Norfolk cycle parkrun challenge stage 9. (Tall Orders, Thetford)

Tall Orders,

Thetford,

Mon-Sat 8:30-4:30, Sun 9-4,

Recommended

Hopefully you have been following my attempt (as suggested by my co conspirator Mark) to cycle from our local parkrun in Norwich to all 13 parkruns in Norfolk. Wherever possible I have also taken the opportunity to combine it with an appropriate cycle cafe review. The plan had been to do the majority of the rides over the summer months but due to holidays and other commitments we only managed to do two in that period meaning that as of today we still had five left. 

It was therefore dark when the alarm went off and still dark when I arrived at Eaton Park bandstand for le Grande Depart at 6.15. As always there were no big crowds, or in fact anyone, to see us off. Worse still there wasn't even Mark. When he did turn up he explained that his bike was stuck on the big front cog and he couldn't shift it. Using my limited bike maintenance skills (which usually consist of hitting the broken bit) I was unable to help having left all my hammers at home.

We decided he would just have to ride in the big cog and to show solidarity I said I would as well (and I did).

About to set off from our normal start point

The ride down was into a strong headwind and with the delay at the start we were soon behind the clock. Mark suggested we got into our now well tuned cycle train formation and offered to take first go at the front to shield me from the wind. After half a mile I felt it was my turn to take the next pull. I did, for about 4 miles, until Mark kindly did a second half mile stint leaving me to be the wind break for the rest of the 32 mile trip to Thetford.

Thanks to Mark's two half mile efforts we were able to arrive at Thetford in plenty of time. When we got there I was greeted by a chap asking if I was the Cake Crusader (which I am) and was somewhat taken aback by his knowledge. He explained the race director had seen my tweet saying I was coming and had let everyone know that a Z rated local celebrity (which I'm not) was coming today. It was a very warm welcome and we also got a special cheer when introduced on the start line as the two people from Norwich who had cycled there.

Start of Thetford parkrun where we got a special mention

The course is the most complex and varied todate with two laps of three different coloured zones (red, green and blue) although they are only coloured on the map and not, as I had hoped, in real life. It was a very enjoyable run and thanks to the inspiring start line applause I managed to finish in 3rd place, although as we know parkrun is a run not a race so that's not important (and if you believe that....). 

When Mark finally turned up the race director kindly took our end of race run photo and we set off for the target cafe impressed by what a nice and friendly parkrun Thetford was.

End of race photo. Mark has clearly not tried hard enough as he is able to smile

Today's target cafe was Tall Orders in the Thetford continental style pedestrianised area. This is the second cafe in the Norfolk area with this name (they are not connected) which is a strange coincidence.

Outside Tall orders

We decided to make use of the outdoor seating area so as not to have to lock our bikes. Inside the cake selection had the widest range of diary, gluten free and vegan cakes I had ever seen so got a reasonable effective cake selection (ECS) score. However I am a fan of gluten and diary so opted for the 'normal' lemon meringue cake while Mark went for a cheese scone with his americano.

Today's cake selection

I also bought two vegan brownies to take away as part of my search for Brownie of the year #BOTY (note: they were very impressive but slightly cakier than you standard brownie so just out of the running).

First ever Vegan brownie

Mark has now become an experienced cycle cafe reviewer so knew that his cheese scone should be warmed. He also knew that you must not request it to be, so there was some tension as we waited for our well earned refreshments to arrive.

Waiting for refreshments in the continental style outdoor seating area

Sadly it turned up cold (remember cheese scone hot, fruit scone not) although it was still a good one with plenty of cheese. My cake was fine but not spectacular as was my hot chocolate although Mark thought his coffee was excellent being nice and strong.

Refreshment selection

Tall Orders was a very pleasant cafe stop and I recommend a visit especially if you have any sort of food intolerance as they seemed to have it all covered.

With the wind behind Mark offered to take the lead at the front on the way home which was pointless in the conditions and he didn't even last very long before normal service was resumed. Hopefully he will have his bike fixed in time for our trip to Swaffham in 3 weeks.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.4	7.8	6.7	6.5	7.6	7.00

Route

Click here to download 63 mile Norwich Thetford Loop gpx file for your gps