ACF ride in Essex - by Ken
Posted on Monday 1 January 2007 by Ken Peters
It’s Xmas time so the slackers who are not working have decided to join ACF (Another Cycling Forum) for a ride in Essex. As the ride is scheduled to start from Shenfield and is going to be at a leisurely pace I am one of several people who have decided to ride out to get a few more miles in.
To get to Shenfield I have taken a northern route most of which is well known to me from rides I have done with Tower Hamlets Wheelers. Also riding out are Nick Bloom who is picking up other riders en route and going a more direct and southerly route. However, I make a tactical error and start late as I have overslept so it is going to be a fast ride to get to the start on time.
All was going swimmingly until soon after passing through Woodford Green I hear a loud pop and know that the I had punctured, then I remembered that in my hurry I had forgotten to transfer my pump to the bike I was riding so I was unable to complete the repair and so I sent a message to Nick to let him know that I was not going to be able to get to Shenfield. After doing that I set off to walk back towards Woodford where I would pick up the Central Line and return home. Luck was on my side as no sooner had I begun to walk than I spotted a familiar group of cyclists approaching and I was able to flag down Camille, Andrew and Nick who I was very surprised to see as they were meant to be on the A12. Cutting a long story short we were back on the road shortly as I was able to borrow a pump but the puncture repair was not entirely smooth as the new tube had a minor fault and with the aid of Nick I discovered that some valves are made in two pieces as the valve came apart and needed to be adjusted before it would hold air.
The upshot was that the delay meant that we were likely to be late but as it appeared that the others had managed to divert from their route so I was able to return the favour by leading the group to Shenfield where we would chase the main bunch of riders.
The chase from Shenfield was not to go smoothly as we managed to miss an important turn-off in Shenfield and ended up in Billericay. I know that feeling of stupidity as I have managed to get myself lost through faulty map reading on several occasions. A few phone calls and some on the hoof direction finding eventually got us to Blackmore but we had missed the main group by several minutes so we settled for a short coffee break and Nick checked where the main group were in order to update rendezvous arrangement which appeared to be at Radley Green.
After continuing to Norton Heath, Andrew and myself decided to head back into town while Camille and Nick were going to take a direct route to Radley Green and meet with the rest of the riders, of whom there appeared to be in excess of 20 according to the very helpful lady at the tea shop in Blackmore.
A fast blast through familiar lanes from Norton Heath took Andrew and myself to Epping where we had a short break before continuing back into town where we separated in Tottenham to make our way home. By the time I got back to Winchmore Hill and checked the route I had managed to clock up in excess of 120K which is not a bad total for a winter day.