Central London CTC blog

Essex – no trains!

Twelve months ago I also got to do the final 3-star ride of the year so maybe that will become one of my official duties for future years. This one was not without some problems as rail engineering works meant that Liverpool Street and Shenfield were both shut meaning that a fair amount of reorganisation was necessary. I eventually settled on using a route, that I often take when riding on Saturday, into Essex but starting from fairly close to my home in north London, at Tottenham Hale. Nine in all started out and Sue Dorey and Simon Binning also turned up there which was a little bit of a surprise. They had arranged to meet us at lunch but I had rashly assumed that they would get a train part of the way out and only have a short ride but they chose the more adventurous option of taking a more direct route to Hatfield Heath.

Once on the road we made our way to Woodford underground station as I had given an option for anyone who did not like the idea of the ride from Tottenham or, merely, would find it easier to get the tube rather than riding out. As it happened there was nobody who chose that option so after waiting for the allotted time to pass we set off towards Chigwell having bid farewell and Happy New Year to Angela Dale who was under the weather and wisely decided to turn back. There was another stop at Chigwell Row where we met Kelvin who had ridden out from the Romford area rather than come into then out of central London. So, it was not until ten that we had a full complement. After that everything went smoothly with the group being so well matched that there was hardly ever a need to stop and regroup at junctions. Things went so well that at Toot Hill it was evident we were making such good progress that a loop was required to prevent us arriving too early for lunch although there was the option of lunching at the tea shop in Hatfield Heath.

During the loop we had the only stop, at Ongar, where Paul had to attend to a puncture. Smoothly on we went via Moreton and Matching Green where we spotted Sue and Simon ahead of us which spurred our little peloton into a sprint to catch them and we eventually got to Hatfield Heath at 11:50 and I am sure the pub doors opened about 5 minutes early so my poor pace judgement did not result in too much hanging around. An excellent lunch was had at The White Horse, which had changed hands recently which has resulted in a greater emphasis on food. Despite the good food we were on the road again before 13:30 without being hurried at all. We then turned east towards Sawbridgeworth where Mike Oliver took an early train back and the rest of the group, with the exception of Kelvin who took the solo route back towards Romford, were content to follow me back into London to complete the ride. Well I say that we returned to Tottenham but I decided that the temptation of returning directly to Winchmore Hill was too much and I peeled off at Picketts Lock to finish the ride on my own. In all I managed 104km from Tottenham Hale to Winchmore Hill and everyone else would have recorded greater distances before they arrived home. I was quite pleased that I had made it back home before it was fully dark which is not bad for a day when we completed a century and had a proper lunch stop.

Thanks to all who took part and a Happy New Year to everyone.

Riders: Inez Thorn, Sue Dorey, Naomi Wolf, Paul Foster, Kelvin Dane, Simon Binning, Keith Butcher, Rory Rhodes, Mike Oliver, Jon McColl.