The ride heads out of London on big roads to make our gettaway into the Essex countryside with it's quiet lanes and some great open vistas.

Train back to London.

Find a pub or cafe for lunch.

Suitable for all bikes.

Report

Ian, Adam, Juric, Liz, Alan and Cathy.

The Ark Royal symbol of protection and freedom but also of technological, ocean borne deliverer of death and destruction dominated the Thames at Greenwich. Give us back the deliverer of tea the Cutty Sark please.

Only a small group for this Bike Week Sunday ride, but managing a small group of riders has its advantages for a lazy, not usually out on a Sunday, ride leader. The south westerly tail wind/breeze whipped us along the ugly roads of east London and into the lush Essex countryside.

The route dissected the sprawl between Ilford and Romford and then went from Havering atte Bower through Navestock Common to Kelvedon Hatch to through Mountnessing to Hanningfield Reservoir. We locked up for lunch at The Windmill in South Hanningfield only to be told they were booked up, fathers day stuff. Just as well, because the large amount of small flies being attracted by Adam’s yellow t-shirt from the reservoir were unbearable.

We settled two miles further down the road at the Rettenden Bell where we were helpfully told that food would take an hour to get to us. We all settled for a sandwich, and a couple of spiders took to Adam’s shirt to finish off the remaining flies. I’m not sure what to make of the group of mice that were scuttling around on the ground but they were dining too.

Lunch over for men, women, beasts and insects we headed on east through Stowe Maries, Cold Norton, Latchingdon and Althorne before dropping into Burnham-on-Crouch via the bends as the locals and bikers say.

The locals were rocking to Status Quo as a band played on the river. Fancying something a bit quieter we returned to the High St and the Ship for a drink before we returned to London.

53.1 miles

Ian Pendleton