Great rides: Cycling Rebellion Way with Skedaddle

As we rolled out of King’s Lynn with some 70km to go, I was already looking forward to the day’s ride. The route took in a couple of north Norfolk’s best-known coastal towns: Hunstanton and Wells-next-the-Sea. I’d spent many a childhood holiday in caravans in Hunstanton so this was going to be a trip down memory lane for me.

We were on day four (ride three) of a Saddle Skedaddle tour of Rebellion Way. The seven-day trip breaks the long-distance route – Cycling UK’s own and one of our best for getting into touring and bikepacking – into five days of cycling, with two travel days at either end; we were at the halfway point.

The trip starts and ends in Norwich, in front of the iconic cathedral, where we posed for ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos. There were eight of us on the trip (me, Liz D, Roni, Gill, Jane, Geoff, Mike and Paul), plus two guides (Ruth and Liz P, who took it in turns to lead the ride or drive the van). For once, the men were outnumbered which was nice to see.

The first day’s ride was the second longest – from Norwich to Thetford, taking in some of the forest. The weather forecast was perfect: dry, bright and not too hot.

In early September, the weather is always something of a gamble, but it was looking good for the week, with just one day of rain. I’d prefer that to the blistering heat that much of this summer produced.

Leaving Norwich

We left Norwich on a mix of cycle paths, shared paths and roads, some of which were busy at the tail end of morning rush hour.

We were soon out in the countryside, though, and riding on hedgerow-lined quiet backroads looking out over crop fields and tiny villages marked by the square flint towers of their Norman churches. Wasps swarmed around bramble patches, presumably after the ripe blackberries.

The route was mostly on these quiet roads, with a couple of crossings over busier roads, including the Norwich Southern Bypass, which was a bit scary. A puncture in the morning slowed us down. The group waited at Shotesham Paw Park while ride leader Liz P went back to fix things. A short time later we were all back on the road.

One highlight along the way was Venta Icenorum, or ‘marketplace of the Iceni’. Just outside Caister St Edmund, this Iceni settlement was the tribe’s capital. Discovered in 1928 during an aerial reconnaissance flight, today only the embankments can be seen. Listening to Skylarks signing in the sunshine, it could have been midsummer.

We had our first taste of off roading as we cycled through Thetford Forest Park and then onto quiet urban streets as we rolled into Thetford, where we would be spending the night at Thomas Paine Hotel.

Rain incoming

The rainclouds also rolled in overnight: Tuesday morning was wet and the rain settled in for the day. This was our longest ride of the week: 90km.

Once we got out of Thetford, we were back in the forest on a mix of trails and sandy tracks. The trees provided some welcome shelter from the rain and meant we stayed relatively dry as we took our morning break at Lynford Arboretum.

I’d visited the arboretum once previously to see Hawfinches and Common Crossbills. This time I only saw Chaffinch. Although I did spot Common Kestrels hovering above fields later that day.

In fact, I was quite successful with raptors over the five days’ cycling as I also saw hunting Red Kites coming out of Hunstanton and a Common Buzzard and Marsh Harrier around Holkham.

Soon after we encountered the Desert Rats Memorial and the Scurvy Dog Pirate Bar – a former forester’s hut transformed into a pirate hut that makes a good rest stop for anyone hiking or cycling through the forest.

Cycling on gravel tracks through pine forest in the rain felt like a very British experience and it didn’t dampen our spirits. In fact, on the sandy sections of the forest it likely did us a favour.

If it had been dry, the sand would have been a slog, but it was just wet enough to harden the terrain without getting waterlogged. We sped through the sandy sections with grins on our faces. It was a huge amount of fun.

An unplanned café stop to get dry

Although by lunchtime, we were getting cold and rather than lunch outside, Ruth, today’s guide, decided it would be best if we could warm up inside somewhere. Instead of the expected picnic in a park in Swaffham, we decamped to the Tea Pot Café for warming soup, sandwiches and coffee.

The café gets its name from the teapots displayed on the walls and every surface. My attempt to dry my sopping wet gloves on the hand dryer wasn’t entirely successful, but we did leave feeling warmer and dryer with full stomachs.

After lunch we were back on quiet roads. For much of the afternoon we kept our heads down and just kept going in the rain. But we did make time for a stop at the ruined remains of the castle at Castle Acre. This motte-and-bailey fortress dates from the 11th century. Today, parts of the keep, inner bailey and surrounding wall remain.

The sun came out just as we reached King’s Lynn, our stop for the night. We made our way to Bank House, our quayside hotel, via back roads, quiet lanes and cycle paths through paths – which Ruth described as a “very clever, sneaky way in”.

