Saddle Sore.(Connaught's Coffee House, Attleborough)

Connaught’s Coffee House,

Attleborough,

Open Mon-Fri 8.30-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 10-1,

Highly Recommended

Followers of my Facebook Cake Crusader Page (https://www.facebook.com/Cafecycletour/) will know that I'm about to go cycling crazy over the summer months. I have recently been concentrating on endurance running which sadly involves no cafe stops or cake. But this is about to change. I have a number of recommendations for cafes to visit that I need to follow up on. Then I have another trip on a National cycle route followed by the search for the best cake along the River Danube. If that's not enough, September sees me travel to the French Alps to see if they do better croissants than the Pyrenees offered up last year. There is also the climax to my sofa to sportive project and the continuing hunt for fruit scone of the year #FSOTY. 

But where to start? Well obviously with a ride to Attleborough with Mrs Crusader of course.

At this point you have a choice. If you want to know all about bicycle saddles and seatpost adjustments then read on. If however, like most people, you just want to know if the cafe was any good then I suggest you skip the next couple of paragraphs.

Mrs Crusader had been having saddle issues. The saddle itself is apparently super comfy but if the bike goes over a large bump a saddle rail pops out of the seatpost clamp causing it to slope backwards. On further analysis it became apparent the rails were oversized oval ones whereas the clamp was for a normal round rail. Because there are no standards in the world of seatposts then it's not possible to just replace the clamp so a new seat post had to be purchased.

Despite it being a very fiddly job I was very pleased to have joined the new saddle with the post for its maiden voyage yesterday. However before we had got down the street Mrs Crusader was complaining that the saddle was too far back, and as she only has little arms, could no longer reach the handlebars. So we stopped while undertook the first adjustment of the day. Unfortunately the saddle couldn't be moved far enough to completely rectify the problem so after a few more miles it was time to stop again. I suggested the old trick of turning the post round so it sloped forward meaning the saddle would be further forward too.

One of many seatpost and saddle adjustments to Mrs Crusaders bike on the ride

This meant a longer stop but I was very pleased to successfully make the switch. Although it was a further improvement I was informed that it was still not right. It took a total of six stops until I eventually got approval that the saddle was now back in the correct place. I was relieved to get it sorted today as Mrs Crusader is a key component in my summer cycling plans.

Much later than planned we arrived at Connaught's Coffee House on the outskirts of Attleborough town centre which I had been recommended to go to as the scones were meant to be very good. 

Outside Connaught's Coffee House

After locking our bikes up against the nearby railings we went inside to check out the cake selection. As well as the scones there was the largest chocolate cake I had ever seen. In fact, however tempting, it looked too large for even me to try so I went for the more manageable lime and blueberry cake and Mrs Crusader a fresh cream strawberry sponge cake. It was a fine selection so got a high effective cake selection (ECS) score. 

Cake selection featuring an enormous chocolate cake

We sat down and, expecting congratulations on my saddle adjustment skills, I foolishly asked if the saddle was really ok. Like the Princess in the Princess and the Pea Fairytale would have been if she had a bike then Mrs Crusader told me that it now needed to slope forward by a further one or two degrees to be properly comfy again. So back outside I went to retrieve the saddle seatpost combination from the bike and returned to try and undertake this precision alteration.

Our cakes and drinks arrived and I was very pleased with the hot chocolate offering which had a proper strong chocolate taste and got a deserved high Hot Chocolate Quality (HCQ) mark. Mrs Crusader thought her black Americano was a good one too. As for the cakes they were fabulous, in fact Mrs Crusader felt her strawberry sponge cake could have been the best she had ever had, especially when she discovered the odd piece of white chocolate in it as well.

Todays drinks and half eaten cakes

On adding up the scores it was clear that Connaught's was a top rated cafe and the best I had visited this year so I highly recommend a visit. 

To avoid any further opportunity for future saddle adjustments then I insisted that Mrs Crusader formally signed off the new saddle position as being 100% correct.

