With most of the younger Wheelers in party mode, it was left to the senior section to maintain the tradition of the annual mince pie run (minus the mince pies). This cultural phenomenon isn’t too traditional though, as the original version can be traced back only as far as 1978 at Long Whatton in north Leicestershire. The only exception from the younger group was Ian, who was in delayed party mode, completing the route alone in order to get home early to prepare for the drive to Cambridge for the festivities.
Jim, Brian and Harvey maintained a steady pace to Purdy’s Tea Room, where they had a quick chat with Ian before he pushed off home into the gusty westerly. Jim left the homeward route at Corpusty, continuing westwards for Melton Constable. Harvey accompanied Brian as far as Thurgarton before continuing north and then west via Sustead, Felmingham Woods, Gresham and Lower Bodham.
Set route: Upper Gresham, Lower Gresham, Metton, Northrepps, Southrepps, Antingham, Suffield, Colby, Erpingham church, Ingworth, Drabblegate, the hidden back lanes of Aylsham, Woodgate Nursery (break), Abel Heath, Oulton, Irmingland, Corpusty, Little London, Ramsgate Street, Cross Green, Baconsthorpe and Bodham Hill.
Conditions: Very strong and blustery westerly, which eased slowly during the afternoon. It was pleasantly mild for ‘midwinter’, with increasing sunshine for the return leg.
Three Wheelers met at PC on a dry and bright day, though a strong westerly wind made it feel chilly. We waited an extra couple of minutes for Chris S, before setting off without him, more on him later. With all the rain yesterday, the roads remained fairly wet with occasional small flooded sections and still plenty of leaf mulch and mud on the smaller lanes.
Our longer outward leg was mainly south east and wind assisted via Gresham, Bessingham, Aldborough, Alby Common (no sign of Brian), Colby and the Felmingham Road to Corvette Kingdom. Here we were stopped by a traffic jam as multiple vehicles were coming along the back lane to Felmingham as well as two cars and us were trying to get down the lane. From Felmingham it was straight down to Swanton Abbott and across to Worstead, where we took the less used route of Withergate Road and Sandy Hills to Meeting Hill. At White Horse Common we were surprised and pleased to meet John S, who had come out to join us for lunch. We continued to Spa Common and the climb from Bacton Wood Mill up to the main road at Edingthorpe Green and on to Paston Green were we turned directly into the wind for Knapton and Trunch.
We had booked a table for lunch thinking it might be busy, though we were the only customers on arrival, a few more came in later on. We had been there about ten minutes when a hot and gasping Chris S arrived. When he could finally speak, he reported that he’d had a puncture/gashed tyre about a mile from home, went back home, swapped to his gravel bike which needed air in the tyres and then set off to follow the route, going past PC 25 minutes behind the main group. Despite his best efforts he never caught us, probably because we were being blown along by the wind and maintaining a fairly high pace because of it. Anyway, Chris gets the Ride Of The Day award for his efforts.
The Fabulous Five or something. L-R, Andrew B, Mark M, Chris S, Ian A, John S. Trunch Crown 20th Dec 2023
While I enjoyed my festive giant yorkshire and Ian said his pie and mash was good, the sausage rolls that were served looked as if they had been microwaved rather than oven heated and the pastry wasn’t crisp. That didn’t put Andrew off from ordering Christmas pud and cream though, which he said was very good.
Pie and Mash, Giant Festive Yorkshire and Sausage Roll. Trunch Crown 20th Dec 2023
After a good leisurely lunch, by which time Chris had recovered, we said goodbye to John as he headed south for home while the rest meandered around the back lanes of Gimingham, Trimingham and Sidestrand to Northrepps. Here Ian and Andrew decided to take the slightly shorter but head wind direct route back to Gresham and on to High Kelling while Chris and Mark went into Cromer, across to the Zoo and up to and through Felbrigg Park before reaching Gresham and back to PC.
PC to PC was 44.6 miles at an average of 13.9 mph Riders: Ian A, Andrew B, John S, Mark M leading and Chris S – Ride Of The Day award.
Three Wheelers set out from from the traditional meeting place at Pretty Corner for a relatively short ride down to the excellent Chrysalis Cafe, located just to the north of the Fakenham Road at Sparhamhill. On a very benign mid-December day, they pushed a south westerly out via Edgefield, Briston, Craymere, Hindolveston, Foulsham, Guestwick church, Kerdiston and Nowhere Lane for a comfortable break over some top class food. Meanwhile, a steadier riding trio were following a more easterly route by way of Bessingham, Matlaske, Wolterton, Corpusty and Wood Dalling, which enabled them to intercept the vanguard at 11.20 at Guestwick church; serendipity or sheer genius? – make up your own mind.
