22nd October 2023 - Ride out to Broken Egg, Harleston - Dave Cusdin

The foibles of the British weather meant that I had no idea how many bikes would turn up for our planned trip to Grumpy’s café near Bungay. Torrential rain had caused widespread disruption throughout most of the British Isles and my wingman Mel had warned me that our destination may not be open due to its close proximity to the river Waveney. A quick check on Facebook (other social media sites are available) confirmed that the café was indeed closed. So, when eight bikes turned up, I informed them of our change of destination to the Broken Egg Café.

We split into 2 groups of 3 and 5 as we had another 2 bikes to collect at Swaffham making a grand total of 10 participants. The weather was kind, the precipitation had stopped and the temperature was around 8 degrees and rising. I had made a conscious decision to avoid as many minor roads as possible due to the detritus deposited by the previous inclement weather. We took the A47 to Swaffham then onto Watton via Bodney, from there it was through Attleborough, Old Buckenham, the Pulhams and on to Harleston. It was a challenging journey, the sun was low, severely limiting visibility especially when trying to read the road conditions. As expected, the rain had washed a lot of debris into the road so great care was needed when negotiating any blind bend. Perfect conditions then for honing smooth, progressive riding skills.

We all arrived at the Broken Egg without incident. The café is located on a farm just outside Harleston and prides itself on the quality of its locally sourced produce. It was quite busy and I don’t know whether the staff were stressed but their jobsworth attitude didn’t particularly endear them to me, however the food and drink was good.

The ride home was much more pleasurable as the sun was higher in the sky and we were heading away from it. I’d like to thank all the hardy souls who turned up, especially Paul S and Mel for leading their respective groups. Don’t forget that the next ride out will start at the later time of 10am.

Cheers for now!

Dave C