outskirts of North Walsham where we encountered some very dodgy driving, but fortunately no accidents. We carried on through the backstreets to pop out at White Horse Common and then took the lanes through Crostwight and Lessingham. Just after Lessingham the second puncture of the day occurred to Andy this time. Yet another flint had struck. We were quite close to the cafe at that point so Mark volunteered to stay with Andy to help while the rest of us carried on to bag a table at the cafe.
The remaining group set off through (the other) Hempstead to pick up the back lane next to the dunes through to Sea Palling. A group of birdspotters with telescopes and long lenses were passed and Ian stopped to find out what they had sighted. The remaining four carried on down the very sandy lane and after a few alarming slides, popped out at Sea Palling. From there it was a short run down the coast road to Waxham and The Dunes Cafe, our lunch stop.
The cafe was very busy with bank holiday families, but we managed to bag a table just as Ian arrived. Mark and Andy appeared not long after and we settled down to enjoy the excellent food on offer. For such a popular Cafe, the Dunes is very reasonably priced which is a nice bonus.
Lunchtime conversation was mostly to do with Andy’s impending French end-to-end cycling holiday and Ray’s recent Alps cycling trip (Neil’s planned Alps trip in July 27 seems far away in comparison, there is a winter to get through first…).
Chris left early to get some faster miles in and the remaining six set off a little later feeling distinctly well-fed. The initial route was back to Sea Palling on the coast road and then inland to Ingham, East Ruston, Honing and then turning north to White Horse common and through North Walsham toward Antingham. We took the Antingham Hill road to the pedestrian railway crossing and headed to Suffield to take the Alby Common back road to cross the A140. At this point the promised rain finally arrived and we stopped to put our rain jackets on. Fortunately the rain was light and it wasn’t cold, so things didn’t turn too grim.
From the A140 crossing the route continued through Town Green past Aldborough where Neil and Andy left to head toward Little Barningham and home in Corpusty. Doug also left to head for Sustead, Metton and home to Cromer.
The remaining three carried on to take the back road round Barningham Winter and head toward Baconsthorpe where Ray split off to head to Hempstead and home in Holt. Ian and Mark carried on to Rectory Road where Ian split off for High Kelling and home. Mark continued on alone to West Beckham, PC and home in Sheringham.
The ride had a distinct “end of season” feel to it, but we didn’t get as soaked as predicted, so still an enjoyable day out.
PC to PC was 56.4 miles at an average 15.4 mph (16.2 Out, 14.9 Back)
Riders: Andy S, Mark M, Chris S, Ian A, Neil M, Doug H, guest Ray
Ed’s Note: Puncture Challenge/Spreadsheet of Shame – Well we almost made it through summer without a puncture, the last being May 23rd (Doug H), but the recent rain had washed plenty of flint into the road, which Chris S and Andy S both found today. Annoyingly for Ian A our current puncture leader (six), those were their first punctures of the year, so they won’t be catching him any time soon. For the record, Chris’s rear puncture took 18 mins and Andy’s front took 11 mins to fix.
Upcoming Rides –
Wednesday 2nd September – All Things Nice, Cawston
Saturday 5th September – Red Lion Café, Coltishall
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 