First Cake Crusader top 3 cafe (although we only actually got to two) Sportive. (Corner House cafe, Mundsley and Wiveton Hall, Wiveton)

Top 3 Café Sportive,

Corner House Café, Mundsley,

Wiveton Hall Café, Wiveton

Sunday saw the first 'Annual Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour top 3 cafe (although we only actual got to two) sportive' take place. The event got off to a bad start as a number of withdrawals had left only 4 people standing in Andrew's (who is notoriously hard to please) front drive ready for the off. Things soon got worse as it started to rain and then Ali (who is increasingly hard to please) announced that his bike had punctured in the back of his car on the drive up from Norwich to Alysham. Apparently the back tyre had exploded, and on further examination it did have a large gash in the inner tube. A mystery indeed.

The dissapointingly small field ready to set off on the
first 'Annual Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour top 3 cafe (although we only actual got to Two) sportive'

Once the tyre was fixed and rain had passed it was time to set off. The plan was to go first to the corner house cafe in Mundsley, as this was the first cafe I ever reviewed see (Size matters). Then up to Wiveton Hall Cafe (currently rated 3rd best on my ratings league table) for lunch and finally down to Heydon Hall shop and Tearoom (currently rated 4th best) for afternoon tea. We had to be back before 4.00pm as Andrew had another appointment.

As a result of the late start we were already behind the clock and things didn't improve when we would blocked by a flooded road.

A stream of  competitors carrying their bikes round the flooded road

This was soon followed by a further delay as we attempted to cross the railway line at a recently closed (for safety reasons) and therefore locked level crossing. Potentially forcing people (but not necessarily those on this sportive) to climb over the gate and run across the track carrying their bikes doesn't appear to be a way of making the railways safer. For legal reasons I will not be saying how we managed to get back onto our route.

We eventually got past all these obstacles and closed in on Mundsley. Ali said that at least the forecast of strong wind that had been predicted for today had been wrong. Sadly it was he who was wrong as up to this point we had had the wind behind us and therefore the wind had not been noticed. He was going to be in for a bit of a shock when we changed direction after our stop.

The Corner House Cafe is a Cake Crusader staple venue as although not at the top of the league it is always a reliable stop.

Outside corner house cafe in Mundsley

Unfortunately there was no outside seating area and the one table where you can just see the sea from was already taken but we found a nice table near the counter. I checked out the cake selection which now had an additional cake (albeit only one slice left) since my last visit so was able to slightly increase their effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Some of the cake selection which also included muffins,
lemon drizzle and lemon sponge not in the picture

On my last visit I noticed that there was only a small or medium size drink available and not a large one (which breaks the laws of maths) and I wrote about this on the blog. The owner kindly commented on my review and suggested that I ask for the reason next time I came and they would explain the sizing 'secret'. Therefore when the nice young lad severing us asked if I wanted a small or medium drink I took the opportunity to ask why these were the only sizes. I hoped that the mysterious sizing secret would at last be reviled. He told me it was because the medium was really the large. I was a little disappointed with the answer, seeing as that had been my point all along, and had hoped for a more intriguing solution. On my next visit I will track down the owner and hopefully get to the bottom of the corner houser cafe drink sizing policy once and for all.

Our drinks and cake arrived with the only downside being that Ali (who is increasingly hard to please) doesn't like his coffee severed in a 'vase', which is becoming an all too frequent trend. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had decided to go for tea with toast and marmalade as he was hung over and had missed breakfast. I therefore disqualified him from any further cycle cafe reviewing until he started to take it seriously.

Cake and Ali's vase of coffee ready for reviewing.

We left the corner house cafe and set off in the opposite direction towards Wiveton our second stop. As predicted Ali had a bit of a shock as we were now riding straight into a gale and our pace notably dropped. This put us even further behind schedule. Ali also needed to get back early as he was having a very special guest (me) and their family round for dinner and needed to go prepare. He therefore bailed out of the wind and headed back to Alysham. 

Myself and the remaining sportive competitors, Andrew and Chris (Mrs Crusader), continued to battle hard and finally crawled into Wiveton Hall.

Parked up outside Wiveton Hall

Wiveton Hall was very busy and we were lucky to get the only remaining unreserved table. I went to check out the ECS which was even better than the normal high standard Wiveton Hall sets.

Wiveton Hall vast cake selection, featuring chocjack at the front

I couldn't resist the look of the chocolate flapjack (chocjack) as it looked just what I needed to be able to complete the remainder of the ride.

