And then there were three. (Coffee And Co, Newmarket and Tuddenham Nurseries Coffee shop)

Coffee and Co,

Newmarket,

Mon-Sat 8-4, Sun 10-2.30,

Tuddenham Nurseries Coffee Shop,

Tuddenham,

Everyday 9-4pm

On every early May bank holiday weekend, for the last few years, I have organised a group cycle ride to a Premier Inn in the region. We have  previously visited Premier Inns at such exotic locations as North Ipswich on the A140, Kings Lynn on the A47 and Thetford town centre but this year I have really upped our game and headed to Cambridge (City East) Premier Inn by the out of town shopping complex. 

Unfortunately the weather forecast for day 1 (Saturday) didn’t look good and for various reasons there had been a number of call offs meaning we were left with just seven starters for today’s trip.

My weekend cycling guests

There was still much excitement as my remaining six cycling guests gathered at Crusader Towers but the main topic was weather rather than the excellent route and cafe agenda I had put together. It looked like we would be wind assisted on the way there, but with some gusting cross winds, plus sleet and rain. Day 2 looked like being dry but into a strong wind for the return 75 miles. Much to my disapproval several bail out plans were discussed and international rescue put on standby.

When we eventually set off things started remarkably well. The first highlight was a chance to try out the new cycle superhighway between Hethersett and Wymondham which got a big thumbs up.

On the cycling superhighway towards Wymondham

From there we were blown down to our first cafe stop, Peppers in East Harling and timed it perfectly as the first hail storm of the day arrived when we were safely inside, however I was about to have the first of many bombshells on the trip.

Safely at our first cafe stop just before a bombshell

Last time I came here was Marmitegate when Big George ordered crumpet with Marmite (no I didn’t know it was a thing) and he decided they hadn’t put much marmite on. I was later contacted by the cafe to confess that due to a misunderstanding it was in fact a marmite free crumpet. As, he is Scottish, no one can understand a word Big George says so this was not surprising.

Today we avoided refreshment controversy and opted for scones and cakes plus a selection of hot drinks. I must say they were some of the best cakes and drinks I can remember moving Peppers well into the highly recommended cake crusader cafe category.

Fabulous cakes and drinks

It was now that the first Bombshell was dropped.Having experienced the wind behind Barry couldn’t face the thought of cycling another 75 miles into it tomorrow and would rather do 25 miles into it today. This meant Helen and their tandem had to bail out too, so here their story ends.

The remaining 5 of us set off again in high spirits as the sun was out and sky was blue. We foolishly commented that we had probably missed worst of the sleet and rain. This was a stupid thing to have done as the next 30 mile stretch of the ride had a number of periods of sleet only broken up by lots of rain. 

Cycling in the rain and sleet towards Newmarket

The terrain also started to get more bumpy until we reached a very long hill up to the top of the Gallops at Newmarket before a long descent into the flat racing capital. Today was the 2000 Guineas so the town was fairly quiet as everyone had gone there as we went in search of refreshments.

Waiting for my cycling guests at the top of Newmarkets gallops

We found them in a backstreet at the coffee and co cafe. It was a fairly standard cafe offering although it's cake selection had a fine array of tray bakes. I had the fully loaded, Mrs Crusader the millionaire shortbread and overnight sportive regular, Jenny some flapjack. 

Outside Coffee and Co cafe in Newmarket. Sadly Jenny photobombed the picture

When our refreshments arrived it became apparent Jenny had confused the staff and had mistakenly ordered double flapjack. This was just the latest of a long list of misdemeanours, including; not waiting at junctions, not cycling in a line for group photo, photobombing cafe photo, describing what she thought about coffee/cake instead of giving me a rating for my spreadsheet and especially doing too much talking and not enough pedalling. I had to take her to one side and put her on a formal verbal cycling guest warning, and it doesn't get much more serious than that.

Cakes and drinks at Coffee and Co.

When I finally managed to gather the scores in from my cycling guests the general consensus was the cakes were good and the drinks average but the cafe had come at the right point in the ride meaning everyone was refuelled for the final push to Cambridge (City East) Premier Inn and all that it has to offer.

Final push to Cambridge with the sun now shinning

After more refuelling (it's not called eating when you are on a long bike ride) it was an early night as we prepared for what was expected to be a 75 mile ride in a wind tunnel, but as it happened it was far more dramatic than that!

My final two cycling guests were regulars Ali and son Tom. They had joined us on many trips including a couple of days on the Great Ride North back in 2015 but for this ride they had persuaded Deborah (Mrs Ali/Mummy Tom) to join us for an all expenses paid night of luxury and fine dining at the Cambridge (City East) Premier Inn in return for being our day 2 support vehicle.The main role for day 2 support was thought to be to transport our bags back to Norwich but Debra's role became far more important than that as the day unfolded.

