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Today I
hooked up with Daren (Nairo) Morgan for a ride up to North Norfolk. Several
weeks ago I had noticed some road signs to a couple of intriguingly named
villages which I hadn’t visited before so they became today’s goal. More about
them when we get there! We planned to start and finish in the town of Watton
and had agreed to meet at 9:00am sharp. Nairo was quite insistent about the
timing as he had to get home for an Easter Sunday family lunch. I suspect that
he might have either overslept or, more likely, had engaged in some
pre-departure faffing because while I was sitting in the car park at 9:00am I
received a text from him saying “20 mins away! It’s raining.” Oh well a few extra
minutes to observe the early morning rituals of the good citizens of Watton.
When Nairo
arrived he brought the rain with him. This year has certainly been very wet –
the fields are drenched, the roadside drains are struggling to cope with the runoff
so that the roads themselves are often covered in large puddles, sometimes
masking the bike riders nemesis – potholes. With less than total enthusiasm we got
our bikes ready and set off in steady drizzle. I have recently invested in a
new rain jacket – a Castelli Idro. Although it wasn’t cheap, even after
managing to source one at a substantially reduced price, I can confidently say
it is the best rain jacket I have ever worn. Light, close fitting, fully waterproof
and fully breathable it has transformed wet riding for me. Gone are the days of
a rain jacket that traps sweat and eventually is as wet inside as it is
outside. One of its best features is that when you take it off, you give it a
quick shake to remove any residual water droplets and it’s ready to be rolled
up to store in my jersey pocket as if it has never been used. I am going to be
interested to see how it lasts.
All was
going swimmingly until we arrived at the village of Bradenham where we almost
had to do a bit of swimming ourselves. The ford was in full flow so we had to
pedal through it with water flowing above my quite deep wheel rims. Then as we
descended gently to Scarning we arrived at a much deeper flood with no chance
of riding through it. We had to double back to detour, adding a mile or so to
the route.
We whizzed
through Dereham and soon passed North Elmham with its ruined Saxon
Cathedral before arriving at Guist. On the west side of Guist is Sennowe Hall,
built in 1774 and remodelled in 1907 by Thomas Albert (‘Bert’) Cook the
grandson of Thomas Cook who founded the well-known travel firm. Bert tired of
running the family business and left it in the hands of his two brothers while
he decamped to Norfolk to engage in a more relaxed rural lifestyle. I know this
because I once had a customer there.
Crossing
over the main Norwich to Fakenham road at Guist is almost like entering a new
country. This is a quiet area with a strong sense of wilderness despite its
proximity to Fakenham. Turning west just after Wood Norton I began to get quite
excited as my main goal for today’s ride was approaching. We passed by
Fulmodeston and Kettlestone and then we were there – at the village of Little
Snoring! What a lovely name and what a lovely place. We paused to take a photo
before heading on to Little Snoring’s big brother – Great Snoring. Both
villages were remarkably quiet – with chirping birds the only sounds we could
hear.
So, from
my perspective it was mission accomplished. Daren on the other had a quest of
his own – Norton’s Café in Little Walsingham and an appointment with Victoria. We
soon arrived there and Daren wasn’t disappointed. He had been raving about their Victoria Sponge ever since our last
visit (23 February 2018). On that occasion I had a lump of Nelson’s slice (sic)
so this time I thought I would see if Nairo was right about the sponge. So the
order went in – one cappuccino (me), a can of coke (Nairo) and two slices of
Victoria Sponge. My slice turned out to be nearly twice the size of Nairo’s which
didn’t go unremarked. So much so that our server dished up a second slice for Nairo
(look closely at the photo) who was now a happy chappie. I had a quite smile to
myself as I remembered that the only way out of Walsingham is uphill! And for the record, Victoria was every bit as nice as Nairo had claimed!
Suitably
refreshed, or over-refreshed in Nairo’s case, we set off for the return leg. We
had to make another detour as the two fords over the river were impassable.
This is definitely not the season for taking shoes off and wading! Eventually,
after riding along some pretty sketchy roads we managed to re-join the route.
By now the Infinito which I was riding today was caked in mud. Fortunately,
neither of us had a puncture which was my greatest concern.
One we
were back on a decent tarmac road we soon passed through the edge of Fakenham
and with the benefit of a light tailwind were making good speed. At this point
the weather did its worst and instead of another rain shower we got caught in a
lively hailstorm. That certainly brought a glow to my cheeks and not because of
the riding effort! As we rode along I started thinking of today’s Tour of
Flanders which I guessed was going to be quite a challenge for those racing it.
This type of Belgian racing is proper hard riding. I even began to dream (hallucinate)
that I was in the race. Eventually the hail stopped, my rain jacket having done
its stuff, and we were able to resume our conversation.
I thought
I rather excelled myself at this point because I looked across at Nairo and said,
“There you are, you don’t have to be in Belgium to ride like a Belgian.” I’m
guessing that this must have impressed him (he laughed at the time) because he’s
nicked my words of wisdom as the title for his Strava post for the ride. Being
the decent sort he is I am pleased to see that he’s attributed the words to me.
Thanks Nairo!
The last
10 miles were uneventful and we arrived back at the car park in Watton, damp
but happy. Let’s hope we are in for some drier weather – soon. The way things
are though I wouldn’t be surprised when I come back from the US of A in July
that a hosepipe ban is in force. These days, anything can happen and probably
will.
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