Bikepacking in Suffolk - Rain, sand and all that good stuff.
Somewhere between spending weekends away at car shows and having a child, I've somewhat lost interest in spending any amount of time camping. The thought of taking refuge in a small shelter, rain or shine has until recently not been the top of my list of activities. But a couple of months ago, probably after a long scroll through the usual bikepacking related instagram accounts, I realised I could probably deal with an overnight stop in a nice campsite with a days riding either side of it. Not wanting to go it alone, I put out some feelers with some mates and, fast forward a few weeks, we had assembled outside Ipswich train station to embark on what would be some serious ‘type-two fun’.
Packing for the trip was an event in of itself, weighing up what I needed to take vs what I could physically carry and trying to whittle down a lot of stuff to well, less stuff. I mean, it’s one thing to ride a bike over 130km off-road but doing it while carrying things to eat, drink, sleep in and assorted items to make the two days more bearable was something else entirely. I haven’t ridden any great distances for a long time so after plotting a route to hit as much sweet grav’ as possible, I realised I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew/ pedal. To add to the fun, the dreaded “have you seen the weather forecast for this weekend” message came in about a week before and needless to say, it was not great news..
Fortunately everyone was still keen to come along despite it looking like rather a lot of rain, and who knows, maybe the weather forecast had it wrong?
It did not.
As if to lull us all into a false sense of security/ enjoyment, it was a lovely sunny day when our train rolled into Ipswich where the first leg of our journey began. Taking the most direct route out of the town, we got onto an excellent stretch of bridleway which skirted along the sprawling housing estates, a golf course and various woodland before leading us out in some country lanes. Looking at the ride elevation I noticed at one point our elevation would go from around 20m, to essentially 0m within a very short distance. Hoping that I hadn’t inadvertently routed us off a cliff, we turned in on a footpath and were greeted with a hella long staircase, ideal for descending on fully loaded bikes..kudos to the guys that rode down it!
The stairs spat us almost immediately out of the woods and onto the estuary path which would take us onto Woodbridge, which I will say was a lovely stretch of riding. Being a Friday the path was fairly quiet which was good as parts were quite narrow, however upon reaching the edge of the town we were flagged down by the local quay police (a sea-Karen) who told us on no uncertain terms that riding bikes along the quayside was not allowed and we were to dismount immediately. We dutifully did so, being subject to a citizens arrest this early in the ride really would have been detrimental to the schedule. On the upside the stroll was quite nice and we shared a conversation with a chap walking his dog who explained that our run in with the self-appointed security was not an uncommon event and her presence along the quay was somewhat notorious..I can only dream of having such an abundance of free time.
Leaving the more populated area of the quay behind us we threw caution to the wind and jumped back on the bikes, if Karen had associates along the way they’d have to lay down the gravel bike stingers to stop us. I’d pencilled in a pit stop at Honey & Harvey, a nice brunch spot that me and Laura have visited before and the sausage rolls did not disappoint (the overly hot coffee did however..). While we stood around and discussed bionicle and something about a clogged urethra, the heavens opened and we were treated to what would be the theme of the day, wet weather followed by slightly less wet weather. It was at this point I also realised that my Fuji X100F really wasn’t suited to the rain and attempted to weatherproof it in a sandwich bag..it didn’t work oddly enough. On my return home the following day I’ll discover a nice little intermittent issue with the EVF curtain - wonderful.
Fortunately the next section of riding took in some decent trails, following the bridleway that runs alongside the former RAF Woodbridge site which for those in the know will know that here be aliens! At least according to some army personnel back in the 1980s. Needless to say we didn’t encounter any extraterrestrial folk, a shame as I feel like the opportunity to share the advantages of 650b over 700c would be a great opener for interstellar relations.
After Rendlesham we had a fair distance between us and the next big town of Aldeburgh and the weather wasn’t improving, the steady rainfall was grating on everyone and the track alongside the RAF base had been host to some seriously prickly bushes. Needless to say we needed something to perk us up, what we got instead was a shit load of sand. I had ridden this part of the route not long before the trip and had noted that this particular section, although not very long, was quite possibly the most sandy thing I’ve ever ridden through and in hindsight maybe I should have warned the others - sorry guys. So yeah, we’ll skim over this section with some photos to illustrate the fun.