With saddle now officially 100% correct and the wind behind we flew back, that is until I noticed that my seat post had not been properly tightened and had slipped down as I sheepishly requested we stop while I adjusted it. 

The focus now moves on to taking my sofa to sportive team on their next two 'training rides' before undertaking a trip from Dover to Norwich on NCR1 so watch this space.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.75	8	7.7	9	6.75	8.04

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

Result. (The Courtyard Tearoom, Attleborough)

Courtyard Tearoom,

Attleborough,

Opening times Mon-Sat 08:00-17:00,

Sun 09:00-15:00

Recommended

August has proved to be a frustrating month for this cafe cycle reviewer. I had wanted to make the most of my recent media exposure by doing lots of new rides in order to follow up on the numerous cafe recommendations I have been receiving. This plan has been foiled by first a family holiday (where I was only allowed to go on a bike ride twice!), and now a lack of availability of anyone from my panel of cycling guests. To add to the stress next week is the start of my 500 mile journey from the Welsh coast to East coast (in order to find the best cafe anywhere across Great Britain, literally) and I need to put in some extra cycling miles to get in shape.

Seeing first hand how the lack of cycling was impacting my performance level as both a husband and father then Chris (Mrs Crusader) agreed to step in, at short notice, to be today's cycling guest. The one caveat was that due to an urgent haircut appointment she was only available for a morning trip. Fortunately my mother had recently given me a cutting from the local paper about a new cafe that had opened in Attleborough and as this is about a 30 mile round trip it would work perfectly.

I decided to also use it as an opportunity to test out my luggage strategy for next weeks trip so put all the potential panniers I would be taking, albeit empty, on to the bike.

Bike with empty bags

Under grey sky's and with some drizzle in the air we set off. To add to the drama it was also A'level results day so our route down to Attleborough was interspersed with numerous stops to check the latest texts as we heard the results of our own, friends and families children. 

Fortunately we only seemed to know (or hear from) parents of clever children so arrived in Attleborough with only good news as we went in search of the newly opened Courtyard Tearoom which we found down a wide alley off the high street. If you do a search on Google then you will find numerous Courtyard tearooms and cafes however I can't find a single establishment named Wide Alley Tearoom so maybe they have missed a trick here.

The wide alley was plenty wide enough for a good sized outside seating area so, despite the rain in the air, we decided we would sit out. Inside there are a similar number of neat wooden tables and chairs plus a comfy sofa. 

In the outdoor seating area of The Courtyard Tearoom

As always I first had to check out the cakes to award the effective cake selection (ECS) rating which I was glad to see had all the key requirements that a cake selection needs. There were proper sponge cakes covering all the classics (chocolate, lemon, carrot, coffee and victoria) plus brownies, muffins and scones (cheese and fruit). So a very good performing ECS. 

Very solid classic cake selection

Instead of a standard cheese scone Mrs Courtyard gave me the sell for a savoury cream tea, which was a cheese scone with cream cheese and chutney, plus hot drink, served on fancy plates. As a lover of good marketing I went for one of these plus some chocolate cake and a white hot chocolate as my drink. Chris went Mocha and lemon drizzle.

I suspected that Mr and Mrs Courtyard were familiar with my cafe reviewing work, especially when I started to randomly photograph cakes, plates, chairs etc but they seemed happy enough to humour me in my pursuit. I clearly haven't reached  Egon Ronay status yet.

Drinks and food including savoury cream tea on fancy plates

The scone (correctly warmed) was very nice and I have added it to possible contenders for cheese scone of the year. In terms of drinks my white hot chocolate was good but Chris would have preferred her Mocha quite a bit stronger. Both our cakes were very tasty and moist giving them a high cake taste quality (CTQ) score.

While we were enjoying our food and drinks Mr Courtyard explained why there were brightly coloured bikes dotted around Attleborough. Apparently the tour of Britain was coming to town soon so Attleborough had put together their very own dragon style trail (like in Norwich) only with less dragon and more bike. The Courtyard Tearoom bike example looked very good although I immediacy noted the tyres needed more air, the saddle should be higher and a bit less cutlery in the tyres would make it go faster.

