North Cape 4000 preparation 1. Norwich/Cambridge trip

North Cape 4000 preparation. Norwich/Cambridge trip

Some of you may remember that at the end of last year I accidentally entered the  North Cape 4000. Which, along with 499 other riders, is a 4000 km (2500 mile) cycle event from Lake Garda in Italy to the North Cape at the far end of Norway. There is a 3 week time limit to complete it and if you do, you get a sticker.

Well, with only 6 months before the Gran Depart I decided it was time to start training. I also decided I will blog the whole experience, from start of training to hopefully being the furthest North person in Europe at some time in August.

The first training ride will be a 140 mile round trip to Cambridge and back. I have obviously been waiting for strong winds and a storm before confirming the date but with both forecast then today seemed perfect. 

I also decided to try and make things as hard as possible to help toughen me up for the event. I therefore put on a pannier rack and heavy panniers plus invited “Always injured” Steve to ride with me, things don’t get tougher than that.

This morning, in my secret underground bicycle workshop at Crusader towers, I prepared my bike and set off to collect Always injured Steve from his house in Wymondham.

When I set off it was fairly still with a sunny blue sky, not the conditions I was looking for. Fortunately by the time we had teamed up it was overcast and the headwind had picked up nicely.

Obviously Always injured Steve was keen to update me on his latest hamstring tendinitis situation and the amount of drugs he had to take to even be able to sit on a bike…….. zzzzzzzzzz. I would like to update you on his news but I have long since developed the skill of zoning out when he tells me anything so I’ve no idea how bad it is. When he eventually finished I just said, sounds like it’s on the mend. Apparently it isn’t and he cycled off in a huff

20 miles in then the rain picked up as well as the wind and it was at last a proper ride. We changed into our waterproofs at a convenient bus stop. I know the people who read this blog are they type who love a photo of a man putting on waterproof trousers, so here it is.

With the wind and rain getting worse we enjoyed many miles of pleasant cycling as we crossed the Norfolk Suffolk boarder before arriving at Bury St Edmunds for the planned lunch stop.

There was no time for faffing so we picked the first reasonable looking cafe, The Lounge. 

It didn’t look promising from the outside and got off to an even worse start as not only did it serve Cadburys as its hot chocolate option (standard score of 5) but the effective cake selection was wrapped in cling film so despite a good range only scored 5.92.

However after that things improved as the staff were very friendly, the hot drinks (I obviously implemented Cadbury HC rules and had tea) were solid (7) and the apple and blackberry flapjack type thing was excellent (8.1). Although not part of the rating system our jacket potatoes were very good too. Surprisingly we both agreed it would be worth coming back to again.

I checked the weather forecast on the super unreliable BBC app and announced the worst of the rain was over. This obviously had the desired effect as the heavens opening giving us  a proper soaking for the next 20 mikes to Newmarket.

After that it was just a 15 mile slog into an ever strengthening wind as we grinded it out to our Premier inn in Cambridge.

On arrival the reception guy was so impressed or sorry for us he said we deserved extra chocolate and gave us a handful of mini bars each. I decided to save most of them as it would mean Mrs Crusaders forthcoming birthday present was now sorted.

It had been quite a tough day so I set my bike up in clothes horse mode and pondered what I had learned for the big adventure 

The main takeaways

1. make sure you remember to have the right plug adapter on your gadgets charger and not the one from your last foreign holiday (obviously the reverse will be required for North Cape).

2. If there is a risk of getting cramp then don’t get in the tiny hotel bath as you might be there a long time.

Tomorrow’s return leg has more rain and even stronger winds being shown on the super unreliable BBC weather app but sadly it’s likely to be a tail wind, which doesn’t count. However  having to hear about how “Always injured” Steve’s injury was overnight will keep me in the zone.

Todays route

Scores for The lounge

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5	7.	5.92	8.1	6.45	6.494