Touring Norfolk on a 1960's Tandem – video and photos

My wife and I restored a 1960’s tandem last year and ever since we’ve been meaning to have an adventure on it with our friends, who are also the proud owners of old, but rubbish, bikes in decent condition. Potential locations were limited, what with a lowest gear of 48/28 on the tandem. Islay and Jura were too far for a short tour, the Vale of York too dull. We settled on Norfolk and with a little help from konagirl on this forum a route was drawn up.

The bikes in question were our Whitcomb tandem, a Campag Record equipped behemoth from 1963.

A 1973 Raleigh Nimrod the Hunter, a bike the Raleigh catalogue states was inspired by Stephenson, Brunel, Baird and Whittle. Maybe.

And finally a Sun Solo, which was picked up to provide spares for the tandem but turned out to be a pretty cool thing in its own right.

It ended up as something like a Top Gear challenge. Things didn’t look too promising weatherwise so our full four day tour was reduced down two. Then the rather dashing Sun Solo had a rear wheel failure and he ended up on a 2015 Genesis Croix De Fer, which somewhat defeated the point. However we rolled into Holt in beautiful sunshine with a steady 30 miles ahead of us.

The plan was to pedal north west, popping into interesting things on the way. The majority of interesting things in rural Norfolk are churches, and we poked our noses into a couple and stopped at the impressive Binham Priory.

Eventually we arrived at our lunch stop in Wells next the Sea, at about 3pm, to find most of the cafes were astounded that anyone would want sandwiches at this late hour. Eventually one was obliging and we headed on our way east.

The route then curved around to Blakeney Point and the byway along the coast and on to Cromer. This is where the trouble started. The byway proved difficult to find, and then the rough terrain snapped the pannier rack on the tandem. After some fettling it was starting to get dark and progress on the tandem was slower than anticipated.

Eventually we reached Cley Next The Sea, which was delightful. It was especially scenic because of the sunset, but the sunset posed a problem. We had a front light on the tandem, but the loose pannier rack had shaken off the rear light. The other guys had decided, given the short distance, not to bring lights. My wife had a bit of a melt down and it was decided to ride the 4 miles to Holt instead of the 9 to Sheringham youth hostel and drive the rest of the way. To quote Top Gear, we were ambitious but rubbish.

Defeated, the following day we explored the area by steam train then cycled along the Marriott’s Way but without a useable pannier rack and no open bike shops in the vicinity the plan was scuppered. A walk between Cromer and Sheringham and exploration of the Broads by car rounded out the adventure.

Interestingly the only things that broke (a chain on the Genesis and the rack on the tandem) were newish things- the chain 6 months old on a 2015 bike and the rack a pretty much new Tortec one! All the old junk was fine!

🙂
Nice one, looked like fun.

That Raleigh is very, very cool indeed.

Really nice part of the world, sounds like it was a great plan too.

Go back for attempt number 2 in the summer…

Rustyspanner – it was fun but it’s surprising how knackering riding a bike of that weight with that few gears can be compared to a modern bike!

grenosteve- I think I still fancy Islay and Jura.

8)

Ah my old neck of the woods, have to say for that type of cycling Norfolk is bang on.

The coastal route with some inland diversions to the likes of Holt is well worth a trip if you’ve never been.

Just a shame Norfolk lacks decent hills, otherwise I might have stayed.

is that DMR V12s on the Nimrod? *chuckles*
also, lol@

My wife had a bit of a melt down

nice trip Op, ta for the write up.

awesome, those photos really make my heart ache 😀 to go back permanently.

I think your success measures are perfectly tuned 🙂

Had my honeymoon at Cley Windmill. A beautiful little place!

They are all crying out for some old school platform pedals, leather wrapped steel toe clips and leather straps.

Lovely bit of the world though.

Enjoyed this a lot, inspired to try and finish the 1938 Claud butler I have in the garage…then head somewhere equally flat!

ace that Luke…proper job

Garage dweller- the pedals on the tandem ate original! I think the V12s add a certain je ne sais quoi to the Nimrod.

JimFrandisco- is that old enough to have brakes that act on the underside of the rim, actuated by rods? I’ll admit that, having worked on them, it’s a brave man that undertakes that project. Otherwise restoration of the tandem just involved a lot of polishing and greasing. It was really satisfying.

munrobiker – No, luckily not that old.
It had the original drum brakes when i got it, but the pads were gone and they were pretty rusted up so replaced the wheels. New sturmey archer drum brake on the back and a caliper brake just fitted the front as i changed the wheel size.
Stopping is still something you have to plan in advance though…

Great thread and photos. It’s an under rated part of the world for leisurely cycling.

A mate and I have a long standing pub-generated plan to tour the breweries and seafood eateries of Norfolk and Suffolk. Plus cider farms, gin and whisky distilleries.

I want to allow a good week to “enjoy” the whole thing at an appropriate pace, he insists we can do it in 3-4 days. From Derby!

Looked good Pukey.

Great stuff. I’ve taken my kids on tandem tours before and it’s a lot of fun.
I bet your bike flexes in interesting ways with the lower top tube on the back.

Morecashthandash- I think beer with lunch for a group of light drinkers is one of the main things that scuppered our progress on the first day!

Mlke- I can’t say that it’s possible to ride it hard enough to notice flex. Also it seems to be made out of chunks of the Forth Bridge, going by its weight. Stopping is interesting….