Bigger Hammer. (The Waterside, Rollesby)

The Waterside,

Rollesby,

Open Everyday 9-5,

Highly Recommended

After a week of nice weather I had picked the first dull and drizzling day for my latest cafe cycle ride. As the weather had been warm and sunny during the planning stage I had opted for a summer length ride of 50 miles. I had also chosen Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) as my summer ride cycling guest.

As well as summer route and guest, I had also recently switched to using my summer bike. I had decided to give my other bike a service as it had had a hard winter and had completely broken on our ride back from Cambridge last week (see previous post). I always service my bikes myself as it saves a lot of money. Or it would do if I didn't keep buying the wrong parts, breaking them and then having to take the bike to the Local Bike Shop (LBS) to do the job properly.

This is why the car contained both my summer bike plus the frame of my winter bike with a stuck headset. I planned to take it to the LBS straight after the ride to have the stuck bearing casing removed (hopefully).

Once at Hard to Please House I explained my current bike repair predicament to Andrew who, rather smuggly, told me he had just had an excellent service (including a new headset) done by Evans for not much more than I paid for my new parts. 

I obviously ignored this as we set off into a strong wind, via the Norfolk Coast Road, to Rollesby. The most remarkable thing about the Norfolk Coast Road is that it never gets very near the coast and you rarely see the sea, although you do see lots of other things like Windmills.

Horsey Mill but not a glimpse of the sea during our ride down the so called coast road

It had been a 30 mile slog but we had got to The Waterfront cafe at Rollesby and were in need of refreshments and fuel. However we were now on the clock if I was going to get to the LBS in time for an extraction.

Outside the Waterside by Rollesby Broad

The Waterside is on the edge of Rollesby Broad with good views from the outdoor patio seating area, but it was too cold for that so I went inside. 

Views of the Broad from the outdoor seating area

I checked out the cake selection, it was a very good one with a lot of big cakes which were more at the dessert end of the cake range continuum (although they did have fruit scones for me to check out for fruit scone of the year).

Very tempting cakes

I next studied the menu as I also wanted a sandwich to fuel with. However despite being tight for time there was still no sign of Andrew who had gone outside "to get as one with nature". On his return I suggested that next time he might like to "get as one with nature" after we have ordered as time was not our friend today.

Andrew was certainly at his most hard to please as despite the award of high effective cake selection (ECS) and Atmosphere and Ambiance (AAA) marks he decided that the coffee might not be very good as "it could get busy here in the high season". No I didn't understand the connection either but he ordered tea, which as you probably know is capped at 7 out of 10 for guest drink quality, what with it being just a cup of tea. To reassure you there appeared to be an impressive coffee machine and very competent staff so I'm sure the coffee would be good. If anyone has had one here then please let me have you mark out of ten.

Drinks featuring my hot chocolate an a pot of tea

Our drinks, fuel and cake arrived. My hot chocolate was fine but the chocolate and raspberry cake was exceptional and got the highest cake taste quality score this year. I was therefore very impressed with the Waterside and I highly recommend a visit.

Top cake, especially if you are a fan of chocolate

Due to Andrews dilly dallying I had to put the hammer down on the way back to Aylsham and thanks to this combined with the wind now being behind then we caught up the time in what was our fastest ride since last summer (well done us!).

I was therefore able to get the winter bike to top mechanic Andy who freed my parts. I promised not to reveal the secret of how he did it but some 'precision' tools were a key part of the process and I too will now be purchasing a bigger hammer.

Winter bike now ready for my next servicing cock up

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.1	7	7.8	9.1	7.9	7.58

Route

Click her to download 52 mile Aylsham Hemsby loop gpx file to your GPS

Rations (Poppylands Cafe, Horsey)

Poppylands Cafe,

Horsey,

Wed-Mon 10-4,

Highly Recommended

After my recent trips to the Pyrenees and South coast the time had come to return to bread and butter cycle cafe reviewing with a trip nearer to home. To demonstrate my outdoor activity flexibility then next weekend I will be walking part of the Norfolk coast path with 8 rambling guests. I had recently put Mrs Crusader in charge of catering for this expedition but, despite not doing any research, claimed she was struggling to find an option for Saturday lunchtime. As Norfolk’s number one self appointed cafe expert I suggested that Poppylands at Horsey could be a good choice. The only problem was I had never actually been there to test out it’s suitability.

I therefore teamed up with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) on a 50 mile round trip from Hard to Please House to check it out.