It highlighted the sheer amount of work that goes into these routes. The time and effort it takes to find the quiet roads, the back streets, the parks, the forest trails and gravel tracks, which all add up to a completed route that’s both enjoyable and safe to ride.

Seeing the sea

The next day we were to get our first look at the sea at Heacham, with that nostalgic lunch at Hunstanton. Once we got out of King’s Lynn – clocking a couple of Muntjac Deer running across the cycle path – it was quiet roads through picturesque Norfolk villages until we got to Heacham.

Here we rode along a pockmarked and potholed track alongside brightly coloured beach huts into Hunstanton. Sitting on the grass looking over the cliffs to the Wash as we tucked into lunch, we met lots of dogs looking for treats and listened to the peeping of Oystercatchers.

After lunch it was more quiet roads until we got to Holkham Hall, where we had our afternoon break. We rode through the estate on a lovely undulating tarmacked road that seemed to go on forever. Five deer species can be seen at the hall; we saw two: Roe and Red.

Once through the estate, we had some lovely off-road trails past Holkham Pines and along the harbour into Wells-next-the-Sea, where we were stopping for the night at The Crown Hotel.

The next day’s ride was the shortest of the trip and I took advantage of a later breakfast by taking a walk along the harbour, enjoying views of boats floating on glass-smooth water in the morning sun.

Waltzing into Walsingham

The majority of the ride was inland, on quiet roads through country villages, until we got to Sheringham, where we were reunited with the sea. One highlight of the day was a morning stop at Walsingham to see the shrine. There has been a place of worship here for almost 1,000 years. Today the church and gardens are open to visitors.

After lunch – a lovely spot in Holt Country Park, which we overshot and had to cycle back to – disaster almost struck: the group got split up and a trio headed off in the wrong direction. This is almost inevitable with a mixed-ability group like this, and it was resolved very quickly.

At the front we faster riders were setting a good pace, planning to stop at the next junction to allow the others to catch up. This had worked previously, but this time there was quite a distance to the next junction. We stopped and waited until backmarker Liz D caught us up. But three of our riders were missing!

There were several other groups out riding, and our trio had ended up following the wrong cyclists. Technology came to the rescue: ride leader Ruth contacted the missing group via WhatsApp, and they dropped a pin to show their location.

Ruth whizzed off to round them up while the rest of us waited. Reunited, we set off again towards Sheringham, our destination for the day. We arrived late afternoon, with plenty of time to have an ice cream on the seafront. A couple of the group also took the opportunity for a sea swim before dinner.

Losing faith

By now I was starting to doubt my ability to finish the route. The next day’s ride was the final one, back into Norwich. It was 78km and my thighs were aching. Would I have to resort to taking the van, I wondered to myself.

This is one of the benefits of an organised tour like this. There’s always the option of taking the van to the next break stop if you need a rest. A couple of members of the group had already taken advantage of this.

At times like this I find it helpful to break the ride down into shorter sections. Instead of looking at the whole 78km, I only had to get to the first rest stop: Aldborough after just 18km. I could do 18km even with aching legs. Once I got there I could take the van to the lunch stop if I needed to. But that was just another 30km – easy.

Once we got going, though, my doubts were quickly dispelled. As my legs warmed up I found I had plenty of energy left. Breakfast and snacks no doubt helped. Although the main reason was the utter joy that was the Bure Valley Path.

This off-road trail follows the route of the Bure Valley Railway. We picked it up in Aylsham and followed its full 14km length to Hoveton and Wroxham, where we had lunch.

The trail is very popular with walkers, other cyclists and dog walkers; we even passed a couple on a tandem at one point. We positively flew along it – making sure we slowed as we approached other users and alerting them to our presence in plenty of time.

Doubts dissolving

I had so much fun that any concerns about not being able to finish simply disappeared. I was pleased to be on my drop-bar gravel bike, though. The trail is very narrow, with a wire fence keeping users off the railway line. It would be very easy to get a flat bar trapped in the wire.

After lunch we were back on quiet roads for much of the rest of the ride. We just edged into the Norfolk Broads this afternoon, with a coffee break at Ranworth Moorings and some nice off-road trails around South Walsham Broad.

We finally rolled back into Norwich in time for rush hour. This made for some busy roads, but we were mostly on traffic-free paths.

The group reassembled outside Norwich Cathedral for a final celebratory snap, feeling lot more tired, sweaty and no doubt muddy than when we had set off just a few days earlier. But also happy and satisfied with a great ride achieved. Despite my misgivings of the previous evening, I was ready to do the whole thing again!