East Anglia Tour

We recently went on a cycle tour around East Anglia. It was a bit shorter than expected due to other commitments, hence the train journey at the start, but still an enjoyable break. Here is our diary and some photos:

Monday 13th September.
Early start to get the train to Norwich. We were had advance (non-flexible) tickets so couldn't afford to be late. The bikes felt really heavy after not carrying luggage for a while and Grace's new handlebar bag was pressing against here brake/gear cables causing her gears to shift unexpectedly. Norwich Station seemed nice and the staff were actually friendly! Andrew spotted a shop so we had a bacon, egg and sausage baguette to help get us going. We navigated to the campsite with only one wrong turn. As we are classed as backpackers we even got a part refund on the night! We got setup in backpackers area but had to go down a muddy path and walk a long way to get to the facilities.

We re-mounted the handlebar bag onto Andrew's bike where it wasn't going to interfere with the cables.We set off our our Norfolk Broads route. The campsite was just to the south of central Norwich, so it was several miles just to get out to the east to the Broads. What are the Broads you ask? Well, as far as we know, as series of bodies of water (lakes) connected by rivers and canals.

Probably best explored by boat, but should be equally nice travelling around on land. We planned our route to visit some 'scenic points' according to the map and also one of the British Cycling Quest (BCQ) questions we had for the Norfolk county. For a part of the county which was meant to be quite pretty, we found it quite boring. Maybe it's better if you're exploring by boat, but by road we only saw a few broads and crossed a few rivers. They were usually hidden behind some form of vegetation. Also, the weather was pretty grey/dull so even when we did see a broad it was nothing exciting. We ended up going along of a section of byway which was unsuitable for our bikes so ended up having to walk for a bit, whilst getting the bikes covered in mud! Not particularly impressed and must really avoid those byways! We stopped at Filby Broad for lunch and did a quick walk which led to a bird watching area. Not being birdwatchers, we didn't really know what we were looking at but pretty and pleasant enough. We eventually got to Sutton mill but couldn't figure out the BCQ question. So decided to just take a few photos and left.

About this time it was looking very grey and sure enough proceeded to rain. It was a quick ride to Horning where we were going to catch a foot ferry before 5pm that would save us having to go the long way around. We almost missed it because we couldn't find it and got given some misdirections. We were feeling wet and a bit miserable by this point. Just wanted to get back to camp for dinner and a warm bed. A quick stop at supermarket for food on the way into town and back to camp to cook in dark.

Tuesday:
Packed up (but not very quickly). It was still raining on and off so trying to get the tent dry-ish and packed away between showers was difficult. We stopped in Norwich to look for maps and a waterproof map cover because the MemoryMap app on Andrew's iPhone decided to not work. AT ALL! We tried Cotswold Outdoors and a cycle shop but they didn't have a suitable case OR the correct maps, although the cycle shop did advise us about the local cycle paths. We bought maps from WH Smith in the end and eventually set off along the old railway path to the north. It was nicely paved to start with but eventually was dirt, mud and sometimes boggy. Luckily the weather cleared and as we headed to Swannington for another BCQ we were feeling slightly better. Even took off the waterproofs! Unfortunately we went past the point but found it (old water well/pump in the centre of the village) then continued to Reepham.

This was a nice village and we found a nice bench for lunch. It showed signs of raining again, so it was back on with the waterproofs. Another question answered on the way through Stibbard. A few miles further Andrew heard a loud hissing sound from his rear tyre. While changing the tube it rained even harder as a small storm passed through. There was a hole in the tyre and the tube had burst as it was squeezed a bit too much. With 90psi and extra luggage weight, there is a fair bit of strain on that poor inner tube. He replaced the tube but couldn't do much about the tyre (note: add duct tape to the packing list!).

 Picking Blackberries

Not to far from Stiffkey and Andrew's bike went all wobbly. Another flat, same tyre. He found a sharp object in another place so patched that hole but in the meantime Grace went ahead to see if she could buy some tape to temporarily repair the damaged tyre. They didn't have duct tape but had tyres available (small village general store: milk, bread, bike tyres?!) Andrew fixed the tube and we were back on the road. We finally arrived at the campsite in Stiffkey, near the marshes on the North Norfolk coast. It was getting very windy but we were nicely sheltered behind a hedge. We were relieved but tired after a long day so headed to the local pub for dinner. Very nice food and a welcome change to being in the rain.

