January ride for fish n chips

[Mark Grant]

Well done Abs. A good ride.
We didn't quite leave at 8.00 sharp, it was a chilly morning and some seemed to have struggled to get out of bed.
The tea rooms were very nice, tea and carrot cake for me. When we left Blackmore the group spread out a bit led at the front by Frank. He was riding as though he stole something. When we stopped to regroup a few miles later he denied riding like a fugitve and explained that he was cold and trying to warm up. I suggested he should wear a buff.....
The pub was good. Hearty food and nice beer.
Those of us getting the train back went to Witham station, User10571 pulled out a lead and by the time the rest of us got there he had already sorted the tickets. A short wait for the train and then to Stratford where we split into two groups and cycled home.
91 miles for me.

Mark.

 

[topcat1]

lets see now
rob luke mark adam ian User10571 frank martin andy nigel? chris steve remus mike Abs/supergirl

http://img262.imageshack.us/g/halojmaldon003.jpg/

http://img262.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=halojmaldon003.jpg

we also met the southend ctc group, they were down stairs at the pub

 

[dellzeqq]

well done. I did a measly 72 miles Cafe To Cafe, and it was bone cold all the way. I worried about you out in the wastes of Essex

 

[lukesdad]

Im still riding round Chelmsford Would have liked to chat longer but had to get back to let the staff in.
132 for the day.

 

[stevevw]

Fantastic Abs. We must do this again in the summer.

103 miles - Fish and Chips - Job done.

Even had my dinner being dished up as I walked through the door. Great end to a perfect day.

 

[Aperitif]

Well done everyone! What a nice day out it looked...from Dave's snaps anyway. Getting lost is part of the thrill Big M - savour it.

 

[frank9755]

'Teef, this buffgate stuff is starting to cause some serious fallout. Innocent people who have purchased their own buffs are scared of the response that is likely to follow if they wear them.

You may think I am exaggerating but one person, who I won't name, told me today that he has a buff like the one Claudine used to have, but he is afraid to wear it in case he is accused of receiving stolen goods!

What is the world coming to when the buff-wearing rights of people are infringed in this way?

 

[Flying Dodo]

A very nicely organised day out - you just need to sort the weather out Abs, but apart from the cold headwind everything else almost went as planned, although it could be said one or two participants did take the p*** once or twice.

Setting off from HPC it was mainly a FNRttC route, until heading off into Birds of a Feather territory and Chigwell - there's lot of money there in those big houses. And about every other house was having work done to make it even bigger. One looked like a mini South Fork ranch.

Once we'd got past the M25 I was in unknown territory for a little while, as I'd never been in that part of Essex before, but we'd certainly got some nice quiet rolling roads. Nice friendly cafe in Blackmore and then slightly less rolling roads for the second half.

Having been a late convert to GPS, the last week has been a real revelation, as following the little trail has been so easy and greatly cuts down on the stoppage time. Setting off from Maldon to get the train, we made a last minute decision to head for Witham instead of Chelmsford, so it was just a question of switching routes, as I'd previously plotted it whilst sat in the pub, just in case, and then just following the dots. And then once back in Stratford, I had a quiet-ish route already planned back to St Pancras which Andy and I followed. Then I had a quick sprint along the platform to get a train which was about to leave, so I was back to home at 6.45 with just under 80 miles for the day. I had to make my own tea though.

 

[ianrauk]

An excellent day out with Cyclechat friends. Well done Abs on organising a cracking ride.

My self and User10571 waited at Aldgate for the peleton to arrive.

This year's 'Look' is User10571 Ninja black.

I let Johnny Rotten look after my steed for a while

The peleton arrived..

Essex has it's fair share of tall (?) structures.. some nice..

some not so

Where's Becs when there's an animal to ride?

Fish and chips & beer at..

Has a cracking view.

These pics and more here. (Please help yourself to any)


So.. a nice cold ride, at a nice quick pace..we all had to try keep up with Frank, that helped keep the internal fires nice and stoked.

Back to home myself and Ross headed to Dartford. Which meant traversing the Grays one way system. The same one way system that myself and Arallsopp got lost in for 3 days once on a Southend SMRbtH, I still have nightmares. Oh yes.. apparently myself and Ross are "effing winkers you mugs!!"...according to some charming hatchback passenger.

114 miles for the day.. walked in the door at 6.45pm to a nice Roast Beef din-dins..
Thanks for organising Abs and thanks everyone else for the great company.

 

[redjedi]

Got home about 8ish with 116 miles on the clock.

