Cool place of the day: Tour de Broads, Norfolk

Every day, a new place to discover or explore from coolplaces.co.uk

There may have been a great deal of cycling heroics on the telly from Rio recently, but none compares with the spectacle of the Tour de Broads, now in its third year and officially the biggest locally organised cycling event in the country.

It’s a fun rather than a professional event, organised by Norwich-based cycle shop and all-round local cycling promoter Pedal Revolution, and takes in everything from a challenging 100-mile race through 75- and 40-mile options to a simple one-hour family affair. Starting and finishing in the Pedal Park, a brand new cycling facility based on the site of the old RAF base in Coltishall, there’s a festival feel to the day, with live bands, food stalls, beer tents run by local brewer Woodforde’s, and loads of good spots to watch the riders go by.

Norfolk – and the Broads in particular – is great cycling country, and the 100-mile route especially takes in some of the most picturesque villages and most renowned beauty spots of the National Park, from Reedham in the southern Broads to the Trinity Broads in the east, to Horsey Mere further north – where John Betjeman extolled the pleasures of a freshwater dip in "East Anglian Bathe". Hopefully the weather will cooperate and you can do the same after watching the peloton whizz past.

Cool Places is a website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)