Things started badly when Ali found he had a post breakfast puncture but was at least able to fix it in the pleasant surroundings of the premier inn reception. 

Transforming the reception at Cambridge (City East) Premier Inn into a bicycle workshop

Obviously our start was delayed but on the plus side the wind seemed to be a lot less fierce than forecasted and we enjoyed a leisurely ride out of Cambridge along the river.

Leaving Cambridge via the river
as once again my 4 remaining cycling guests failed to get in a line.

I then noticed I too had a puncture requiring a further delay, especially as the tyre took a lot of effort and 4 different sets of tyre levers to get it free. However my credibility was restored by a faultless inflation with CO2.

More puncture action

Once on our way again I hoped that there would be no moral mechanicals today (if only) as Ali radioed ahead to Deborah in the support vehicle with our new cafe eta.

A few miles later we reached Newmarket when unexpectedly my back wheel locked up I saw my derailleur going round in the chain. For the less mechanically minded this is a very bad thing. A twig had got jammed in the chain causing the derailleur hanger to snap. The hanger is the weakest point and designed to break first to save the more expensive bits of the bike (like a bicycle collar bone).

I knew I was toast as there would be no way to get a new hanger especially on a Sunday. A nearby Halfords was contacted how said they could get one in by Wednesday or I could try making my bike into a single speed. 

Inspecting the damage as troublemaker Jenny photobombs yet another photo

Not wanting to spend the next three days on a Newmarket pavement I felt the single speed option seemed the better one. Meanwhile our support vehicle was summoned back from the cafe stop at Tuddenham Nurseries.

We worked out how to make it single speed as I fortunately had a chain tool that I could use to shorten the chain. However despite getting it set up as we planned the chain kept slipping and bike was unrideable. (note: back at Crusader Towers in my secret underground bicycle workshop I undertook some Youtube based research to discover that the only thing I had done wrong was use the big front cog rather than the small front cog and then it would have worked. Maybe next time. Note it actually happened again few weeks later, see Success for details)

Almost succeeding in making bike into a single speed one

At this point Ali decided he too was getting a bit tired and his knees were playing up so he  offered me his bike for the rest of the ride while he would hop into the support vehicle. Well I didn't need to be asked twice and after a quick seat adjustment the remaining 4 of us set off again to the cafe at Tuddenham Nursery.

Swapping bikes as my useless one was loaded into the support vehicle

It was a fairly standard garden centre cafe offering although this time the drinks were better than the cakes (even if we only tried the banana one) meaning it got exactly the same rating as Coffee and Co yesterday (you couldn't make it up).

Outside entrance to Tuddenham Nurseries coffee shop.
Photo had to be taken quickly to avoid Jenny photobombing although she still snuck in the background.

It was now Tom's turn to decide that the support vehicle looked more inviting than more cycling with old people so as they headed up the A11 we were now down to just 3. Me, Mrs Crusader and troublemaker Jenny.

We had arranged to meet up again at our final stop Cafe Cadence but this would require a fast paced dash across Suffolk and Norfolk to get there by closing time.It would also give the support vehicle time to collect Ali's spare bike so that he and Tom could cycle the remaining few miles back to Norwich from the final cafe stop.

My remaining two cycling guests.

I took particular care not to lose any more cycling guest as the 4 out of 6 that had left so far was a pretty poor record. However thanks to some excellent riding and no further drama we made it to the cafe in time. As always Cafe Cadence delivered great drinks, good fuel (sausage rolls and flapjack) and lovely views over the pond. 

Arriving at Cafe Cadence on Ali's shining bike

I was pleased Ali and Tom would be joining us again as finishing a ride with less than 50% of my cycling guests won't look good in my monthly report.

Back to 4 cycling guest for the last leg

The rest of the ride was event free and although we arrived back a little later than planned I rated the trip as a success. My two hand picked cafe stops really delivering the goods, the route was a good one and everyone got home in one piece, sort of. 

I am now running out of Premier Inns to cycle to in the region so may need a new approach for next year. But first I will be spending many happy hours in my secret underground bicycle workshop rebuilding my bike.

Scores
Coffee and Co

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.1	6.4	6.9	7.1	6.6	6.62

Tuddenham Nurseries Coffee shop

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.3	7	6.4	6.5	5.9	6.62

Route 

Click here to download 72 mile Norwich to Cambridge GPX file for your gps
Click here to download 74 mile Cambridge to Norwich GPX file for your gps