The route back dropped down to the Blackwater, wandered round by the Witchinghams, cut over Brandiston Common to the Haveringland road before turning north through Cawston and Oulton to Itteringham, where Neil Mc continued to Mannington and the turn for home. The final few miles climbed up to Wolterton, descended to Wickmere, up over the ridge to Thurgarton to split for various destinations east, north and west to complete a not too demanding winter’s run out, despite the Wheelers having to carry their bikes round no less than five road barriers.
Riders: Chris; Mark; Neil Mc; Brian (still stacking up the miles as he approaches his 79th birthday); Graham A; Harvey.
Distances ridden ranged from 44 miles to 57 miles. The basic plotted route from PC to PC was a little over 46 miles.
Report by stand in Ride Leader Chris S With four riders out of a potential six riders calling off the ride, ‘group ride’ on this occasion was perhaps a misnomer. Whilst Ian A, the nominated ride leader, was overdosing on Lemsip, Mark M looking after his poorly mother and Duncan tending his building works, this left only Chris S and Andrew B to fly the NNW flag and brave the weather for the ride.
Chris S bravely stepped into Ian’s shoes and took over as ride leader whilst Andrew took over as official group photographer albeit with a little bit of help from the staff at the Horseshoes Inn.
Anyway to cut a long story short the two intrepid cyclists met at PC on a somewhat overcast damp but windless morning and set off. At High Kelling they met Harvey travelling in the opposite direction who was out for a short ‘ride around the block’. The ride then continued through Wiveton, Letheringsett, Saxlingham, Field Dalling and past Binham priory. After the copious amounts of recent rain the roads were very wet and muddy with one major flood encountered in the Letheringsett area.
An early arrival at the Horseshoes Inn meant a slight wait for lunch. Although the Inn was fully booked the very accommodating staff managed to squeeze us in. Andrew B enjoyed a venison pie whilst Chris had the festive turkey pie – all very good.
L-R, Chris S and Andrew B about to enjoy the pies at Warham Horseshoes. 13th Dec 2023
During lunch the weather appeared to change dramatically resulting in the return journey enduring a strong north easterly head on wind and some periods of rain. Apart from almost being squashed by a teleporter which refused to slow down the return journey was uneventful following a route through Wighton, Hindringham, Gunthorpe and Stody. At Hempstead Andrew opted to take a shorter route back to High Kelling leaving the ride leader to head back to PC. In view of the weather Chris took the slightly easier route back through Upper Sheringham rather than back to PC.
Riders: Andrew B and Chris S (unofficial ride leader) Mileage: 50 miles total. Average speed 14.11mph
Though milder this weekend after the cold snap, last Saturday’s ice and freezing fog were succeeded by rain and strong wind. There were no takers for the traditional Saturday club run. However, some of the more senior flexitime Wheelers took advantage of Friday’s sunshine to complete a version of the scheduled ride out to Mundesley’s No.17 Cafe. Brian, Neil S and Harvey set out a little later than usual to follow the basic route by way of Sustead, Northrepps, Clapham Dams, Trimingham, Gimingham, the Harvey Estate and Trunch to the cafe on the coast, which was, unsurprisingly much quieter on a December Friday (literally one man and his dog) than for the previous visit on an October Saturday. Waiting patiently?! at the cafe was Graham A, who had missed the start by a minute or two and ridden directly to Mundesley; on reflection, this was probably because the starting trio had set out in an unscheduled direction, while the victim would be assuming he would be approaching them on the published plotted route if he happened to be delayed for any reason. Being sheltered from a stiff south westerly, Mundesley was surprisingly warm for December. On departure, the bunch followed a more southerly loop as far as Briggate, where Graham punctured a rear Vittoria. Back on the road again, it was via Worstead and Skeyton to Felmingham, where Graham continued north, destination Cromer, while the others turned down Brick Kiln Lane for Suffield, Colby, Erpingham and Aldborough for the split, from where one rider (having failed to fit lights only twelve days short of the Winter Solstice) had to engage the big ring and race the fading light for a final eleven miles home.