We ordered some proper lunch to go with our drinks and chocjack. As Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had ordered a proper coffee I reluctantly let him get re involved in cycle cafe rating, at which point he instantly complained his coffee was too cold.

Today's drinks were not up to the normal high standard as the coffee was a bit cold and hot chocolate a bit weak but they still scored well and Wiveton Hall held on to it's 3rd place status. The chocjack was very sugary and just what was needed to boost the energy levels.

Drinks and chocjack ready for reviewing

Despite the excellently quick service we were along way behind schedule so, much to everyone's surprise, I reluctantly agreed to abandon our planned stop at Heydon Hall shop and tearoom and head straight back to Alysham so Andrew could keep his appointment.

It was still a real dash across Norfolk but we struggled into Andrew's drive just in time. We all agreed that the first 'Annual Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour top 3 cafe (although we only actual got to two) sportive' had been a huge success and I'm already planning how to make next years event even bigger and better. The first suggested improvement is to actually get to 3 cafes.

Ratings for Corner House cafe based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.25	7.0	5.75	7.25	7.25	6.90

Ratings for Wiveton Hall cafe based on 3 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.67	7.5	8.67	7.8	8.0	7.93

Route

Click here to download 56 mile Alysham Wiveton loop gpx file for your gps

Zombie Alert. (Savino's cafe, Cambridge and Organic shop and Cafe,Fornham All Saints)

Savinos,

Cambridge,

Opening times Mon-Sat 07:00-20:00,

Sun 09:00-18:00

Recommended
and 

The Organic Shop,

Fornham All Saints,

Now Closed Down

Yesterday I had the opportunity to kill two proverbial birds with one metaphoric stone. First Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had recently been to Cambridge and had been taken to a 'fantastic' Italian cafe which he recommend I review. Secondly I needed to do a long training ride as preparation for my London to Paris ride with Big George in a fortnight. I therefore decided to repeat the 80 mile Cambridge ride I did this year (see Going National) and hey presto two birds stoned to death.

As the wind was from the west we chose to get the train to Cambridge and cycle back. The journey was disappointingly uneventful as I listened to Andrew whinge and moan about the lack of investment in rail infrastructure. On arrival I asked him to take a photo capturing the drama of me alighting the train with my bike but it was the first of a serious very poor photographic efforts that were to occur on our journey throughout the day.

Successfully alighting the train ready to start our ride home

It was a short ride from the station to Savino's Italian cafe in the centre of Cambridge. It was not what I expected as it looked just like a typical cafe but with an Italian name. Andrew maybe hard to please but is a sucker for anything Italian so had been fooled by the Italian name, painted flags and false generic continental accents of the staff. 

Outside Savino's cafe which is apparently Italian as it has painted flags on its awning

Still we were here for the excellent cake so I went inside to review what was on offer and award the Effective Cake Selection rating (ECS). To my surprise there were no cakes on display so I couldn't take a photo of the choice available. I bravely asked the waitress if there was any cake and she said it was in the kitchen and they had Italian carrot cake, Italian lemon drizzle cake or Italian chocolate and almond cake. I went for Italian chocolate and almond cake.

As we had been served separately I asked Andrew if he could snap his refreshments on their arrival while I waited for my order at the counter. Without my supervision there was further camera phone confusion and it was not until later that I discovered it was not the photo I was after.

Andrew failing to photograph his drink

Andrew thought his Coffee was good, mainly because it was Italian, but my Italian hot chocolate was far too milky. I did have to admit that the Italian chocolate and almond cake was very good but I'm not sure it was worth the £16:90 train ticket and 80 mile ride home to come here.

Italian Hot Chocolate and Italian Chocolate and Almond cake successfully photographed by me

After our first stop we set off at pace, with wind behind, through the Cambridgeshire country side and sped through lots of little villages. Surprisingly all the villages were deserted. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please and loves all things claiming to be Italian) convinced himself that the villages had all been taken over by Zombies. I quizzed him on how, if this was the case, we had not seen any living dead out and about. He said it was because they only came out at night. I explained that he was thinking of vampires and that zombies were active in the day time. I reassured him that there was therefore no need to worry unless of course it was a full moon, or was that were-wolfs.

After escaping from the horrors of Cambridgeshire unharmed we arrived at our lunch time stop; the previously reviewed Organic shop and cafe in Fornham All Saints. Not much had changed since I was here last year in terms of both look and menu but we did discover an outdoor seating garden area round the back which upped the ambiance rating. 

I asked Andrew to capture my arrival at the cafe and in a final triumphant showcasing of his photographic skills he mainly captured his finger.

