LEG 7 - DAY 4: Hunstanton - Great Yarmouth and Gorleston

LEG 7 - DAY 4 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

After two big days on the road, covering 375km in a heat wave, we thankfully had a cooler day today, with only a 130km ride to contend with, and in near perfect conditions. The North coast of Norfolk was stunning (if not slightly hillier than expected!) and we churned through mile upon mile of rolling farmland, interspersed with beautiful villages and the occasional windmill. 

After a quick stop at Hunstanton RNLI station (which houses an impressive hovercraft as part of it's fleet, for rescue jobs across the shallows of The Wash) we got underway and headed east, across the north Norfolk coast.

Wells-Next-The-Sea was our first station stop- a bustling seaside town with the RNLI station positioned at the end of a long sandy promontory at the estuary mouth- a really stunning setting. After a quick look around the boat and chat with the crew (and once Rad had stopped faffing with his kit) we ploughed on east.

Sheringham was our second station of the day-  a small seaside town overlooking another white sandy beach. A lovely lady from the shop welcomed us and filled our water bottles, before we were off again.

On our way to our third station, Cromer, we came across a beautiful church green and hamlet where we stopped for an early lunch in the shade of the church spire. One of our best lunch stops to date.

Next along the road was Cromer- a larger and bustling seaside town, with an historic centre and large pier, at the end of which was a fantastic RNLI station. The mechanic who was at the station welcomed us, and gave us coffee and the use of their computer for updating the blog, before ploughing on. 

Happisburg was our penultimate station- a remote station at the end of a long single track road leading to yet another beautiful white sand beach. From there we took a rough unmade track for 4km (not ideal on already tender backsides!) east, before re-joining the main road. 

After yet more beautiful (and thankfully more Norfolk-like flat) countryside we pulled into Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. Passing the fairly impressive bustling commercial dockyards we arrived at Gorleston RNLI. One of the crew, Panos, had very kindly offered to put us up at his fantastic hotel (The Cliff) just down the road, so we went on immediately for a hot shower and a beer with Panos and Paddy the Mechanic. A great day.

LEG 7 - DAY 3: Cleethorpes- Hunstanton

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN - LEG 7 - DAY 3 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

I have come to the realisation that, as with fishing, conditions are rarely good for cycling! Perhaps I am just a typical cyclist now?  One would have thought that the Lincolnshire Fens- one of the flattest parts of the country, would have been ideal. However, with a 15-20mph head wind (a little like having your brakes half on all day) and a heat wave (combined with the wind, feeling rather like someone blowing an enormous hairdryer in your face), was pretty exhausting stuff.

We woke at Kings Royal Hotel in Cleethorpes, after a comfortable (a real luxury being in a bed for the night) but rather hot night.  Many thanks again to Ash who kindly put us up for the night. We decided to get underway early, to get a few hours on the road in cooler weather, before the day heated up again, and were off by 6.30am. 

Our legs were certainly tired as we set off for day 3, following the 180km+ ride yesterday, but we made good progress as we ploughed south across the fens.Today was a day of mile upon mile of flat arable land, many thousands of caravans and static homes, interspersed with amusement parks.

It was also the first time a driver has pulled in having seen our tops as they passed and donated some money to the fundraising efforts... With many thanks from us both to the lovely Norfolk lady who did this! 

Our station stops today included Mablethorpe (a seaside town on a beautiful white sand beach, but heaving with amusement arcades and slot machines), and Skegness (a rather larger version of the same- with a very welcoming crew who gave us a coffee and rest in the heat of the day). 

The route then took us a rather long way around The Wash, taking in Bolton (a bustling market town), and further down the road Kings Lynn (which had a stunning waterfront and historic centre). 

Thankfully the wind turned to the south and gave us a much needed tail wind for the final 30km up to Hunstanton- the final destination of the day.

Following the heatwave over the past two days I am writing this from the shelter of our room with an impressive thunder storm outside- hoping that it will bring cooler weather and clearer air for tomorrow.

LEG 7 - DAY 2: Cleethorpes - Hunstanton

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN - LEG 7 - DAY 2 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

We have arrived in Cleethorpes, at the end of one of our hardest days of the tour so far: Utterly cream-crackered. 

While the terrain of the day has been relatively gentle, the heatwave which we experienced today with temperatures of over 30c, and covering a distance of over 175 Km, much of which was off road, completely took it out of us.

Our alarm woke us at 6.15am and we were on the road within half an hour, in an attempt to get a few miles under our belts while it was still relatively cool. The terrain was pretty flat, which was very welcome, with wide expanses of farmland, regularly interspersed wind farms, caravan parks. 

The first station was in the Victorian seaside town of Bridlington, just a short distance down the coast. A quick photograph outside the station and we got underway immediately.

We ploughed on across gently undulating countryside, with a noticeable increase in temperatures. Conscious of this we had drunk 3 litres of fluids by the time we reached the next RNLI station of  Withernsea. A slightly quieter seaside town from what we saw of it, but with stunning far reaching sandy beaches. A small refuel and some stretches and we back underway.

Having been warned by the crew at Flamborough that the Humber RNLI station at the end of Spurn Head was inaccessible by bike (as the road had been washed away and replaced by a large sand dune!) we called the station in advance. The crew very kindly hooked up a trailer to their Landrover Defender to come and get us. It turns out that the sand also makes Spurn Head inaccessible to Defenders as the crew promptly got stuck, and needed to call in another defender. Eventually we all got underway down the 5km spit which extends across the mouth of the Humber Estuary.  One of the most remote and busy stations in the UK, Spurn Head is manned 24/7by a permanent crew as the spit gets cut off from the mainland with reasonable regularity. A very welcome cup of tea and some biscuits and we were under way again. 

The shocker of today, was that from Spurn Head to Cleethorpes (our final destination) was around 3 miles across the estuary. However, with no ferries across, our only was of getting there war to head inland, through the lovely Hull, across the Humber Bridge and back down the other side- some 90km! Add to this 30c heat, already tired legs and Rad's very off road cycle trails,  and we were in for a nightmare afternoon. Certainly, for the 45km after the Humber Bridge, through Grimsby, we were running on empty...

It was with enormous relief that we eventually arrived in Cleethorpes- shattered.

Enormous Thanks to the incredibly welcoming and generous crew of the Cleethorpes RNLI. As the station was too small to accommodate us on the floor, Ash very kindly put us up in his very comfortable hotel over the road, and xxxxxxxxxx, unbeknown to us, covered our bill at the fantastic Italian restaurant next door. Exactly what we needed to re-charge our batteries in advance of more of the same tomorrow.