Norfolk cycle parkrun challenge stage 7. (Florence cafe, Kings Lynn)

Florence Cafe,

Kings Lynn,

Closed down

You may recall that my friend Mark was looking for someone to join him on an attempt to cycle to, then run, every parkrun in Norfolk over the year (there are now 13). So far we have done 6 but due to availability issues had had most of the summer off.

Yesterday we were both back on it as it was time to do the parkrun we had been dreading, Kings Lynn. Not that there is anything wrong with Kings Lynn but as the official Norfolk cycle parkrun challenge rules state; Each ride needs to start from your home parkrun, which means the bandstand at Eaton Park in Norwich. I had calculated that we needed to leave at 5.15 am to get to the start in time so got up very early. 

Looking surprisingly happy for 5:15 in the morning

We were very fortunate with the weather as there were clear blue skies and only a light wind blowing into us. As it was still early we risked going on some busier roads to help shorten the distance although felt that straight down the dual carriageway on the A47 was probably a step too far. 

Perfect cycling conditions with no traffic about

Despite it being nearly 50 miles we paced it rather well and got to the Walks in Kings Lynn just in time for the pre run briefing.

The parkrun is 3 laps of the park which include an out and back section where you have to turn 180 degrees around a lamp post. On the first lap I studied the slingshot technique used by the more experienced runners. On lap two my first attempt nearly ended in disaster as I hung on for more than the required angle flinging myself back across the path into the on coming runners before mastering the method on the final lap.

Mark entering the finishing funnel

You may remember that back in March I got an Achilles injury (not that I like to mention it) that has now eventually cleared up. However during this time Mark built up a substantial lead in the fastest average parkrun time comp (that he didn't know he had entered). Sadly Mark is now injured so I pulled back nearly 7 minutes on him yesterday thus halving the deficit on my spreadsheet and I'm back in the game.

At the end of the Kings Lynn parkrun

It was now time to check out the cafe but unfortunately the park's one didn't sell cake so after a quick search on google maps we found one that did. It was the Florence cafe just a 4 minute bike ride away.

Outside Florence cafe near the park

It was a bit dark inside, which had the counter in the backroom as one of  two indoor seating areas available. Here we found the cake selection which had some nice cakes but they had been baked as slices not a round sponge cake like I prefer. We ordered before returning to the front room.

A rather square cake selection

I had coffee and walnut square cake with my hot chocolate and felt they were both pretty good. Mark thought his ginger cake was good too but his latte was very disappointing as it had hardly any coffee in it. Mark now has several guest hot drink rating experiences under his belt so I trusted him when he said he could only give his drink a 4.3. 

Nice cakes but latte wasn't the best

Now fully refreshed it was time to head home and despite having wind behind it felt like a bit of a slog. We both admitted to being very tired at the end of the 95 mile round trip.

Today (Sunday) I will find out if getting up at 4.45am, riding 95 miles and doing Kings Lynn parkrun is good preparation for the Great Yarmouth half marathon which I have entered. (note: It isn't)

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.2	4.3	6.1	7.2	5	5.76

route to be published shortly

Soggy. (Angel Cake cafe, New Buckenham)

Angel Cake Cafe,

New Buckenham,

Mon-Sat 9:00-5,

Highly Recommended

I have cycled into South Norfolk a few times this year and noticed that the Angel Cake cafe had opened in New Buckenham. As it was time for this week's cafe cycle ride it looked like the chance to check it out.

Big George was to join me as my cycling guest. It was a lovely sunny, if slightly windy morning, so I wasn't too bothered that he was 10 minutes late for the start. I was still unbothered when Big George then had an early puncture delaying us further, but I should have been! 

Big George demonstrates how to change a puncture when you are not in a hurry

As I hadn't seen Big George for a while it was quite a leisurely ride as we caught up on urgent stuff by not listening to each other's latest news and time flew by until we found the Angel cake cafe in the High Street at New Buckenham.

Outside Angel Cafe in New Buckenham

The cafe has a downstairs and upstairs indoor seating area but we opted for downstairs so we could keep an eye on the bikes. 

The cake selection was a good one with 3 sponge cakes as well as many tempting tray bakes. I was pleased to see brownie available so I could try it out as part of my continuing search for Brownie of the year (#BOTY).

