Southend

Tuesday 22nd July Another big turnout today with 14 requesting lunch. As we made our way to Norton it started to rain lightly as we approached Ingatestone. I did stop to see if anyone wanted to put their coats on the consensus was to carry on. Naturally the rain got heavier and we were quite wet when we reached the cafe. After that we had no more rain. Our route to Old Harlow was pleasant, with little traffic. There wasn’t much selection on offer at the pub if you wanted a sandwich but what they had seemed good. Our return journey was a little wind assisted. As it was over 30 miles back I would have preferred to break the journey but there were no real options. Near Stondon Massey Tariq had a puncture on his tubeless tyre! I saw how to use a worm to fix a puncture for the first time. Just under 64 miles for me Trev

Thursday 24th July There’s nothing like a bike ride on a beautiful, summer’s day. Well yesterday was not a beautiful, summer’s day! In fact I think it was my wettest ride this summer. It started ok with just a few light spots of rain. As we sat outside at Mrs Salisbury’s Tea Rooms in Wickham Bishops. The rain drops came a bit heavier, so much so that some of us donned our coats. In my case I sweated so much in my coat that I was wetter inside than out! The route through Great Braxted and Rivenhall was very busy and we stopped at couple of times to let the queue of traffic die down. We were the only ones sitting outside at The Railway in Kelvedon. As we were half way through our food the rain got heavier, and seemingly got chillier. As we left Kelvedon the rain became more persistent and stayed with us until about Maldon. We were all soaked through. Another character building ride. Just under 54 miles for me. Trev

2025 Puncture Competition