In Which U Police Chat Pleasantly

Most of the cemetery ride was on smooth pavement, but part of the route was like this (above)--which slowed me down. The newer part of the cemetery (below)--the British do attend to their graves.

At 7.7 mph average speed, today’s bike ride was glacially slow.

However, at least I went farther today. It took me almost three hours (2:53) to ride 22.22 miles. Several points in my defense: 1) It rained overnight and this morning, so I did not ride for any great distance on the nearby bike trail, which is mostly dirt (more likely today, mostly mud). 2) I was thus doing in-town riding—including through a cemetery and on a university campus—in an unfamiliar city. The pace was partly dictated by traffic, pedestrians, ghosts and the need to gawk at new scenery.

I climbed 507 feet in those 22.22 miles. And in miles 16 through 20, I was averaging more than 10 mph for each mile. So there.

I call today a success. Despite the confusing tangle of streets in Norwich, I found my way through the Earlham Cemetery and along a bike route to Eastern Anglia University, and rode in the environs there. When I headed back towards home base, I was only in the teens for miles, so I headed over to Marriott’s Way, and rode back and forth on a few paved miles, which is where my “fast” miles were.

Well, back to the start. The ride began shortly after noon—we had a full morning (and a rainy morning), so both weather and life events made the post-lunch start most practical. After the rain, the day turned fair and breezy—the high was in the low 70s. It was a gorgeous day, even if it did not lend itself to a long trail ride.

I consulted the map (and my daughter) and decided I would have two venues today—Earlham Road Cemetery, with winding paths through old and new graves, and East Anglia University.

The cemetery was a leafy, pleasant ride. A number of locals walk, jog and bike there—and although traffic was light, I did have to take it a bit slow. I didn’t want to be tearing through the place. It’s an active burial ground and the British do attend to their graves. They also clearly use the cemetery as a nature preserve and walkway, so I was not out of place but I wanted to be respectful.

And I kept getting lost. No matter, I was just riding loops around the roads there, waiting to find a familiar street at an exit.

I think today’s map, at the end of this post, looks a bit like a badly drawn stick figure of a headless girl wearing a bulky backpack and miniskirt. The “backpack” in in the middle is where the ride mostly began—loops around the graves.

I eventually found an exit onto a street that I knew, and then attempted to use the Norwich bike map to find the route to East Anglia University. It worked—I didn’t get lost on the way there, just after I got there.

Some signs at the university. Meh. I found them a bit helpful--a bit.

EAU--Not looking all that busy right now, but there are some bicycles in the racks--and a lot of bike racks.

There is even a bike shop on campus.

The university is an interesting place—very plain, utilitarian buildings in a utopic setting of open green lands and trail next to a river and lake. As I noted on Facebook, it looks like a prison in a park.

I rode around and around. It was disorienting, because the buildings all looked alike, not that any would have been familiar anyway. At one point, I pulled over to a wide area of paving beside a street, and took out my map in an attempt to get my bearings. As I sat there, a police cruiser pulled up directly beside me, and I could see the driver (in the right seat in Britain, the car was immediately to the left of me) vigorously writing on a tablet.

Dang. What was I about to get a ticket for? Eventually, the driver lowered his window, and I tensed, waiting for what came next.

“Can I help you?” he politely asked. I asked if I was in the way or parked in the wrong spot.

“Oh, no,” he said. “This (gesturing at the wide pavement) is just where we park.”

We chatted about the difference between American and British streets, and I assured him I was both deeply lost and not in distress—as an American biker in Britain, “lost” is my normal state. I was guessing where I was on the map, which I showed him, and it turns out I was exactly right, so I wasn’t really lost at all, I was just unsure.

After our pleasant chat, I was off. And I quickly did get for real lost again. I was looking for the Student Union, where I knew I could use a restroom and get water, but was having a heck of a time finding it.

Until I did. Suddenly, there it was. Then, I wondered how difficult the borrowed lock on the rental bike would be for me to use, and it turned out to be very easy. I locked the bike, went into the union, had my brief break, came out and sat on a bench for a few minutes of off-the-bike time. Hint: If you are riding any distance, say over 10 miles, make yourself take such breaks now and then, they are important to maintain your energy and circulation in your legs.

Anyway, after that break, I was off towards home base. Except as I drew near, I knew I had only ridden 15 miles or so in two hours—and I wanted to increase my ride miles, not decrease them.

That’s when I went over to the familiar trail and zipped back and forth on the paved section between the edge of town and the start of the busy central area—which is what makes the arms on the headless girl of the map.

I've been here before--but did not notice this at the place were I turn back before getting to the center of town.

As the trail goes from urban to rural, in a field beside a bridge by the trail--a warning to other bikes to stay away ... or perhaps instead of a girl in a miniskirt, today's map is a drawing of this bike?

I still hope to do a truly longish ride, something of RAGBRAI-like distance, say 50 or 60 miles. But that will come later in the week, perhaps Thursday or Friday, when this soggy little island has some chance to dry out a bit.

I have not made biking plans in the meantime. I am not sure what my next target will be. We’ll see. But for today, more than 20 miles on a ride that didn’t start until the afternoon still feels like a win. That, and the fact that the bobbies didn’t give me a ticket.