Suffolk

[Fonze]

Somerleyton onto Oulton Broad is a real nice ride ..
In Lound is a cafe called Mardles, small, quaint but sells quality swag ..

 

[Ming the Merciless]

ta, will look more closely.

There are often boardwalks on the edge of broads or estuarys that make a suitable platform for a bivvy. You can then watch the reed birds flying in formation as you cook your supper.

 

[mjr]

Check the timetables if you are thinking of taking the ferries across the various river mouths/estuaries, as they don't run year round.
The Harwich-Shotley-Felixstowe ferry would fit in with various routes but IIRC only starts running in May.

I still think the town-Shotley ferry is missing a big trick not starting when the cyclists get off the Hook ferry in the morning, condemning any tourists cycling north/northwest to a choice between the shoot A road causeway or rather lumpy terrain to Dedham(?).

My, Suffolk's mainly been a county of disappointing rides for me so far, hasn't it?

 

[Blue Hills]

There are often boardwalks on the edge of broads or estuarys that make a suitable platform for a bivvy. You can then watch the reed birds flying in formation as you cook your supper.

Many thanks for this inspiring post. I have non cycling memories of such a place but cannot remember if it was in suffolk.

I must try this.

 

[robjh]

I....
My, Suffolk's mainly been a county of disappointing rides for me so far, hasn't it?

If you ever rode through Haverhill or Great Cornard (see one of my posts above), you would know disappointment.

 

[MikeG]

And yet a mile down the road, Little Cornard is beautiful, as is the countryside around it. It is in the Stour Valley, an AONB.

 

[robjh]

And yet a mile down the road, Little Cornard is beautiful, as is the countryside around it. It is in the Stour Valley, an AONB.

How very true.

 

[robjh]

Newmarket is in Suffolk - just. It is quite an attractive town with a long main street, and with signs of horse racing everywhere*. You can ride into/out of it on the road from Moulton (to the east) which leads across the gallops, and up onto the heath by the race course at the western end of the town.
If you don't mind an excursion a few miles into Cambridgeshire, you can see the Devil's Dyke, a quite impressive dark ages earthwork barrier that runs from the fen edge at Reach until it peters out in the hills near Dullingham. The best place to see it is on the B1102 between Burwell and Swaffham Prior, or at Reach itself, both about 6 miles from Newmarket.

The north-west corner of Suffolk around Lakenheath and Mildenhall is boringly flat, and has little to offer unless you like US air bases.

*by some accounts Newmarket is an odd place due to the stark contrast between the owning and working classes of the racehorse world.

 

[smith4188]

Not really a cycling tip but have a look at The Under The Pier Show on Southwold pier and its quirky arcade games. It's the only place on the planet you can play a geriatric version of Frogger controlling your character using a Zimmer frame. And Southwold's nice too.

 

[PenttitheFinn]

I would suggest the area from Woodbridge to Bawdsey on the coast, back inland to Snape, back to the coast at Aldeburgh and then following the coast north. Plenty of forestry to camp in, cafes to eat in, and pubs in case you run out of water.

 

[Blue Hills]

Not really a cycling tip but have a look at The Under The Pier Show on Southwold pier and its quirky arcade games. It's the only place on the planet you can play a geriatric version of Frogger controlling your character using a Zimmer frame. And Southwold's nice too.

I ended up there on a recent cycling trip, then remembered that I had read about it in your fine book. Yes, interesting, though the tone of intelligent quirky satire was seriously soured by, if I recall correctly, a piece the same bloke had done for Thames Water,** a despicable company whose business practices and contempt for customers smell to heaven. Tho praps that was another satire on art and artists being bought by the corporate vultures.

** Or Kemble Water Holdings as they are known to many non artists.