In Which I Take the Rental Bike Out for Ride 1

Me on rental bike at shop.

Well, ride one on the rental bike was both pleasant and challenging, as expected.

The bike is an interesting one. It’s fairly light, as bikes go, but not a fast road bike. It’s got wide tyres, fenders and a rack. Plus, it has old-fashioned bike handlebars—it’s a no-nonsense commuting kind of bicycle, but a good choice for the kind of riding I will do in Norwich—mostly aiming for miles along Mariott’s Way.

Today, it was quite humid and warm this morning. We took the kids to school and headed on a walk to City Centre. My daughter had some children’s books to return at the library—and after that, we headed to the Bike Shop.

There are several bicycle stores in Norwich, but this one rents cycles. I had stopped in last week to reserve a bicycle, and today was pickup day. The staff at the shop were very helpful—one took me to the side room where rental bikes are stored, and we discussed the type I wanted.

The bike they selected was a good fit, I think. When I got it to the trail, the wide tyres and front suspension served me well.

Getting to the trail, however, proved a challenge. The nice staff at the shop attempted to be helpful, giving me directions that involved turning left at a pub, right at church and left at another pub—or maybe the other way around. Anyway, the names meant nothing to me, and I was in the midst of Norwich, city of random pubs and churches.

They even printed out a map for me, which was kind. I didn’t do as well as I should have in following it.

Once again, on this ride, I got quite lost. The tangle of streets in City Centre defeated my limited navigational skills.

Biking in City Centre.

Well, the point was to go on a ride and accumulate some miles, and so I was not that unhappy. My wife had urged me, after I picked up the bike, to go for a 20-mile ride, and getting lost did add distance. I think, looking at the map, that I did navigate my first turn, but failed on the next one. I ended up at Chapelfield Gardens, a very nice park that is not anywhere along the bike trail I was seeking.

I sat for a bit, started at my biking map, and then came up with a plan. The bike routes in Norwich are color-coded, and “route 1,” part of a national network, is coded in red. There was a bike trail—a pink one—by the park. I would follow it and look for the bike signs in red.

The plan sort of worked, but I ended up going the wrong way (again) and getting into a part of town I’ve not seen before. But I was on the red route, so I simply turned around and paid more attention to the signs.

The rental bike, parked at my daughter's house. Foreshadowing--I did not stay lost forever.

 They were not always easy to follow—an arrow would shoot off sort of to the right, in a squiggle of streets, but not at a right angle, so some guessing was still sometimes involved at some turns. After a while, however, I arrived at the point of the trail I had ridden to last week—Mariott’s Way was found at last!

I had ridden as far as Drayton last week—I decided to go through it and beyond it today. And the trail in Drayton turned out to use some walkways and streets—I navigated my way through town and rode a couple of miles past it. It was getting to midafternoon, and it was starting to sprinkle. The last 4 miles or so of trail were dirt rather than paved, and I didn’t want to try, even with wide tyres, to ride on wet dirt.

Scenes along the trail--they use old rails for art (above). Much of the trail is nicely forested (below).

And in Drayton, on the way back, I made a wrong turn. Shocking, I know. It’s becoming a theme of my biking adventures in the UK. I realized it fairly quickly, but it’s amazing how committed you can be to going the wrong way when you’re not 100 percent sure it’s the wrong way.

So, after a bit of a scary ride on a busy country road, I doubled back to Drayton, found a trail sign in the direction I wanted to go, and managed to get back on track.

Despite some odd wanderings, and some sprinkles at the end, today’s ride was satisfying. The bell on the bike disintegrated shortly after I got to the trail, but that’s not an essential piece. It was a successful journey. Last week, I rode 18 miles, today, a bit over 19 miles.

More miles to come!

My crazy ride today. Note the back and forth at the south end.