CTC Cambridge

Saturday 24 January 2026 

Yasmin writes: The premise of this ride is refreshingly straightforward. Start at Debenham (the village near Stowmarket, not the shop) and ride, following a bearing of 339°, for 100km. Have a cuppa and turn round, and come back the way you've come.

The organiser, David Coupe, describes it as "ideal for a no-frills winter 200 with warm shelter and refreshment opportunities every 20km". It does sound ideal for filling my audax-once-a-month obsession (known as Randonneur Round The Year, or RRTY), but with an 8am start I couldn't work out public transport logistics to get there and it seemed too far to ride to in winter. So I was delighted when my Audax Club Mid-Essex (ACME) clubmate Owen offered a lift to me and another audax chum, Amy.

Up at normal audax o'clock. The usual worries: it's been a stressful couple of weeks, not enough sleep, and first time doing a calendar event on my touring bike. My audax bike is currently at the bike shop with a number of woes. I have only done solo audaxes on my touring bike before; it is a hugely fun bike, but not as fast as my audax bike. Being invited to join the ACME peloton is very exciting, but I am worried about keeping up.

I arrive at our rendezvous point in Fulbourn first, and Owen arrives seconds after. We pack up my bike, and Amy arrives; she's had even less sleep than me. Amy rests in the back of the van while me and Owen catch up; kids, work, solving all societal ills. The sugar beet plant at Bury St Edmunds looms over the flyover, almost majestic with the sunrise behind it. Amy stirs, and Owen and Amy catch up on telly chat.

At Debenham, David Coupe welcomes us in. I'm told this is his last audax as an organiser. David is a terrific organiser; welcoming, gentle, encouraging. The ACME peloton turns out to be most of the field. The plan for the day is to ride together, stopping at Dereham Wetherspoons twice. Off we go!

The group splits and rejoins up and down Suffolk bumps. Through Eye, with its pretty church. Lots of nostalgia today, as we ride through the area I grew up. Knowing the one-way system in Attleborough is an advantage, and I holler to Roger to change lanes and brace for a very tight right as we swoop round. I had meant to text my mum and sisters to say we'd be passing through Attleborough - but forgot, oops.

I'd forgotten about the distinctiveness of houses and villages round here. The particular pitch of the roof and then the roof of the attached outhouse at a different pitch, little windows peeking out like eyes under a fringe; red pantiles; white render; villages with a big area of commonland at the heart.

We welcome a newcomer to the ACME group; a guy with a racing green Longstaff has come over from Worcester! What a long way to come. But he grew up near Cromer, and lots is familiar. Roger and I spend a while chatting; he is going to operate a control for me on my 300km on Saturday 11 July, the Cambridge Randonnee 300. Having enjoyed much audax hospitality, Roger is keen to return the favour and is planning all sorts of goodies. I'd better set him a budget.

Everyone is getting hungry. On the way into Dereham, my bike feels a bit spongy and then not very stoppy. Ah. Too soft to carry on to the Wetherspoons, so I stop to top up my tyre.

At the 'Spoons, Amy texts to offer to order me something - but I'm already at the bar. The queue for the hot drinks is too long, so I sadly head outside to sort my tyre with an empty mug. I have just moved over to 32mm tyres on my audax bike, but my tourer is still on 28mm marathons - so am relieved when it turns out I had packed the correct size tubes, and don't need to take up Grant's offer of supplies. Can't find the source, so assume it was a pinch flat on one of the many potholes.

Eat cooked breakfast with greasy fingers whilst replacing tube, then in to have a cup of tea with the others. Owen shows us photos of his new cat. The cat was recently found in the fridge with a somewhat diminished roast chicken - having worked out how to open the fridge door herself.

The familiar Breckland landscape gradually gives way to north Norfolk heathland. Funny that the sand beneath a thin veneer of soil should make south Suffolk and north Norfolk so similar but different. Roger remarks that it won't be long until the gorse blooms. We can tell we're getting near the coast; there is something about the light; the brightness, the clarity - I can see why artists like it.

In Burnham Market, Tom leads us on the scenic route. And there's the sea! Yippee!

Dropping down into Burnham Deepdale I get a familiar spongy feeling... Quickly top up for the last half-mile into Burnham Deepdale. Sigh. This time, we all take it in turns to inspect my tyres. I haven't gone over to reading glasses yet, but consider adding some cheap supermarket ones to my tool bag. Owen is the winner; a little shark's tooth of flint which has joined us on a journey across Norfolk.

The man running a coffee van is incredulous, and Owen hears him phoning a friend; "yeah, all the way from Stowmarket! And now - they're going back again! I know, right?!"

On the journey back, the Fakenham bypass fragments our group. Lately, I have been making it my mission to get top tips for encouraging other women to try audax - I feel wholly unsuited for working it out myself. Owen and Tim have some great ideas; one particularly good (and easy!) idea is having out a photo frame for selfies: "I did 100 miles with CTC Cambridge / Audax UK!" It doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, but I can see that others like that sort of thing.

Back to Dereham 'Spoons. Wetherspoons have become a some sort of community centre; there is a perpetual queue for the free hot drink refills. Grant tells us about some Audax UK proposals for divvying up 600km events. Tom wonders how this will affect his Tourdax events - they sound like such fun, like the old skool CTC club tours pictured on our website.

Outside, it is lighting up time. Someone asks about flashing lights, and Tom is firm; no flashing lights. Tom leads us the Toftwood way out of Dereham, which I prefer but wouldn't have been able to navigate.

Groups bend and flex; Tim and I have a long chat about our children, their plans, navigating rearing teenagers, schools, Norfolk, work, how covid changed the world.

In the darkened landscape, a car up ahead waits for us, and I say that the driver probably thought we were some enormous combine harvester or something. This leads to many jokes about being compared to a combine harvester - and a diversion to the Wurzels song, which is apparently now a meme.

Through Attleborough and Tom and I end up on the front. Tom is such a consistent rider and we swoop through the lanes in a lovely bunch, chatter going forwards and backwards through the group. Through Old Buckenham, with a lovely sign I hadn't noticed before: "Slow yer down bor". Picture and great story here.

A transmitter bobs red lights on the horizon; I assume it's the one at Tacolneston, but it never gets any closer. Norfolk gives way to Suffolk, and some of the hills seem to go on forever. The transmitter eventually seems a bit closer; Tim says it is the Mendlesham one, which explains why we haven't gone past it yet.

Amy starts to feel dreadful and drops back on the hills; Grant and I soft-pedal for her to rejoin. I had wondered about suggesting a quick break in Diss, on the benches on the common near the Angel cafe - but bottled out of it, and am now regretting this. Round a corner and there is everyone else; we regroup, and pull the last few kilometres together.

David is waiting for us in Debenham, with Arabella and Ian, and we swoop back in at 8pm on the dot. Hooray! Stories are swapped, further combine harvester jokes made, incredulity that I dragged marathons all the way to the seaside and back and still got two punctures. It has been such a fun day.

We bid farewell, and Owen packs me and Amy back into the van. On the way back, I manage not to fall asleep. Owen pulls up outside Netherhall school, and we all go our separate ways.

On the DNA path, my husband Chris texts me carefully-worded questions so that I can reply with yes or no answers on the garmin: tea? Pot noodle? It is lovely to get home, tired but satisfied, full of joy at spending all day with lovely people. Chris is so glad to see me, and our daughter is full of the nice day they'd had too.

What a jolly day out! Thank you so much Owen for the taxi service and David for organising - it was such fun. Yasmin