Arriving at our lunch stop along with Andrew's finger

Like before the cake selection was still a bit sparse featuring both types of scone or chocolate cake as the only offerings. I could therefore only give the same ECS as last time.

Sparse cake selection

However I was looking forward to my drink as I noted that on my previous visit the hot chocolate had scored highly so I was very disappointed with today's milky offering. The chocolate cake was nice and Andrew's pot of tea produced a nice cup so not too bad overall. 

Milky hot chocolate and pot of tea, all nicely presented

Both of today's cafes were nice stops but both needed larger cake selections and to make their hot chocolate a lot stronger if they are to get my full stamp of approval.

On the way back Andrew started to fade and claimed I was only going faster because of my new wheels. I suggested maybe he should get some new Italian wheels as they would surely go faster still.

We also spotted a woman in jogging kit being pulled along by a dog who had appeared to have put a lasso round her waist and attached her to it's collar. Andrew was worried she had been captured by some sort of zombie dog and was being dragged back to the Cambridgeshire zombie village area. I told him not to be silly as it was much more likely to be were-wolfs. Just in case we decided not to intervene and got home safely.

Sunday see's the first Annual Norfolk cafe cycle tours 3 top cafe 50 mile spectacular were I will be taking a ride out to 3 of my favourite cafes from the past year. Hopefully it will be good weather and no Zombies.

Ratings for Savino's Cafe

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	8.0	6.5	8.5	6.0	7.00

Ratings for Organic shop and cafe based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.0	7.25	5.0	7.0	6.5	6.55

Route

Click here to down load 79 mile Norwich to Cambridge GPX file for your GPS

New wheels. (Mere Moments, Diss)

Mere Moments,

Diss,

Opening times Mon-Sat 08:30-16:00,

Recommended 

After returning from Europe I was excited to see that the new wheels I had sent for for my bike had arrived. Ignoring all requests for helping with unpacking or other post holiday related chores I went straight for my tool kit to get the wheels out of the box and on to my bike. Apparently these wheels have been tested in a wind tunnel and go 9 seconds quicker than other wheels over 25 miles. I was therefore keen to try them out so invited today's guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) to join me on a trip to Diss where we would also be able to find a cafe to review.

The ride down went smoothly not just because it was a lovely day with little traffic about but also because of the way my new wheels glided over the road (well I have to tell people that to justify replacing the perfectly good ones I had) so we arrived in Diss in good time.

As we didn't have a cafe in mind I went to tourist information to ask them where I could find a suitable cafe or tearoom. The nice tourist information lady said there was the one next door I had just walked past. As I hadn't spotted it and not wanting to lose face, I agreed, that yes there was that one but I had obviously decided I didn't like the look of it or I wouldn't be in here asking for tourist information, so please tell me about another one.

The nice tourist information lady said there was another one two doors further down. Does it do nice cake I asked. Yes she said. Right I shall head there and I marched confidently out the door with my face still in tact (I think).

The cafe in question was Mere Moments which overlooked Diss's central pond which they call the Mere.

Outside Mere Moments in the European cafe culture based outside seating area

The cafe had a small European cafe culture based outdoor seating area at the front, two rooms of table and chairs inside and an outdoor seating decking area at the back. We were kindly allowed to carry our bikes through the indoor seating areas so we could keep an eye on them while we sat at the back enjoying the view of Diss Mere through the car park

Our table in the decking out door seating area
overlooking the Mere (behind the car park)

With bike security and seating arrangements sorted I went to check out the cakes to award the effective cake selection score (ECS). They were displayed in an elegant glass tower and included 3 nice big sponge cakes. I went for hot chocolate with Victoria sponge and Andrew for a pot of tea and the chocolate cake.

Cake selection in glass tower display unit

As it had been a long time since breakfast I also ordered a Stilton baguette. After placing my order I was expecting the normal question of 'did I want cream on my hot chocolate' so had already got my standard answer of 'no as it comes' prepared and ready to go. However the serving lady asked the wrong question of 'did I want crisps and salad'. Before I had time to react I had blurted out my standard answer. By the time I realised my Stilton baguette would not now have accompaniments it was too late. Again I didn't want to lose face and so explained I had a crisp allergy and had to jealously watch Andrew as he added crisps and salad to his cheese baguette.

Refreshments being guarded by mini penguin chefs 

The hot chocolate was excellent as Mere Momments had got both the hot and chocolate elements of the drink spot on. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) thought his tea was fine but as previously discussed it is hard to get more than a score of 7 for a cup of tea, which this one did.

