Doug and I usually head to Europe for a leisurely cycling trip but this didn't seem to be the year for that so we set our sights on closer to home.
As Doug had spent far too long on the golf course and far too little on his bike it seemed sensible to head for Norfolk with its reputation of being flat. He has a gravel bike and I have a newly acquired Lynskey with gravel tyres so we decided to book a few days on the edge of Thetford Forest as the forestry commission website promised miles of cycling trails, although little actual information was given.
Day 1 Thetford Forest
After a short ride on a busy-ish main road we arrived in Thetford Forest and headed for the information boards. It turned out that most of the trails were designed for mountain bikes and were graded from green (easy), through to blue, red and black (difficult). It looked like only the green trail would be appropriate for our bikes (and off-road skill levels on them) and unfortunately that was only a 5 mile circular loop. So off we went and it was certainly beautiful and quiet, we saw only a handful of other people on bikes.
The sun was shining and we were back at the information point and cafe so of course we stopped for coffee and cake like all proper touring cyclists! After that we felt we needed to do the loop again before cycling back to Thetford where we were staying, making it 20 miles ad 525ft for the day.
Day 2 Cromer
Before leaving for the holiday I'd plotted a few routes and uploaded them onto my garmin. It hadn't been easy to do this as the map I was copying from highlighted different features and road names to the map on ridewithgps. How much easier it would have been if I'd been able to purchase (or download for free) the NCN routes as gpx files!
Fortunately my route plotting skills managed to successfully navigate us round a circular route using NCNs 30 and 33 starting in Cromer. We headed out through the picturesque Felbrigg Hall Gardens and Estate, there was a cafe with tables on the lawn but it was too early to stop even for us.
Then we were onto mostly single track roads with rolling hills and grass growing in the middle, through Bessingham and Little Barningham after which we spotted a sign for a cafe in Itteringham so our heads were easily turned and we followed that.
Suitably refreshed we set off back to Cromer on a route via Aldeborough and Sustead, the latter had a beautiful old church with windows and a font dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. As it had been hilly on the way out I assured Doug it would be all downhill all the way back (I was partly right).
It had been a lovely day of cycling with friendly people in villages calling out hello. At one point with a car behind us we pulled over to let it pass and the driver stopped, wound down her window and said that we needn't have done that, she'd have been happy to wait. I can't remember that being said to me in Surrey!
25 miles for the day and a not entirely flat 1,024ft.
Day 3 Route 30
In Thetford we'd noticed signs for NCN 13 and 30 so we decided on the last day to just follow the signs on route 13 and cycle for 15 miles and then turn around. The route was very well signposted and we never felt lost at any point.
At first we were on quiet roads flanked by Military Firing ranges, clearly marked 'Keep Out' and we were happy to oblige. It then went off-road for a good few miles where we cycled along the Peddars Way, glad of our gravel bike and tyres.
Back on quiet roads we found ourselves in Watton with a choice of coffee shops and we chose well with a Portugese cafe with a selection of homemade Portugese cakes.
It was time to turn around and the ride ended back in Thetford, just as torrential rain was about to start, after 30 miles and 817ft.
I'd definitely recommend Norfolk as a cycling destination. Quiet roads, well marked routes and polite drivers and villagers!
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