Wednesday:
Today we planned to take a day trip to Cromer (about 20miles east along the coast). We stopped at local store which was a lovely shop/cafe with nice selection of home/gift stuff and also some groceries. We grabbed a few things for dinner and had a hot chocolate (what a luxury). The shop is only open for half the day on Wednesday which seemed a bit old fashioned at first, but they are also open Sunday mornings and they need some time off! We then headed back to the store that sold bike tyres and asked for a tyre. The man was confused by the metric dimensions and said that Andrew 'wasn't a real cyclist' because of that, but seemed to understand 28 inches. He then rummaged through his workshop and found one. Andrew's tyre was holding some pressure so we decided not to change it yet and just keep the pressure topped up. We noticed these ruins which turned out to be an old priory in the town (which shall now be known as the not-a-real-cyclist-spare-tyre-town).

We finally set off east with the wind behind us and even the up-hills weren't too bad. We walked around Cromer and stopped at a cafe for lunch and and ice-cream by sea. There is a pier (typical English sea-side town) but the sea was very wild the wind was cold.

We took the coast road home as it was shorter and less hilly, but as we anticipated it was hard work cycling into wind. Despite this we were back by 5pm with time to relax and cook dinner. Andrew's slow leak meant that we had to stop and pump up the tyre every 5 miles or so. We were very glad for our Topeak Multi Morph pump which is small but easily achieves 80psi.

Thursday:

This morning Andrew decided to try changing the tyre to avoid the regular top-up stops! The new 28" tyre that we were sold was too big (diameter) for the rim. So much for the 'expert' at the shop with his imperial measurements. More patches and Andrew was running on the old tyre again.

Just west of Stiffkey we stopped at Wells-next-the-Sea. They were psyching up for the Tour of Britain which was about to pass through the town this morning. Lots of people asked us if we were in the Tour. Little did they know that racing cyclists don't ride cheap hybrid bikes and carry 20kg of luggage!!

We stopped at Castle Rising on the way, where there is a historic castle ruin.

Good trip to Kings Lynn, though as we arrived in town had to dodge all the mothers on the school run, walking and parking all over the place. The centre of town seemed a bit bland, but there was a really nice park and great cycle routes. After a stop at the supermarket we made it to the campsite south of town which was quiet and had nice facilities.

Friday:
Down the busy road for a bit then onto national cycle route towards Ely. It was supposed to be an easy (flat) but long day. It was actually hard work with a lot of wind. Andrew had another puncture so he plastered the tyre with patches as well as the tube. Ely could be seen from miles away because of the massive cathedral.

 

Ely was a small, but nice city. The cathedral was amazing, and it was disappointing that we didn't have time to take a good look through. They charged for entry too, so we just took a quick peek:

We topped up on maps (iPhone still not working properly) and headed on to Cambridge. As we entered the city centre it was amazing seeing all the beautiful architecture, seeing people punting on the river, smartly dressed academics meeting for coffee, and bicycles everywhere! It would have been nice to stop for a while but it was already 5:30 and we still needed to get food for dinner and set up camp. The campsite was quite busy, but big. The staff were friendly and amazed we had come 56 miles today. They joked that Grace would get a boyfriend with a car next time. Little did they know that camping was probably more her idea (and it's too late, we are already married).

Saturday:

Homeward bound today. After a cold (4 degrees) start the sun warmed everything up and it was a lovely day. It was a long(ish) ride to Castle Hedingham by which time we were really starting to get sore bums and needed a rest. This route took us through Steeple Bumpstead, only notable for its funny name. We had lunch at the pub we went to last time. Good food and the lady at the bar was about to head to NZ for a year to work, starting with Paihia. She noticed our NZ cycle jerseys. Always a good conversation starter.

The final 20 miles to home were hillier and longer than we remembered, but at least the weather couldn't have been nicer. What a relief to shower and sit on our lovely sofa!

An enjoyable trip, despite some bad weather and punctures, and a great sense of satisfaction to have completed our first (short) tour!

Now, time to order a new rear tyre (700mm, not 28" this time!)