Both our cakes were also very good and towards the top end of the cake quality scale.

We were told there was a path out the back of the cafe and along the mere which we could take back to the road to save us carrying our bikes though the cafe. However our path was blocked by a herd of wild geese and as neither of us were particularly brave we decided that through the cafe was the safe option.

Gang of extremely frighting looking Geese that only the very brave
 (or the nice little old lady on the table next to us)  would dare go through

Mere Moments was a very nice stop and even Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) agreed it would be worth coming to visit again.

The ride home was a very pleasant ride along some nice country lanes and we clocked up nearly 60 miles. Thanks to my new wheels this meant I got back 21 seconds before he did. Worth every penny.


Scores for Mere Moments

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
9.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	6.0	7.20

Route

Click link to down load 57 mile Diss Loop gpx file to your GPS

Ferry across the Yare. (Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms, Reedham)

Cupcakes,

Reedham,

Now Closed Down

After a fortnight of European cycle cafe reviewing in the Julian Alps it was good to return to the flatlands of Norfolk for some regular British cafe cycle rides. Today we had our friend Lisa joining us on a visit from Hampshire. As she is too little to ride any of our spare bikes the only option was for her to stoke the tandem with myself taking on the role of tandem pilot. Lisa regular represents Great Britain in international chatting competitions and was planning to use this as a training session so I knew I was in for an exhausting ride.

To add to the complication today's other guest Chris (wife) had a painful toe caused by a swelling insect bite and was worried about this leading to a medical emergency during the ride. To de-risk this possibility we asked our keen cycling friend Dr Hans to join us as he is a GP and could take on the role of team doctor for the day.

We set off to today's destination, Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms at Reedham. After a slightly hairy ride across Norwich and then out to Brundel the rest of the way was on lovely country lanes offering some outstanding views of Cantley sugar beet factory. Fortunately there had not been any medical emergencies up to this point so Dr Hans's services had not been required so we arrived at Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms in one piece.

Outside Cupcakes coffee and tearooms
expecting to try the type of cake the coffee and tea rooms were named after

As always the first priority was to check out the cakes and award the effective cake selection (ECS) rating. The cakes were spread out over two shelves, which was a good sign, although on further inspection a number were more desserts than cakes but there were still plenty of traditional big round cakes to choose from. The big surprise was that for an establishment named cupcakes they were conspicuous by their absence. I feel this is an oversight that the Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms brand and marketing department should address at the earliest opportunity. However I still awarded a good ECS.

A good selection of cakes in the display unit but sadly no cupcakes,
which was somewhat of a surprise all things considered.

We decided to sit in the riverside view outdoor seating area to enjoy the scenery which had the bonus of including the Reedham village car park but sadly you couldn't see the Cantley sugar beet factory from here.

View from the riverside outside seating area

I had a hot chocolate while my guests chose a good selection of coffees. All the drinks were good and scored reasonably well. For cake I had gone for chocolate fudge whilst Lisa and Chris had both chosen a very nice and moist carrot cake. Dr Hans avoided cake as it wasn't medically endorsed or part of his 5 a day. My fudge cake was tasty but a bit too chocolaty and rich for even me to finish. We all thought we would have preferred a few cupcakes with our drinks.

Cakes and drinks ready for reviewing

Once again, in a growing and worrying cafe and tearoom trend, my fudge cake had been served on its paper napkin, thus rendering it useless for its task of crumb and icing removal from around the mouth area. I shall be starting a new feature naming and shaming cafés and tearooms who continue to do this in a bid to stamp this outrageous practice out.

Ruined paper napkin by serving the cake on it

Before we left there was just time for Dr Hans to checkout Chris's increasingly sore and throbbing toe. Using all his medical training he said it wouldn't be so painful if she wasn't out cycling and to take some pain killers (so she did). Definitely worth bringing him along as a potential medical emergency had now been averted.

During our visit to Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms Lisa's main concern was the lack of 3G signal available in the middle of rural Norfolk. This was stopping her from posting progress of our trip on Facebook. She seemed surprised that the new 4G networks had not yet made it to Reedham. Despite this we all agreed that Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms had delivered well across all categories and would get a recommended comment on my locations map.

The next stop was Reedham ferry. As we had decided on our route at the last minute I had not had time to book us cabins or check out who the cabaret act would be during our crossing. Fortunately this was not an issue and the only disappointment for Lisa was the lack of WiFi on board.

