Saddle sore (Station Bistro, Wymondham)

Station Bistro,

Wymondham,

Everyday 9-4,

 Recommended

Yesterday was so windy that a bike ride would not have been possible without being blown off the road so cafe cycle rides had been put on hold. However the forecast for today suggested that wind speeds had dropped enough for the planned cafe cycle ride to go ahead. I had hoped Barry and Helen and their tandem could join me but unfortunately both Helen (new knee) and their Tandem (new worn out parts) are currently under going repairs leaving only Barry available to come along as today's cycling guest.

With Barry and Helens Tandem in the local bike shop (LBS) I suggest Barry borrow one of my road bikes for a change. He agreed to give it a go but looked distinctly unimpressed with the saddle that came with it. Barry explained that his normal single bike had a far more comfortable seat than the stream-lined light-weight saddle that my spare modern road bike came with. Despite this he was prepared to give it a go.

Normal stream line, light-weight road bike saddle 

Barry's current single bike saddle

Due to the high winds I decided it best to keep the ride fairly short and was pleased with the decision especially when we turned a corner and hit the wind head on nearly coming to an immediate stop. We continued to battle through the gale for some miles during which I asked Barry how he was finding the bike in these conditions. Instead of telling me about the bicycle's handling or the feel of the carbon/alloy frame he just said his bum hurt.

We made it through the worst of the wind but as we crossed the foot bridge over the A11 into Wymondham Barry hit the kerb and came crashing down. Before I had a chance to act he got back to his feet clearly unhurt but this led to today's cycling guest cycling top tip.

Cycling guest cycling top tip No. 23. To avoid your cycling host getting cross when you crash the bike he has kindly lent you make sure you stay on the ground until after he has had a chance to take a photo of the incident for his cafe cycle blog.

I was more than a little annoyed, perhaps even fuming, that Barry had not followed cycling guest cycling top tip No 23 and so have no photo of the crash incident to share with you. Fortunately by the time we got to Wymondham I had managed to calm down and find the Station Bistro which by a lucky coincidence was next to Wymodham railway station.

Outside the station Bistro

There is an outside eating area on the platform but it would have been blown away today so we went inside where there are two room options. One is for more formal dining and has train carriage style seating. The other is themed like an old railway waiting room, which is where we selected our table.

Waiting room themed eating area 

While I went to check out the cake selection Barry went to check that the chairs were going to be comfortable enough for him to sit on. There was a good selection of cakes and several I fancied so I awarded a good effective cake selection rating. I picked a cheese scone (as part of my continuing cheese scone research) and some chocolate sponge cake. As always Barry had a sausage roll, which is not a cake, but to show willing he also went for some chocolate biscuit cake. It looked good although I'm not convinced you can be both a biscuit and a cake at the same time. He also confirmed the chairs met his comfort criteria.

Cake selection

While we waiting for our drinks and cakes Barry got very excited as real trains went passed the window and I was worried he was going to insist we went on to the platform so he could collect their numbers. 

Fortunately before he had a chance to do this our large collection of drinks and food arrived. I was glad to have been offered the option of having my scone warmed (remember cheese scone hot, fruit scone not) as it came correctly warmed. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to do something so dull as to write down the numbers of the trains they had seen, I thought, as I updated my cheese scone temperature stats spreadsheet with the latest cheese scone data.

Cakes and drinks ready for reviewing

We both felt our drinks were nice but needed to be a bit stronger. My large slice of chocolate sponge cake was a good example and scored well. Despite still not being sure if the chocolate biscuit cake was a biscuit or a cake (biscuits are not included in cake taste quality (CTQ) ratings) it turned out to be very tasty and supported the good CTQ rating for the Station Bistro.

Overall the Station Bistro had scored well and Barry would still be there looking at the passing trains if I hadn't insisted on leaving. It is definitely worth a visit even for non train lovers.

On the way back we sped along as the wind was now behind us. Barry was still complaining about the state of his backside so to distract him I asked him what work the LBS were undertaking on their tandem. He said he could do better than that and showed me a picture of the proposed tandem upgrade. 

Barry And Helen's upgraded tandem

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	6.0	7.5	7.0	7.0	6.70

Route

Ckick here to down load 25 mile Norwich Wymondham loop GPX file for your gps.