Report by Ride Leader Andrew B On arrival at Pretty Corner on a cold but sunny day I was surprised to find that I was the only rider. In retrospect I remembered that both Mark and Ian had said that they were unavailable. As I had planned to meet Graham at the lunchtime venue I decided to carry on. The planned route took me through East Beckham, Gresham, Bessingham, Thurgarton, Wickmere, Calthorpe, Erpingham and Ingworth. However, at Ingworth I realised that I had a rear puncture (another!) which took about 20 minutes to fix, not helped by the amount of mud on the bike! I then continued on to Blickling, Silvergate, Cawston, Eastgate and Booton and onto Reepham, with a slight variation from the planned route at the end to save time. On arrival at the Dial House/Bread Sauce Cafe, Graham was already there sitting outside in the sun and had already eaten. I quickly got something to eat and joined him. We both enjoyed a good lunch, with Graham deciding to join me on the cake round! As my refitted tyre was not fully seated and made for an uncomfortable ride (due to being unable to get enough pressure with a small pump), I was keen to take a short route back. We therefore proceeded to PC via. Booton, Cawston, Oulton Street and Itteringham where Graham left me to make his own way home. I then continued through Plumpstead, Hempstead, Sellbrigg and the usual route back to PC (well actually I did this bit in the morning!). Overall a good ride despite the puncture and lack of riders!
PC to PC 40 miles Average speed 13.1 mph Total Elevation 1300 ft Graham A and Andrew leading.
Report by Ride Leader Ian A This is the one where the ride leader neither started or finished at PC… Well the offer was made to meet at the Selbrigg Road junction which is close to home and gave me more time to chip the early morning frozen sleet off my bike. So Mark and Chris set off from PC on a very chilly morning with the promise of a few showers later in the morning (which we duly got) and some flooded roads (which we also ‘enjoyed’) and meandered via West Beckham and Lower Bodham to pick up Ian. Ian then led the way through Hempstead, Plumstead, Edgefield, then heading west to skirt Briston, continuing through Melton Constable, where we turned north through the pretty village of Briningham, then onto Brinton and Sharrington. A few miles back we’d removed our rain jackets as the weak sun had managed to warm us up (a bit), but at the A148 junction at Sharrington, Mark and I put ours back on as it was now raining. Chris, however, was test-riding his new DHB Aeron Lab All Winter Polartec Jacket which claims to be warm, breathable and waterproof so kept his rain jacket stowed. (And later in the pub Chris declared it indeed was all three. Mind you, he had about 17 baselayers underneath…) Onwards then through pretty Saxlingham and Field Dalling. On reaching Binham, we took the Stiffkey Road towards, well, Stiffkey, but turned right to hurtle through Cockthorpe, past Langham Dome, and then via Langham, Blakeney and Wiveton to reach the Three Swallows after 33 miles. We parked our bikes in the garden (nicely decked out but not really a day to be sat outside!) and entered the bar area. We spurned the open fire (far too cosy), and found a table near the bar. They do a ‘lunch spesh’ – a choice of food and a drink for £11. Ham, Egg & Chips and a pint of Landlord seemed a no brainer for two of us and was excellent. Chris opted for soup and a pot of tea. Hmm… Not sure what was the smallest, the soup bowl, the teacup or the teapot.
The day started with sleet! L-R, Chris S, Mark M & Ian A camera. Three Swallows, Cley 29th Nov 2023
After lunch and a quick photoshoot, we took the main drag up to Holt where we detoured to check progress on Duncan’s build – both front and rear perspectives so a thorough examination. Looks like a great party house (hint) and a modern looking building with an impressive array of solar panels now the roof is on. Spurning the temptation to wave farewell to the others and turn for High Kelling at this point, the ride leader dutifully led the trio onwards across the bypass and up the Hempstead Road (actually I think Mark was leading the peloton by now) into Baconsthorpe and on to North Barningham where yes, dear reader, Plum Lane is STILL under about 8 inches of water. Oh well, better to find out near home rather than near the start. At the top of Plum Lane I turned left to head back to High Kelling, leaving Mark & Chris to continue back to PC via Red Barn Lane.
Five Wheelers departed from Pretty Corner while one more joined the route a few miles down the road for the NNW club run to The Courtyard Cafe at Pensthorpe. On a cold and windy day, softened by more sunshine than anticipated, the bunch detoured round by Mannington Hall to Corpusty, over the exposed ground to Wood Dalling, along the sheltered Odessa lane to Guestwick, down Skitfield Road, through Wood Norton and Stibbard, descending to the Wensum, before a stiff final couple of miles over the three Flanders-like bergs (aka Clay Hill, Burrow Hill and Langor Hill). During the refuelling break, the conversation turned to the relative merits of various groupsets.
The return trip saw Graham J and Harvey ease off the back a bit for a steady ride home. The vanguard of four took advantage of a lot of tailwind to push on via Kettlestone, Croxton, Hindolveston, Thurning, Blackwater Bridge, Heath Road (where Neil Mc turned for home), Ramsgate Street and Cross Green before a conventional ride back via Baconsthorpe (from where Ian A headed to High Kelling) to Bodham Hill and West Beckham.
