We meant to follow a course but Skippy the Garmin wanted us to go up a dirt track that was ruttier than the one we were on and then had a bit of a breakdown so we winged it a bit. We picked up the course a bit later in the ride but we saw some villages we wouldn't have seen otherwise.
Swannington is very pretty, we thought.
The cottages behind us.
We followed the road a bit and then we saw a sign saying PYO Strawberries. 2 Miles. There was a big arrow pointing the way and we thought, 'yummy strawberries' so off we went in the direction of the Strawberry sign. It was at least 3 miles, possibly more and we went round in a bit of a circle but we stopped for Strawbs and picked about a quid's worth and then sat and at them at the farm. Nice Polish chap running the field, seemed very friendly.
From there I saw a sign for Marsham and we followed the road along. Nice views.
Skippy the Garmin caught up and got with the programme and we followed the road to Marsham. We were going to stop for a coffee at a pub but noticed that there was Afternoon Tea being served 2 - 4 at the village hall, all welcome. They were having a bellringing and tea afternoon to raise money for the village's sponsored village in Nepal that has just been flattened. £7 well spent for 2 huge cups of coffee, more ginger cake than I have seen in a long while and they insisted we 'kept our strength up' after riding 'all the way from Norwich, really
' with a large scone with jam on - we shared it. We listened to the bell ringing tunes while we munched and then waved goodbye after returning our tray, using their loo and soaking our Buffs again. There may have been a bidon top up too. Very pleasant.
We followed Skippy across towards Scottow and then we were directed up this road that had the cul-de-sac sign. Heigh ho, we thought. It can't be as bad as that horse track with stinging nettles at Mulbarton, surely. It wasn't. A bit rutted but it took us across the back of the old RAF base at Colitshall, that is now one of HMPs.
The 'road'
To the right of us
To the left of us
The crop was quite high.
The tarmacked road was very much welcomed and then we whizzed through Colitshall and on to Crostwick and Spixworth. Of course, after leaving Colt, Hubster said 'can we look for an ice cream'. If he'd have said that half a mile before, he could have had one at Colt. It was here, Hubster had a we second and I noticed that his Buff made him look like he had bat ears.
At Spixworth, Skippy the GPS thought that we should just take a shortcut across the quarry. We thought not and went around the quarry and across to St Faiths, Horsford, Drayton (stopped for a Solaro for Hubster) and then home along the Marriotts Way plus a bit extra around the block to go over the 40 miles.
40.36 miles in 3hrs17 and change, averaging 12 and a bit mph, which was not bad as the first 8 miles were off road, as were the last 3and a bit, plus a mile or two in the middle.
Great fun.
Photobucket is playing silly buggers tonight so there may be pics and there may not.
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Turning onto the A38 at the top we stayed in 2 by 2 formation all the way back to Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, twas a beautiful sight to behold, precision cycling at a nice turn of pace.