Moving on from the sand, we rolled through Butley and a pleasant road which was signposted as a ‘Quiet Lane’ which was nice to see, indeed we didn’t come across many if any cars along this stretch and it was nice to be able to ride two/ three abreast for a chat. As we neared a loop I had included to have a stop in at Orford, the group made the executive decision to bin that idea off and make a beeline to Aldeburgh - keen to avoid a mutiny, I agreed this was probably a good idea. I would later decide this was in fact an excellent idea as we would be fucking shattered by the time we got to Southwold.
Riding through Snape was a bit shit as it was mainly road and despite being a Friday there was quite a bit of traffic on the road. Once past it we joined ‘The Sailors Path’, a long off-road section which would eventually take us to the main road into Aldeburgh. Unfortunately the weather was still not giving us a break, if anything the rain was even heavier and by the time we reached the end of the path, team morale was not very high. The final push into Aldeburgh was a case of head down and pedal, the road was super busy and the rain wasn’t letting up. When we finally rolled to a stop we discussed our next move and the general consensus seemed to be not stopping in Aldgburgh and instead pushing on up the coast to our campsite. In my head this seemed like a pretty reasonable decision, it didn’t seem like a great deal of riding to get us up to Southwold and the thought of getting holed up in a nice pub then turning back out in to the rain didn’t seem very appealing. In hindsight I do wish we’d stopped as although 35km isn’t that far, it might as well be 100km when you’re wet through, tired and angry at the sky for being so damn moist.
As you can probably tell, my camera didn't enjoy the wet weather and coupled with the warmish temperature my makeshift UV filter (X100 owners will understand) meant my lens was fogged up pretty well. On the final stint up to Southwold we took in the sights at the Sizewell B power station, somewhere I’ll definitely be returning to for some picture taking as there’s lots of interesting things scattered about the beach there. We decided against riding along the beach (did I mention not enjoying the sand?) in favour of taking shelter in the woods that skirt along the edge. This had it’s own challenges as the paths here were overgrown and most of this section was underpinned with frequent '“fuck sakes” and a few gates which were fun to lift loaded bikes over.
Believe it or not there is a route through in there somewhere..
Tired and hangry we pushed on to Dunwich, home to some sublime bridleways if only we gave a shit and weren’t just thinking about where the nearest chippy was. By this point I had ingested my bodyweight in jelly tots, a bit of an afterthought when I was in the supermarket looking for supplies but heck they saved me that day! Following some familiar paths up to Walberswick we were tantalisingly close to our destination and more importantly, our dinner. There had been some talk of setting up at the campsite and walking into the town for some food but we were all chomping at the bit for a warm mean, preferably battered. Needless to say, there wasn’t much chatting while we inhaled our food..
A quick supply stop at Tesco followed and then we trundled up to the campsite, the weather at last easing off..only to tip it down again on arrival while pitching our tents/ bivvies. The campsite itself was located less than a mile north of the town and if you’re reading this and considering an overnight stop in the area I would highly recommend staying at Pigs in Blankets. Great set up, especially for tents as caravans and motorhomes aren’t permitted to be parked where the tents are pitched so no worries about being backed over by an idiot driver. Given that the rain had picked up again we took refuge in the barn and spent the evening chatting and reflecting on the um..mixed bag that day.
The next morning we were greeted with a very welcome sunrise and blue skies all round. Foods eaten, and bags packed we bid farewell to a couple of the guys who were snagging lifts home - lucky sods. The four of us remaining had a decent ride to get back home to Norwich and beyond so we hit the road with a stop in at The Front Room in Bungay for some much needed coffee and baked goods. The route up from Southwold took in some really lovely lanes and a hella strong tailwind was a big welcome as I think everyone was feeling it after the previous days riding.
Not gunna lie, by the time we were within about 5km of Norwich my legs were running on fumes. We’d decided to stop in at Redwell Brewery, located right on the edge of the city and perfect for a post/mid/pre-ride beverage. The guys carried me most of the last bit, only the promise of a cold beer and a rest getting me through.
If there was a heart shape crop for the photo above this would be more appropriate! Despite the weather, the sand, the struggle (tiny violin plays) it was a mega trip and I think we all enjoyed ourselves. Growing up comes with all the distractions and excuses not to meet up with some mates and do something a bit silly, but on this occasion it was totally worth it. Almost as soon as I got home I made a list of what worked kit-wise and what didn’t, hopefully this proves useful for the next one.
Til next time.