Lisa checking for WiFi on the Reedham Ferry river crossing

We continued our ride home albeit with Chris in increasing pain, Lisa trying to update Facebook from the back of the bike and Dr Hans making sure there were no more medical emergencies needing his assistance. We enjoyed further stunning views of Cantley sugar beet factory and an excellent detour to take in the Norwich sewage farm as we continued our pleasant return journey. The only further adventure was when a wrong turning led to Dr Hans having the first puncture on his new bike

Repairing Dr Hans's puncture

Once repaired we returned home with Lisa's training for the British non stop chatting championships complete and myself ready for a lie down.

Scores for Cupcakes coffee and tea rooms.

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	6.90

Route

Click link to download 41 mile Norwich Reedham ferry loop gpx file for your GPS

Surprise extra. (Tučarjev dom, Vršič moutain, Slovenia)

Search for Best Café in Europe 2014

Day 9

Much to my surprise George (son) and Jake (nephew) announced they would like to ride up the 7.5 mile 24 hairpin bend Vršič mountain pass as a challenge. This sounded a great idea and as I suspected there would be a cafe at the top so I invited myself along and made them my guest reviewers for the ride.

Therefore early this morning, with the sun shinning, we set off for our mountain climb cycling challenge and cafe cycle review experience. It was tough going but to inspire us I sang the lyrics to the chorus of Geordie X-Factor winner Joe Mcelderry's number 1 hit 'the climb'.

There's always going to be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always going to be an uphill battle, 

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose,

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

Unfortunately the only line I actually knew was 'it's the climb' so I had to dum-de-dum the other bits and then just belt out 'it's the climb' every few minutes. It seemed to do the trick and we made good progress towards the top. 

Today's guest reviewers enjoying the climb (both actual and my singing)

Years of cycling practice, including forcing my children to cycle with me, meant myself and George kept going all the way to the top but unlike the marines we were prepared to leave a man behind and with about 1 mile and 4 hairpins to go it started to rain so we sped up and left Jake to struggle up the last bit without us or my inspirational singing to aid has soggy ascent.

As the rain got heavier we kindly waited for Jake at the top and then headed straight for cafe Tučarjev dom. With clouds closing in the stunning view was a bit less stunning than on the postcards but still not bad.

View from top, partly hidden in cloud

We locked up our bikes outside Cafe Tučarjev dom and headed inside to get out of the rain and grab some much needed refreshments to refuel up our lost energy.

Outside Tučarjev dom

Inside was very dark and not very welcoming. Unfortunately we had just been beaten in by a coach party of old people, I think from Italy, all waving their tokens for coffee and strudel. I thought we deserved our refreshments first seeing as we had just cycled for 1.5 hours up hill where as they had sat in a coach staring out of a window but despite this we had to wait behind them for sometime as plate after plate of strudel flew out of the kitchen. The old people, I think from Italy, were also taking up most of the indoor seating area and although there was a nice outdoor bench based seating area no one, including us, wanted to use it in this weather.

Out door seating bench area abandoned to the rain

When we did eventually get our hot chocolate, strudel and a seat the items were all faintly disappointing with only the lemon zest twist in the apple strudel saving cafe Tučarjev Dom from becoming the worst cafe in all of Europe.

Disappointing set of food and drink

We waited for the rain to ease before flying back down the slippery roads in only 25 minutes. It was disappointing to have put in so much effort for such a poor cafe visit. But then I remembered the words of Joe:

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

And Suddenly I understood what he meant; it was the fun and enjoyment of cycling uphill with legs aching and lungs burning for 90 minutes that was important not the rubbish cafe at the top, I think.

European league table after 11 cafés.   

Cafe                                                             Drink   Food    Ambiance  Score

Hotel Vitranc, Podkoren, Slov.                        8.        8.5             8            8.17 

Morgenstond cafe, Griendtsveen, NL              8         8.5            7.5          8.00

Central cafe, Baarlo NL.                                  8          8.75          7            7.92

Hererg de bonged, Bassel, NL.                        8          8.5.           7.           7.83

D'hefren van Baarlo, Baarlo, NL.                    6.          8.             9.           7.67

Gasthof W@nker, Arnoldstein, Austria          7.          8.            7.5.          7.50

De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you),                8           6            8.5           7.50

Arcen, NL

Passi cafe, Horst, Holland.                               7         7.5           6.5           7.00

Gostinstvo in turizem cafe,                              7.5.       5             5.5           6.00

Monstrana, Slov

Tučarjev dom, Vršič moutain, Slov                  5          7               5            5.67

Dakepello, Panningen, NL                                5         6.5             5            5.50