12th July 2026 - Ride to Alby Tea Rooms near Aylsham - Ian Cain

In contrast to our last ride when only three of us turned up, 12 riders met at Sainsbury's for a more local ride. Alby Tea Rooms are North of Aylsham on the Cromer road and the site also has craft and gift shops.

We split into two groups for a pleasant ride across mostly B roads via Fakenham and past Blickling Hall into Aylsham. I was surprised by the French appearance of Aylsham market place, people sitting outside cafes in the sunshine and a few traders doing business as well. Perhaps this is a bonus of our increasingly better Summer weather.

Alby Tea Rooms were surprisingly quiet when we got there, so plenty of room to sit outside by a racy life-size statue of a young lady. Nice tea, coffee, and cakes in good company with interesting conversation. Not only do we get to ride our bikes on these events, we also get a chance to sit with friends and chat on all sorts of topics. I don't think anyone mentioned football at all.

As usual we all went our own ways home, some alone and some with other riders. The advantage of these local rides is that we get home by early afternoon and enjoy some family time.

Thanks to Steve Silcocks for leading a group and to everyone else for their company.

Ian