I can’t remember if I have mentioned that I had recently been on a 450 mile, 11 climb (4 of which on the current TdF) ride across the Pyrenees with Andrew. But I have and as such we were both feeling pretty fit so enjoyed our fastest ever ride until we found Poppylands cafe just pass Horsey Mill on the coast road.

Poppylands is 1940's themed

I hadn’t realised that Poppylands was 1940s themed and hoped that tea and cake won’t be rationed. I became less worried as there was a good cake selection which would have used up several ration books. I had lemon sponge and Andrew chocolate cake.

Sponge cake selection

Andrew was clearly worried about rationing to, so demanded that his tea was strong. We returned to the 1940s themed courtyard and waited for our refreshments. 

Refreshments

They soon turned up but as Andrew poured his tea I could see a rant brewing (pardon the pun) as it looked a bit on the weak side. Before he could get started another lady came haring out with extra tea bags, hot water and mug apologising that the tea had not been delivered to the necessary strength and he was welcome to make it up to his desired strength. Andrew was most impressed and we agreed Poppylands was an excellent stop. The cakes were also fabulous and we were both impressed that the chocolate one had retained its moistness. I would highly recommend a visit.

Now fuelled with cake and with the wind behind our return ride was even faster and we started to believe that we were actually good cyclists (we are not) as we started to plan next years over ambitious trip to ride all the big climbs in the Alps. To round off an excellent day then on my return to Crusader Towers I was able to submit a report to 'head of catering on long walks' that Poppylands would make an excellent stop for our forthcoming bike free adventure.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	7	6.8	8.71	7.8	7.36

Route

Click her to download 52 mile Aylsham Hemsby loop gpx file to your GPS

Switch it on and off. (Kiah Homebakes, Hemsby)

Kiah Homebakes,

Hemsby,

Opening times Mon-Wed 10-2:30,

Thur-Sat 9:30-3:00

Listening to the news this morning it seemed like things were getting serious between Mr Trump and Mr Putin and that it could soon turn nasty with the end of humankind possibly just around the corner. But I can't let a little thing like that distract me from my own mission as I had planned a cycle ride with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) out to the coast. However it soon became clear that I too may be seen as a threat to the super powers.

Just after we set off from Hard to Please House it appeared that I had been the subject of a cyber attack when completely unexpectedly my Di2 electronic gears went dead and I was stuck in a single gear. I was flamoxied as they had never stopped working before (except on the two occasions were I accidently cut the cable). I confirmed that the battery was charged and that all the cables and connectors were in place but still no joy. Fortunately I used to work in IT so knew what the best approach was so I disconnected and reconnected the battery to turn the gears on and off again and the cyber terrorists had been thwarted (for now).

Despite starting from Hard to Please House I had planned today's route rather than leave it to Andrews old school paper map approach. I knew this would not go down well so was prepared when  Andrew constantly complained about the direction I was going in claiming he won't have gone that way at every junction. It wasn't for many miles when we were far enough away from his house so that he knew no better and we could get back to discussing matters of the day.

We eventually hit the coast road and I was pleased to see they had finally got round to putting the sails back on Horsey Mill.

Horsey Mill with sails on top rather than in pieces by the side

From here it wasn't far to todays cafe which was Kiah Homebakes on Hemsby high street.

Outside Kiah Homebakes which is bigger inside than it looks

We had done nearly 30 miles so were in need of a break. I was therefore pleased to see a good cake selection with 4 big sponges and plenty of traybakes. I awarded a good effective cake selection (ECS) score.

A wide cake selection to chose from

I went for a chocolate sponge and Andrew a chocolate oat slice plus a cappuccino.. 

Our refreshments soon arrived although we both found the drinks a bit disappointing. However the cake and oat slice were both very good and just what was needed to get our energy levels back up (you can always rely on cake) making this a very pleasant stop.

Todays cake and drink offering

Re-energised we were off again but I soon had my second cyber attack of the day as this time the cycle Sat Nav stopped showing the route and we with no paper map we were now stranded out in the wilds off Norfolk. I feared it might not be World War 3 that did for us but hyperthermia and starvation. Fortunately before either of them kicked in I was able to use my IT expertise again and by skillfully switching my Garmin 1000 on and off I miraculous resolved the problem and we were on our way.

Despite it once again being cold and damp it had been another excellent ride. Next week I have 3 more rides planned when hopefully the weather would have warmed up and maybe a few layers can be discarded. I have also invited Mr Putin and Mr Trump to come along to sort their problems out as I know anything can be resolved out on a bike ride, especially if cake is involved.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5.3	4	7.2	7.5	6.0	6.0

Route

Click her to download 52 mile Aylsham Hemsby loop gpx file to your GPS