Courtyard cafe tour of Britain bike

We enjoyed our visit to the Courtyard tearoom and wish them every success with their new venture. As an added bonus I took a courtyard tearoom loyalty card to add to my loyalty card picture library collection and it immediately set a new stamps per free drink (SPFD) record requiring only 5 SPFD and thus beating the previous record of 6 SPFD held by the Brown Sugar cafe in Long Stratton.

Despite the way home being into the wind and more stops to check texts about more clever children getting into university we made it back with 15 minutes to spare before haircut time. I was also happy that my luggage carrying strategy for next week had worked well, even if it was all empty, so confidence is now high for another successful mission.

Scores based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.25	6	6.75	8.00	6.75	6.75

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

Mind the gap. (The Coffee lounge, Attleborough)

The Coffee Lounge,

Attleborough,

Opening times Mon-Fri 08:00-17:00,

Sat 08:30-16:00

Recommended 

Looking at the cafe locations map there is an obvious gap to the South West of Norwich. With the wind blowing from that direction then yesterday was the day to start plugging that gap. It was also the last Friday that Big George could be a guest for a month so it was an ideal one stone, two dead birds sort of day. I therefore decided we should head to the wilds of Attleborough where we would hopefully find a cafe to review.

The weather forecast said that the remains of the weather bomb would pass over this morning but that it would still be windy and cold. 

The disadvantage of a strong headwind is that not only does it slow you down but you cant hear what your cycling guest might be saying. This headwind, combined with Big George's strong Scottish accent meant I had no idea what he was waffling on about so I just shouted yes a lot as we rode along.

Unfortunately I did not learn from my previous overheating experience and despite heading into the wind I had soon over heated again and needed a hot top stop. During the hot top stop I was able to ask Big George for today's cycling guest top cycling tip. He told me it covers riding efficiency.

Cycling guests top cycling tip No. 6. Get more from your core. Shorten your stem, relax your shoulders and engage your core for a more efficient riding position.

It was the first top tip that comes with a strap line (Get more from your core) so I'm hoping that future cycling guests will now start to include strap lines with their top tips.

We battled on into the wind until we arrived  in Attleborough where we found the Coffee Lounge on the high street.

Outside the coffee Lounge.
We parked bikes by the sign making it clear we could only leave them there two hours (or is that cars)

Outside was possible the smallest outside seating area I have found to date, 2 chairs and a table on the pavement. We decided not to use it as we would be likely to block the pavement and cause total gridlock on the street's of Attleborough.

Rather small outside seating area on the busy high street

The Coffee Lounge provides both a front and back room inside seating area which were both busy giving a good buzz to the atmosphere. We managed to find a table by the drinks fridge before studying the cake selection.

There was a very good selection of big cakes available and I found it hard to chose so gave a very high effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Good selection of cakes in photo proof display unit

With such a good cake selection I was disappointed when Big George decided to have a bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce). As a bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce) is clearly not a cake then Big George would take no further part in any cake related reviewing today. He ordered a Latte to go with his bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce).

Cakes and drinks photographed before
Big George's Bacon sandwich (white, no sauce) arrived.

My hot chocolate was a very very hot drink but when it had cooled enough for me to drink it was quite good. Big George also though his Latte was quite good. For my cake I had chosen the last slice of layer sparkle sponge but I couldn't decide if I really liked it or not. I liked the cake bit but not the sparkly bits on the icing. In the end there was only one thing to do; award a middling cake taste quality (CTQ) score to cover both options.

Overall I liked the Coffee Lounge and it has nicely filled the cafe gap on my locations map opening up more route options in a south westerly direction.

The way back was with wind behind so I could now make out what Big George was talking to me about. I decided I preferred it when we were cycling into the wind.

Ratings 

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	6.5	8.0	6.5	6.25	6.75

Map of route we took.

Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS