Auntie Helen goes to Suffolk
So today I decided to do a little jaunt into Suffolk. Despite living on the Essex/Suffolk border I've only ventured into Suffolk a couple of times, mainly because it's hilly. It was time to come up with some new routes, however, and to discover some new towns, so I decided to go to Sudbury.
I had plotted out the route on my Garmin and off I set. Last time I followed a Garmin route to Langham (village 5 miles away) it took me on a very dodgy track through a farmyard. This time I manually routed away from that track when plotting the route, but when actually cycling it discovered BikeRouteToaster had taken me down a public footpath instead. It had a tarmac and bramble surface, though, so I went down it anyway.
The hills are rolling and not particularly scary as I went from Langham to Boxted and then Great Horkesley. I found myself needing the loo at Great Horkesley and so decided to stop at a pub at which I'd had a drink on a cycle ride last Thursday evening. Unfortunately the pub wasn't yet open but the landlord saw me lurking around and let me in for the loo, then had a chat with me about my route to Sudbury (very potholey and hilly, apparently).
I continued on through Wormingford to Mount Bures. I'd been on a long walk around Bures/Lamarsh last year and it was hilly but somehow it didn't seem too bad today. Anyway, I arrived at Sudbury in time for lunch (21 miles) and found a rather decent pub which did a burger & chips & salad for £4.95 – very good value for round here!
I then set off again towards Hadleigh which was travelling due East. The sun eventually came out (I had expected it and was dressed in vest top and shorts and had been feeling slightly chilly beforehand so this was a good thing) and I stopped to take some pics of the trike & shadow for the Cycling Photo Challenge.
The views were lovely and there were more rolling hills but, again, nothing too strenuous. Or am I getting better at climbing?
I found a very good tea shop in Hadleigh and parked the bike outside. I'd done 33 miles so I treated myself:
Now I was heading south back towards Colchester. I had a big hill climb but the views were just fab:
Very few cars and one other cyclist (of the racing snake variety) for a five mile stretch as I pootled along slowly up the hills and speedily down them, watching the wildlife and enjoying the sunshine.
I arrived at Stratford St Mary (I had seen the church from some way away so knew I was almost back to familiar territory), then dodged the tourists in Dedham and made my way home to Great Bromley. I realised I would be at 45 miles when I got home and decided to extend the journey a bit so I did some country lanes, including buying some eggs from the local farm, so that I managed to get this photo:
It's not that far or fast but is a reasonable tally for me, especially on my own trundling along. It's easier to go fast when you've got others with you.
When I got home my husband was mowing the lawn and had been to the supermarket for some food so that topped a very lovely day's expedition!
im sure they were just jealous of me legs though 
