A group of West Suffolk Wheelers braved icy roads and light snow showers to celebrate an end to a memorable year of Wednesday rides at the Hollow Trees Farm Shop, Semer. After visiting 20 quality tea rooms throughout East Anglia during the year, the Wheelers presented their prestigious award for Tea Room of the Year to the Woodlands Coffee Shop at Hollow Trees, during their recent celebration lunch. The Wednesday rides are a year-round weekly event taking in 50 miles of the beautiful East Anglian countryside and sampling quality fayre at tea rooms in the area. The Wheelers are pictured presenting their Certificate to owner Sally Bendall, front row on the right, and coffee shop staff, Chloe, Trisha and Tristan.

The award was based on the consistently, good range of fresh, homemade cakes and scones, quality Tea Pigs tea, light welcoming indoor seating area, large, pleasant outside seating area with umbrellas, clean toilets, friendly staff, and value for money. This award continues the shop’s winning ways; last year they were the Winner of Best Coffee Shop in the Suffolk Food and Drink awards 2008, and in 2009 won Best Farm Shop in the same competition.

For the most part the Wednesday series of rides were sun-drenched, balmy, colourful, scenic and a joy to experience. The rides have increased in popularity through the year. Stalwarts of the ride have been Stephen Hill, Justin Wallace, Richard ‘Tom Tom’ Seggar, Ron Fisher, Tony Panting and Peter Heath. Other riders, some more regular than others, have included, Sharon Calton, Mike Cross, Peter Gay, Anne Fish, Kevin Flanagan, Barry Denny, Jeff Agricole, Julian Coleman, Neil Dykes, Simon Bourne, Ed Bucknell, Mike Bowen, Shaw Fox, Gareth Doman, Adi Grimwood, Steve Mayes, Jonathan Howe and Tricia Dennison, - 24 riders involved over the summer. Guest riders have included Peter Hogg, Richard Muchmore, Richard’s cousin John from Jersey, a vicar from East Harling, (was he Gary?) and Glenn Grant from the Eagle Road Club, Essex.

The ethos has been one of a relaxed, social ride, (most of the time!), full of banter, with the emphasis firmly on the quality of the cakes at the tea stop; fruit or cheese scones are a particular favourite of the group.. In fact, certain members like to think they have become connoisseurs of the scone and talked about forming the Wheelers very own SAS, the Scone Appreciation Society, to provide feedback to the various establishments we favour with our presence, and more importantly, our money. But cakes of any description must be homemade, and freshly homemade at that. Thus we only frequent Tea Rooms and Cafés of a certain standing. No ‘Greasy Spoon’ cafés for us thank you very much. Quality is all.

Our search for the ‘Outstanding Scone’ has taken us far and wide this year, with tea rooms visited for the first time at Dedham,( Essex Rose Tea Room); East Bergholt, (The Fountains TR); Ashbocking, (The Crockery Barn TR); Wickham Market, (Tea Pot TR); Ely, ( Peacocks TR); Wicken Fen,( National Trust TR); Stisted TR, and Finchingfield, (Jemima’s TR).

Local favourites have included, Woodlands Coffee Shop at Hollow Trees Farm, Semer; No 1 Delicatessen and Café, Clare; Corn Craft TR, Monks Eleigh; Mere Moments, Amandines, The Angel, all 3 TRs at Diss; Bressingham Garden Centre TR; Coffee and Co., Newmarket; Spencers TR, Wickham St Paul; Thetford Garden Centre TR and the Tea Pot Pottery TR, Debenham.

The reader might be forgiven for thinking that the Wednesday riders are simply cake lovers with a cycling problem and this may not be far from the truth! But we have covered many miles whilst putting the world to rights and perhaps earning the epithet of the Last of the Summer Wheelers. Quite who Compo, Clegg, Foggy, and Nora Batty are I’ll leave you to decide.

The major revelation in 2009 was the discovery of the massive computing and navigating power of Richard Seggar’s brain. No longer did we need to agonise over the quietest, most scenic route to any particular point of the compass. Give Richard a moment to fire his synapses and we were off on a mystery tour, down lanes many of us have never explored before and in directions which are seemingly and obviously wrong. Not so.

Earning the tag of ‘Tom Tom’, Richard’s routes have a 98% success rate; he is not infallible however, his wires once becoming a little crossed on the return from Lincoln’s Tea Room at Hingham. But then we were in Norfolk and it wasn’t a Wednesday, so that don’t count do it Rich?

There are only two basic routes to Ely, with marginal variations on one of them. Each route looks remarkably like the other, the only difference being traffic volume. More miles of fenland or fewer miles of traffic. Choices, choices.

]]> ian@ianloup.plus.com (Ian Pettitt) Wednesdays For Wheelers Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:24:00 +0000 /club-rides-mainmenu-54/wednesday-ride/272-wednesday-retirees-ride-to-clare-the-long-way /club-rides-mainmenu-54/wednesday-ride/272-wednesday-retirees-ride-to-clare-the-long-way Having just returned from Scotland I was hoping for perhaps a nice 'flat' ride to Diss to try and get back in the swing of things but the blast from the west convinced others that Clare was the only option and my heart sank thinking of all those hills.

However I was in my Tour de France yellow top and thought I might well get the protection it deserved. Six of us left the bus stop, Justin, Peter, Stephen, Ron and myself along with a late arrival Sharon from Diss.

Now Sharon is a tri-athlete and is a physical trainer at L A Fitness and she is fit - in fact, very fit. Having been off the bike a couple of weeks (I did have fun on our 'fold -up' bikes) I was surprised at the fitness I had managed to retain and had no problem going out to Clare where we were well received by the charming Sarah (Who was shocked at the size of my sporran when I lifted up my top on paying!!).

Following pots of tea and blueberry muffins we charged off on the return through Poslingford with a tail wind and it wasn't long before the legs started to tell me they did'nt like the hills. This was where my so called 'Team' deserted me, not only me but Sharon too! I, of course, stayed with her on the pretence that I was the perfect gentleman when in fact I was trying to hide my incompetence of staying on their back wheels.

However, it all came together and we sailed along home - just about fifty miles. Although it threatened, it did not rain and we had a nice ride (although I only rate my team 8 out ten)

It's somebody's birthday next week but I must not tell anybody!

Tony (Lance)