Brownie and drinks

Big George went for a cappuccino and egg sandwich. As an egg sandwich is not cake he played no further part in any cake based reviewing. I had finished my brownie before it arrived as eggs need cooking rather than being pre prepared like cake.

Big Georges egg sandwich

The staff were very friendly and our drinks were good ones. I liked the brownie although it was more like a chocolate cake so I gave it a high cake taste quality mark but it missed out on getting to the end of the year brownie off. 

Once Big George had finished his sandwich we both agreed that the Angel cafe was a very good stop and I highly recommend a visit.

As we got ready to leave I noticed that the sky was no longer blue and sunny but black and rainy. Big George smugly passed on his Cycling guest cycling top tip.

Cycling guest cycling top tip No 67. To avoid a soaking then don't be fooled by sunny skys at the start of your cycle ride but check the weather forecast and if required take a water proof.

I foolishly hadn't followed cycling guest cycling top tip no 67 like Big George.

But as I got ready for the downpour I suddenly realised what had been going on. The late start, the puncture, the leisurely ride down and the egg sandwich were all ways to slow the ride down and make sure the rain would arrive on our way home.

As the first drops of rain started Big George asked if we could stop as he smugly put on his waterproof jacket. 

Big George smugly putting on his waterproof jacket

Despite riding as fast as I could Big George's tactics had paid off as I was very wet by the time I got home. As we parted at the end of the ride I had to congratulate Big George on the successful execution of his plan (although he looked pretty soggy too).

Tomorrow I am doing the next leg of my Norfolk cycle parkrun challenge which means leaving Norwich at 5:15 to cycle the 45 miles to Kings Lynn for their parkrun. Hopefully by then I would have dried out.

Scores based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.2	7.25	7.575	8.05	7.55	7.53

Route

Click here to download 38 mile Norwich Old Buckenham loop GPX file to your GPS

Good read (Garden Kitchen cafe, Hoveton)

Garden Kitchen Cafe,

Hoveton,

Sun-Friday 9:30-4 (Easter- October),

Recommended

New cycle cafes have been a bit thin on the ground this summer so it was good to be able to clock up another one yesterday. For this ride my cycling guests were Mrs Crusader plus Barry and Helen and their Summer Tandem.

We were heading out North of Norwich so met up with Barry and Helen and their Summer Tandem near the new North Norwich bypass at Spixworth. 

As we set off Helen said that she had finally started to read my book (even though it's been available since Christmas) and had to admit that it was probably the best book about cycling to cafes, mainly in the Norfolk area, she had ever read.

Barry and Helen and their Summer Tandem had just got back from a cycling holiday in Holland (where coincidentally some of my book is based) so they were in fine form keeping up an excellent pace all the way to Hoveton Hall where we found today's cafe stop the Garden Kitchen Cafe.

Outside the Garden Kitchen cafe by the entrance of Hoveton Hall

The waitress greeted us with some news. Firstly a number of today's tables were reserved and, secondly, as it was only 11:30 we could look at the menu but nothing gets cooked until lunch time starts at 12. It reminded me of the rather amusing story when Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) tried to order a Hummus sandwich before 12:00 at Wiveton Hall. If you want to know what happened it's covered in detail in my book.

The cake selection glass display cabinet had a number of gaps (including brownie) keeping the effective cake selection score down. 

Half empty glass cake display cabinet

I opted for Ginger cake, while Chris and Helen went for lemon polenta cake and Barry a sausage roll (which isn't a cake and sooo last year). Between my cycling guests they covered americano, mocha and cappuccino coffee options. 

Some of the drinks and cakes on offer

The drinks all scored well and the cakes were well liked too but some of the most expensive I have had. It was a nice stop and I recommend a visit.

The courtyard area was beginning to fill up with punters from the Hoveton Hall gardens so we decided it was time to get back on the road.

