Updates

With winter trying to still hang on, the weather was forecast to be showery and windy.  Never-the-less, six met at PC to follow Robert to Alysham. Robert had promised us a “long loop” to lunch – he is a man of his word!

With a force 5 westerly wind blowing, the first part was an effort.  And it rained as we got to Melton.  On we pressed, still into the wind and still not towards Alysham.  We were ready for the turn to the east.  The new direction was a delight and the speed built accordingly.  The average was just on 15 mph for the 30 miles to lunch.

Purdy’s Tea Room was busy, so we squeezed ourselves in and Peter joined us again for lunch.

The return to PC was direct and dispatched without incident.

A nice ride in some testing conditions at times, and new lanes were on the menu again.  Many thanks, Robert.

7 out.  40 miles PC to PC.

The route as recored by Robert – note he started and ended in West Runton.

 

 

Six met at PC for the ride to The Crown and three summer bikes were out to boot!  Quite rightly so, as the sun shone and the roads were dry.  Not a single puddle was seen all day.  Off we set towards Baconsthorpe, then past Little Barningham before turning east towards Antingham.  It was then south to nearly touch Swanton Abbot before turning for Tuttington and Banningham.  The wind was on our backs – and it was strongish, so we were there early.  Never mind, The Crown is a pleasant place to sit and Peter joined us for lunch.

The conversation was varied – it’s amazing how many topics you can cover in an hour!  It was suggested that we are gentlemen who lunch, but pedal to get there.  This might be true, but there is effort involved and the wind that had helped us on the outward journey was now about to “up” the effort stakes.

The return was not direct as you can see from the map.  An excursion to Antingham and Southrepps added the miles but did not remove the need to head generally north-west into the stiff, north-westerly wind.

Folk left at various stages on the return, with only two returning to PC.  A very pleasant ride in good company, with the most-visited venue refuelling us well.

7 out.  40 miles PC to PC. No bike cleaning required.

Four Wheelers met at PC for Kevin’s ride to Rackheath.  The weather really couldn’t make up its mind as to whether it was winter or spring – we had overcast conditions at first which gave way to some sunshine and then back to overcast again.  Kevin had put a lot of effort and thought into planning this route and this was clear from the outset.  We set off towards Thorpe Market and then crossed the A149 and approached North Walsham via Bradfield.  It was then off towards Bacton to begin the scoot south via Honing and Horstead to Rackheath.

It was 32 miles to the café, where Trevor and Malcolm were waiting to meet us.

Gosh, they do serve big portions! Which was fine, as we felt we could do with some sustenance, but not so fine given that we would be pedalling at least 20 miles on full stomachs!

After lunch, we followed Kevin to Spixworth,  before turning north to Banningham for the traditional run back to PC.

A delightful ride, well led and well prepared – many thanks, Kevin.  Long, though, at 55 miles PC to PC – just as well it’s BST!

It’s 12 miles if you take the direct route from PC to Cawston but Alan’s rides are usually longish in the mornings with shorter runs home in the afternoon.  This was to be no exception.  We set off towards Aldborough into a stiffish south-easterly wind;  “Punishing”, was the adjective used by Robert – it impeded even when we were going downhill.  We continued south-east (remember the wind direction?) to then turn south near Skeyton and pass through Badersfield.  Then came some respite as we turned west to Felthorpe and then north west to Cawston.  It was 28 miles to lunch.  We were ready to refuel.

We knew that we would have the wind on our backs the for the return to PC.  It was no longer punishing but really quite helpful.  It seemed like we were flying back.  We pedalled up the climb to the coastal ridge from Itteringham at an unusually quick pace.  Could be that we are just getting fitter!

Alan had put together a really tasty route with variation in road types and a new approach on to how to get to Cawston.  It all worked very well indeed, so, many thanks, Alan.

7 out.  40 miles PC to PC.