Great day out apart from the head wind, and an excellent route. I will look forward to doing it again in the summer.

And both food stops were excellent. Carrot cake at Blackmore's tea room is highly recommended, and the fish and chips really hit the spot.

Thanks Abs.

 

[rb58]

Big thanks for organizing today Abs. Thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the company and the stops. Even enjoyed the super speedy ride back via Dartford with Ian. I was home, showered and on the sofa by 6.30pm with 109 miles in the legs. Can't wait to try that route in the summer!
Cheers!
Ross

 

[zigzag]

a splendid day out and almost as good as winter cycling can get! a bit breezy and cloudy in the morning, but the sun came out in the afternoon and the wind calmed down. sunshine was short lived, but sunsets with vivid blue sky and pink clouds are always a pleasure to observe.

a fair amount of calories was burnt, and also consumed - including jumbo piece of cod at 'the old ship'. back home at 18:40, with 107miles and 14.4mph moving average. hot bath, hearty dinner and now - warm bed.

thank you Abi for getting us all out today - that's a proper way of spending sundays. i also agree about this ride in late spring/summer.

 

[Martok]

A lovely route organised by my better half, Abs for this Sunday ride to Maldon.

It was a rather cold day and boy did we feel it at times. Once cycling, we mostly warmed up though I did have to put my overshoes on half way along the journey (two pairs of socks just weren't enough).

Stopped at the Blackmore Tea Rooms @30 miles for much needed sustenance (the lemon cake was excellent) and then on to The Old Ship for lunch. Many of us had fish & chips though going by the size of the monster that overhung both ends of the plate it was more like half a whale! Very tasty but boy did that repeat on the way home...

I couldn't keep up with the main pack on the way there and trailed some distance behind (only managed an average of 12.8) and I really struggled with the hills (though most of you probably didn't think much of them) - too unfit and too much fat on me. A big thanks to all those who did stints as back markers and kept me company on the journey.

6 of us decided not to do the journey home so we cycled up to Witham and caught a train to Stratford (typical that this weekend it didn't go as far as Liverpool Street). Once there we split in 2 with me and Adam cycling back to St Pancras Station. A big thanks to Adam for navigating me there. I did get a bit lost once I left him thanks to road works and diversions but I doubled back and got back on track.

I finally arrived home at 6.50pm with 83 miles done. A quick drink to replenish fluids and then I had a lovely long, hot bath!

 

[HaloJ]

Thanks all for a great ride and great company! Getting lost in the city on the way out. I'm screwed without a breadcrumb trail to follow which is why I let everyone else navigate when out on Sunday rides. Lovely route and the headwind whilst chilling was only brutal on the final part as we approached Maldon. The hedges vanished, fields opened out and we were riding up an exposed incline straight into Sibera. Brrrrr.

Thank you to The Blackmore Tea Rooms and to The Old Ship in Heybridge Basin for great food and accomdation for 20 chilly cyclists.

The return leg was a pacey none stop ride with achy knees for me. Confounded by being a plonker and getting a foot wet when riding through DZ's aforementioned ford. 30 miles during winter with a soggy, cold foot is far from pleasant. Still a superb ride though and a beautiful sunset.

I returned home to find a bath ready for myself with dinner following shortly after I got out, thanks love.

Totals for the ride were 117 miles at 14.2 average with 3925 foot of climbs (see, flat!)

Outbound : http://connect.garmi...tivity/66020042
Inbound : http://connect.garmi...tivity/66020037

Finally may I just say I was a little taken aback at the turn out and sign up for the event. I was expecting low numbers seeing as it's a long ride and during the winter. So thank you once more for making it a great day.

Abs

 

[StuAff]

Glad everyone had fun. My audax was an experience and a half. Up dark and early, into the start at Denmead at 7.45 for 8. Notwithstanding the strong headwind, I got rapidly dropped. I didn't have anyone to follow, was trying not to use the Garmin or phone too much to conserve the batteries, and didn't have a paper map. A few lessons for next time...Not surprisingly, ended up going the wrong way, and by the time I got to Whitchurch (first control) I was 40km up on the route distance. I decided to keep going for the 200k, but just do my own thing (third control, Wantage, was too far north). After a rather hairy diversion along the A34 (!!), met up with a few others at the next control, Kingsclere, again to go the wrong way heading south. Made it back to Denmead at about 8.30, home 9.10. Total mileage a fraction under 128, and great practice for my LeLOG. I'll definitely have another go at that route when it's a bit warmer & the day longer.