Outdoor courtyard seating area before the crowds arrived

Helen was keen to get home so she could get back to my book as she said it was the sort of book that once you put it down you couldn't pick it up. Remember the Cake Crusader book is available on Amazon (paperback or Kindle)  and all good bookshops (as long as it's Jarrold of Norwich). 
Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.9	7.1	6	7.8	7.9	7.14

route

Click here to down load 26 mile Norwich Tunstead loop GPX file for your GPS

Scorchio! (The Barn, Stanfield)

The Barn Cafe,

Stanfield,

Opening times 10-4 everyday 

Recommended 

As today was forecast to be the hottest of the year I couldn’t miss the opportunity for a cafe cycle ride. But where to go? Now we were in the school holidays the seaside was out of the question, towns would be too hot and I have virtually run out of new cafes to visit in the countryside. Fortunately I remembered that the Barn cafe at Stanfield had changed hands last Autumn so decided to go there.

It was closer to get to from Aylsham than Norwich so met up at Hard to Please House with today’s cycling guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please).

I had asked Andrew to prepare a route so knew we would do more than the 40 mile round trip that google maps predicted and would probably get lost servers times. I can report I was right on both counts.

On one of our many map checking breaks I waited at the aptly named Nowhere Lane. I was impressed by the shiny new signs and remembered that last time we were lost here the old sign had been nicked. I wonder how long the new batch will last.

Lovely new signage

It was very hot and for once we were pleased to be cycling into the wind in order to get a bit of cooling breeze. After a few more wrong turns we found ourselves at the Barn cafe Stanfield. This is my third visit here (although first under new management so old scores have been wiped from the records) and so far I have never found the actual village.

Outside The Barn Cafe

It was good to see that everyone, except us, had taken heed of the warnings in the media to stay indoors on such a hot day as we were the only customers. With so many tables to choose from it took some time to decide on which one but we obviously opted to stay indoors. While checking out the reasonably good cake selection I thought I spotted the dreaded catering tin of Cadbury’s drinking chocolate. You may recall my new policy is not to bother if it’s Cadbury’s and give a 5 out of 10 hot chocolate rating before opting for tea. I was just implementing this approach when I spotted a sign for speciality hot chocolate so swapped to that leaving Andrew to have my pot of tea and the staff bemused why anyone would want a hot chocolate on the hottest day of the year.

Cake selection in the shade

Andrew had the unusual avocado and pecan cake which he was informed tasted like carrot cake while I had a more traditional coffee and walnut.

Todays refreshments

I was glad I had changed to the hot chocolate as it was very good and Andrew thought his tea was excellent (for a cup of tea). Our cakes were good and Andrew’s did indeed taste just like carrot cake. I thought it would be easier just to make a carrot based version in future but didn’t pass on my feedback.

The ‘new’ Barn was still a good cafe but now without the home and garden section of the previous version and I recommend a visit.

Did I mention it was hot as it was and it got a lot hotter on way back especially as Andrew had made our 40 mile ride into a 47 mile one with none of the extra 7 miles being in the shade.

View showing just how hot it was today

 Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.9	7.0	6.1	7.3	7.1	7.08

Route

Click here to download 48 Mile Aylsham Stanfield 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

By the Seaside on National Cycle route 2 Day 6 (Hastings to Dover)

By the seaside on NCR2 day 6

Deblyns Tea Shop,

New Romney

Comemos Deli,

Folkestone

It was the final day of our cafe cycle ride across the South Coast and it came with a deadline, as we had to catch the 4:20 from Dover to London if we were to make it home to Norwich tonight. For this reason Mrs Crusader insisted on an early alarm and we were breakfasted and packed with pedals down by 7:45am.

Pedals down from Hastings at 7:45am

After yesterday’s long haul up through Hastings we took a more direct route back to cycle route 2 which was waiting for us near the coast. It was good to see the sea again even if we did have to climb up to the top of the sea defences to take a peak.

First view of the sea today

There then followed the best sections of county lanes and off-road paths that we have had all week so despite being into a strong wind progress was good.

Some nice tracks and lanes to enjoy

It was a long stretch before our first cafe break but we had another visit to the coast and this time were allowed to ride on the sea defences and enjoy the seaside ambiance.

Riding on the sea defences

Next things got very bleak and we saw virtually no one as the landscape looked like something post apocalyptic. I expected to come face to face with a zombie at any moment although I didn’t as I think they only come out in a full moon (or is that werewolves).

All a bit bleak as we cycled across Romney Marshes

We then took a short detour to our refreshment destination in New Romney. This was a very twee tea shop and not the sort you would expect to find Zombies in, and we fortunately didn't.

