12h Norfolk Nychthemeron: Pigs, Punctures, and Secret Climbs

The word Nychthemeron comes from an ancient Greek term meaning a full, unbroken twenty-four-hour cycle of day and night. It is also the name of the self-supported endurance challenge cooked up by the team at GRVL, designed to test a rider's resilience against time, terrain, and mental fatigue. While the full-fat version is a day-and-night monster, they also offer a condensed twelve-hour window. Living and riding in Norfolk, I know all too well that the county's pancake-flat reputation is a bit of a myth once you get off the beaten track. It was this twelve-hour loop that my friends and I set out to tackle, fully aware that even our familiar local trails have a knack for keeping you honest.

Things started peacefully enough with a sharp five-thirty morning rollout. There is a quiet magic to spinning your legs as the sun comes up, and we enjoyed a lovely, smooth roll down Marriotts Way to get the blood pumping and find our rhythm. It was the calm before a storm of our own making, because if there is one universal rule of gravel riding, it is that you never, ever talk about your puncture luck.

Naturally, Nick broke this rule immediately. He proudly proclaimed to the group that he had never once had a puncture on his current setup. It was the absolute kiss of death. Within minutes, a sharp piece of flint shattered his streak, sending tubeless sealant spraying in every direction like a mini erupting volcano. The puncture completely refused to seal, leaving us huddled over his bike on the edge of a field.

While we were wrestling with the tyre, a tractor engine rumbled to life and a local farmer pulled up alongside us. For a fleeting moment, we thought a friendly local was coming to offer us a tool or some moral support. Instead, he skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point, informing us in no uncertain terms that we were currently loitering on his private land. We apologised, scrambled to finish the job, and hastily installed an inner tube. Standing there holding a traditional inner tube, it was hard not to appreciate the simplicity of old-school tech when modern setups go wrong. But any lighthearted debate was cut short because the gravel gods weren’t done with Nick yet. After finally setting off, he managed to get a massive sidewall split exactly five pedal strokes later.

Once we finally sorted the mechanical comedy of errors and got moving for real, the true beauty of the route revealed itself. The Norfolk backcountry is spectacular, and the trail treated us to an incredible variety of landscapes and wildlife. At one point, we were even joined on the tarmac by a rogue pig that decided to pace our group for a short section. It was entirely bizarre, totally unexpected, and completely normal for Norfolk.

As the morning rolled on, the temperature began to soar. The sun beat down ruthlessly, which made me incredibly glad I had opted for the GRVL hydration pack. For a long, self-supported effort with a completely dry first half, standard water bottles just don't cut it. Not only does a pack let you carry far more fluid for the remote sections, but it also saves you from the classic gravel experience of taking a sip from a frame bottle and getting a mouthful of gritty trail dust.

By the time we hit Fring, we were well and truly ready for a reset. We stumbled upon The Old Store, which turned out to be an absolute sanctuary. We stopped for a quick espresso and what can only be described as the most spectacular granola yoghurt bowl known to humankind. If you are planning to take on this route, consider this place an absolute mandatory stop for your mental health.

Our grand culinary plans for later in the day, however, hit a minor roadblock when we reached the coast at Sheringham. The dream was a glorious, greasy portion of fish and chips. The reality was just a box of chips, purely because the shop refused to accept anything but cold, hard cash. I had to smile at the sheer irony of the situation; they still had all their massive, imposing clear plastic screens up from the pandemic era, yet they were completely happy to handle germ-ridden paper banknotes. We pooled our spare coins like school children just to secure our salt-and-vinegar carb fix.

The Nychthemeron route is masterfully designed, tracing a line right past some of the county’s most iconic historical landmarks. Rolling past the sweeping, grand boundaries of Holkham Hall and the stunning estate grounds at Blickling Hall gave the ride a real sense of scale, breaking up the long stretches of gravel and coastal holiday hotspots perfectly.

Of course, everyone likes to joke that Norfolk is as flat as a pancake, but whoever drew up this specific route clearly had a vendetta against that stereotype. It managed to sniff out a series of surprisingly cheeky, punchy little climbs that definitely got the legs stinging. Overall, it is a phenomenal loop with an amazing variety of surfaces, offering plenty of places to grab food and drink once you hit the coast and start making your way back inland.

If you want an exceptional, sit-down lunch experience along the way, I highly recommend checking out The Glaven Bistro in Glanford, as the route rolls right past its front door. You can explore this exact loop alongside a whole collection of other epic self-supported challenges all over the UK on the GRVL Nychthemeron Challenge page at https://grvl.cc/pages/nychthemeron-challenge.

You can also download the GPX file of our route directly below to try it out for yourself.