Sudbury and Lovely Weekend Ride in Suffolk

One day I have joined some membership club website for bikers. Had few conversations about bikes, experiences and riding location. I was looking to for new adventure and this time I wanted to do it with another rider. It happened that one person from Sudbury responded to one of my post and invited me to ride there together. She was at the same stage as myself at that time, I mean riding 125 cc with ‘L’ plates. Accidentally, even the similar Honda model CB125R.

I checked on the map. Sudbury is a small market town which offers good food and beer as a stop over for a traveller. It is only 70 miles away from my home and it looks like a nice ride for Saturday. Then I checked the forecast and it was wonderful, sunny weather with light winds, fantastic. So, without any further delay, I booked a room in a nice pub, The Angel for the coming weekend. On Saturday morning I left London heading for Sudbury. (Side note – in the mean time, The Angel with Rooms changed hands and its name, which is now The Angel Sudbury)

Planning

As usually, I planned few stops and some route markers to make sure I will go the way I wanted. One and most sought after stop was just before my destination at The Henny Swan. This is very well know pub in the area for its great food and superb location with massive garden by the river. People arrive there by the road, as I did on the a motorcycle and some other do it by the river in kayaks and rowing boats!. It is truly amazing place with great views.

It felt as the best place to have a lunch before my arrival to Sudbury. Many reviews mentioned that it is a busy place, so I actually called them to find out if they will be open. Luckily it was and I have been advised to book a table even if in the garden. Fair enough, but I was not willing to rush myself to get there for a specific time-slot. My preference was to enjoy the ride and see how it will unfold.

The Henny Swan

I took my chances, arrived something around 13:00, parked my bike at the car park, which looked like an apple orchard with many trees bearing fruits. The place was already busy but not as much, so I was given a bench behind the … bunker overlooking the river. All to myself, how brilliant! For lunch I had a very tasty burger and coffee, which I greatly enjoyed.

It is truly charming place to relax, have a lunch, drink or just watch the river and cows on the other side 🙂 So I stayed the for around half an hour, then returned to my bike and rode to The Angel. It took me … 5 minutes? And still I was too early as I supposed to arrive after 14:00.

Later that day, I met my new friend in the centre of Sudbury for a chat, walk, beer and a meal. After well spent time in great company, we said good night and to meet tomorrow at 09:30 for day of exploring.

Here is my route from London to Sudbury.

Sunday

It happens, that I came fully prepared. I mean, just in case, I planned a route around the area with visit to Pin Mill and The Butt & Oyster pub for lunch. My friend loved the idea of not needing to lead and take me to places and happily agreed to follow my route. We agreed on signals to communicate changes in direction when I will be riding behind, because she didn’t have an intercom. I have learned from other, a lot more experienced riders, that it is a good practice to changed every 15 – 20 minutes to reduce the ‘stress’ of leading and relax in following. So, promptly we were off toward the Pin Mill.

To Pin Mill

This route is around 32 miles long for about 1 hours and 15 minutes ride. But this is without any stops and … missed turns 🙂 All in all it took us almost 2 hours and few miles more, but who cares? In such a lovely sunny day you want to stay on the road for longer, well I do.

In The Butt & Oyster we both had a salmon with salad, I believe and obviously a coffee. If not on the bike. I would have a pint as they have long range of great ales. How do I know? I’m also a sailor and so far, it was my very first time on the bike there. Usually I moor up at Royal Harwich Yacht Club or in the Woolverstone Marina, just 15 minutes walk along the river.

After tasty lunch, we went for a short walk as the day still was very young. But you know it well, the riding boots are not the best for this type of activity and the gear is not so comfortable for it either, we got back on the road to chill down 🙂 It became a hot day.

Heading Back

The way back to Sudbury was longer, more twisty and even more enjoying. We went via an Elmsett airfield in the hope for coffee but they have no such facilities, so we went on quest to find a nice place to have one, somewhere on the route. However, as it happens in such, we took one or two different turns, so going off the route we found ourselves in a beautiful, quiet place called Cock Inn Polstead, where coffee was just perfect.

Around half an hour later we were riding again. Part of our route went somehow via the same roads but it was worth it every penny. We have split on the outskirts of Sudbury, as we went now to our places to refresh and change. Later on we met again for meal and few pints.

On Monday morning I had one more ride in a lovely September sunshine on my way back home. If you have never been to Sudbury or Pin Mill, I highly recommend to do so. The area has lovely, twisty roads with little or even no traffic and Pin Mill is truly picturesque place with splendid views over the river Deben.

Route – London to Sudbury, Route – The Angel to Pin Mill, Route – Pin Mill back to Angel and Route – Sudbury to London