Riders: Chris; Graham J; Harvey; Ian; Mark; Neil Mc.
This was the first of the ‘winter’ sub-50 miles club runs (PC to PC), but individual distances ranged from 49 miles to 60 miles.
Four riders met at PC on a dry, dull but breezy morning for our first visit to the Recruiting Sergeant in Horstead, just over the bridge from Coltishall and another popular lunch spot, The Rising Sun. With the shorter rides at this time of year, it was a longer 28 mile leg out to get us there for 12 noon when lunch started. So it was a meandering ride south on mainly dry roads taking in Aldborough, Itteringham, Ingworth to Aylsham. With the sky getting brighter and spirits rising we continued to Brampton, Stratton Strawless, Frettenham across the busy B1150 to Horstead Mill, where a couple of kayakers were enjoying the increased river flow and to our destination. We were able to get from the carpark into the pub courtyard and large garden to safely leave our bikes before heading into the dimly lit/atmospheric pub. It is obviously a popular pub as it was already fairly busy when we arrived at 12 and continued to fill up over our stay, impressive for a Wednesday lunch in November. We were spoiled for choice with the extensive menu and impressed by the generous portions and quality of the food when it arrived. I had a traditional steamed suet steak and kidney pudding with mash and peas and it was enough to feed two people, which was excellent, though I did have to leave some of the pastry, fearing I may not be able to cycle home.
L-R, Chris S, Ian A, Andrew B, Mark M enjoying lunch. Recruiting Sergeant, Horstead 22nd Nov 2023
We had been expecting Malcolm to join us, he later reported that he had a late start and would probably have missed us, but he still enjoyed the dry weather and managed a 53 mile loop before getting home for tea and mince pies.
Our route back was a slower and shorter 20 mile route out of Horstead to Mayton Wood, Lamas, Banningham, Gunton Park, Hanworth to Gresham, where our routes split with Ian and Andrew continuing west and Chris and I heading back to PC.
PC to PC 47.4 miles at an average speed of 14.7mph Riders: Andrew B, Ian A, Chris S, Mark M leading.
Well, I guess nobody else had new wet weather gear they wanted to test, because today was ideal, not too cold, nicely wet and roads like rivers. At PC the strong southerly was blowing sheets of heavy drizzle across the fields as I set off, but that didn’t last too long and by the time I reached Hanworth it had stopped for a while. That meant it was dry when I stopped to have a chat with Harvey, who was making his way home after going out early to catch more of the morning rain. The steady group had opted to ride on the calm and sunny Friday, in the end it was Harvey and Brian and they went to the excellent Chrysalis Café at Sparhamhill. On my way east via Thorpe Market, Trunch, Knapton, Bacton Church to Witton, as well as light showers there were plenty of floods across the road, but all fairly shallow and could be coasted or pedalled through and the new overshoes were working well. At Witton, almost within sight of the pub, there was the usual bonus loop, which on this occasion went south to East Ruston Gardens before heading back up to Happisburgh, Ostend and finally to The Lighthouse. For good measure it rained continuously on this loop and then on the main road (it had a white line instead of grass in the middle) between Happisburgh and the Ostend turning, I went through a flood that went halfway up my shins and nearly stopped me. I have to report that the new overshoes failed the submariner test and some water trickled in. At least I would be able to dry out while I had lunch. I arrived at The Lighthouse bang on 12 noon and was the only person in there until I was leaving and one other person came in. The Lighthouse was doing its bit for net zero by apparently not turning on the heating, yay! To take my mind off the fact that I was neither warming up or drying out, I had the Chef’s Special ribeye steak and a couple of pints of Wherry, excellent. Reinvigorated I set off into the afternoon gloom, pleased to see that the rain had stopped, in fact it stayed dry all the way home. The route took me south through Honing to Dilham and then onto the westward leg. When I reached Upper Street, I decided to see if the coffee truck at the Squirrelwood equestrian centre on the Sloley road was open, having been past a number of times and never stopped. It was open and I had a good Americano and a Millionaires Slice, dessert done.
Coffee and cake at Squirrelwood Equestrian Centre, Worstead, 18th Nov 2023
After Skeyton I turned north, finally getting a tail wind and I took my rain jacket off so I didn’t get too hot, then it was up to Colby, Erpingham where I’m sure I saw some sun and then the usual Aldborough route back to PC.
Sunshine through the hole in the clouds, Erpingham 18th Nov 2023
North Norfolk Wheelers 