Outside our first tea shop of the day

It only had a 2 cake or scone selection but the cakes looked good. I went for the cherry and cream chocolate sponge and Mrs Crusader the coffee cake.

Cakes and drinks

The cakes and drinks scored well and the pleasant outdoor seating area made Deblyns another excellent find.

A very pleasant outdoor seating area

The next section was a game of two halves. The first was across Romney Marshes and into a strong wind. It went along some pleasant little lanes and tracks with the one running alongside a canal being particularly good.

Further progress across Kent

The second half went along the prom at Hythe, which was deserted. Mrs Crusader awarded it first place in the best prom of the week to cycle on category.

Fabulous long section of prom by the sea

At Hythe we had our final cafe stop at The Comemos Deli. Sadly a large building and badly parked car obscured any possible views of the sea.

Final cafe stop but a restricted sea view

The cake selection was very interesting as Mrs Crusader opted for chocolate orange cake (with real chocolate orange) while I went for crunchy cake (with real crunchy).

Chocolate bar based cakes

Again the cafe performed well on all fronts but not quite good enough to make the podium. As an aside the lunch we had here was the best all week however my number one seaside cafe on NCR2 is the Hideaway at Seaton which was the very first cafe we went to making the next five and a half days a bit of a waste of time really.

The Hideaway at Seaton was the number one south coast seaside cafe

There were just 10 more miles to go but once through Folkestone the route went sharply up on to the cliff tops slowing progress but offering stunning views of the town below.

Final climb offered great views

Then round the next corner the famous white cliffs appeared and we knew our journey was nearly at an end.

The white cliffs at Dover

With a final few ups and downs we had made it to Dover station and thanks to Mrs Crusader, making us set off extra early this morning, we still had enough time for a quick day trip to France before our train was due to depart.

Arriving at our final destination with much time to spare

Our Six day, 300 mile, 12 cafe cycle ride across the South Coast was over. But what had I learnt.

1. Cafes by the sea always rate higher than the equivalent inland

2. Mrs Crusader still doesn’t like hills or being jiggered on her bike

3. Based on a survey of 3 then pensioners in Sussex don’t like cyclists.

4. Mrs Crusader can now name, in order from West to East, all the counties across the south coast except the one beginning with H which she always forgets.

5. The perfect cycle ride is about 50 miles, on flat tarmac, in sight of the sea and on a crisp winters day. I’m still working on delivering it.

6. Not only does cycle route 2 end at Dover but cycle route 1 starts there, which has given me an idea.........

National cycle route 2 Cafes

Cafe	Hot Chocolate Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Cake Selection	Cake Taste Quality	Atmosphere and Ambiance	Total
The Hideaway	6.9	7	7.8	8.1	9.3	7.82
Symondsbury Kitchen	5	7.8	6.3	7.9	8.2	7.04
Moreton Tearooms	6.8	7	5.7	7.4	8.1	7.10
Knoll Beach Cafe	5	7.5	5	7.5	6	6.10
Rosie Leas Tea room	6.4	7.5	7	7.2	7	7.02
The Beach Hut Cafe	6.1	7.5	6	8.3	8.1	7.2
Spade and Fork	5	7.5	7.1	7.75	6.1	6.69
Sea Lane Café	5.5	7.5	9	7.2	6.8	7.2
Arlingtons Tea Garden	7.1	7.5	8.3	8.4	8	7.76
Hughie’s Beach Cafe	5.2	7	5.5	6.9	8.3	6.58
Deblyns	7	7.5	5.1	8.1	7.9	7.12
Comemos Deli	6.1	7.5	7.4	8	6.7	7.14

Route

Click here to download 56 mile Hastings to Dover GPX file to your gps
Profile

Stats

Route	Miles	Average Mph	Time on Bike	Metres climbed
Exmouth to Puncknowle	54.8	10	5:28	1551
Punckowle to Christchurch	52.1	10.42	5:00	650
Christchurch to Portsmouth	47	10.74	4:22	340
Portsmouth to Brighton	57.8	10.95	5:16	166
Brighton to Hastings	50.2	9.9	5:04	707
Hastings to Dover	54.7	10.24	5:20	527
Totals	316.6	10.38	30:30	3941