Meet: 08:30 Ladwell Fields map, and 09:00 Cutty Sark Gardens map

Distance: 60 miles

Phone: Ian - 07986 872 205

A medium paced all day ride to Southend. We'll go under the foot tunnel at Greenwich and up through the Isle of Dogs onto the A124 for a speedy direct route to the Essex countryside. The ride loops to the North of Southend and enters the town from the east.

Pub lunch.

Entirely on roads and suitable for all bikes.

Report

Nick, Ian, Jane, Karen, Roy, Gary, Judith, Paul and Robert were on the ride.

Southend seems to be such an obvious destination for a ride to a seaside resort starting in the east of London. Taking a direct route it’s only just over 30 miles and with no big hills to climb why do we choose to cycle to Brighton so often? It’s all about what lies in between. Between Greenwich and Brighton there are 10 -15 miles of suburbia and then 40 miles of pleasant countryside with usually, depending on the route, a couple of big hills thrown in. Greenwich to Southend direct however, has some of the biggest and busiest roads a cyclist can have the misfortune to come across. Add to this the industrial nature of the north side of the Thames estuary consisting of oil refineries, petro-chemical works and large landfill sites and the choice of the direct London to Southend ride is quickly discarded. A preferable, pleasanter, though longer alternative exists.

This route is based on the Bike Events charity ride to Southend. After meeting Nick at Canning Town, we took a north easterly route out of London along the A124, busy but quick and then went north on the B177 to skirt Romford before finally encountering pleasant Essex country lanes to the north of  Havering-atte-Bower . Everything was now quieter and more relaxed.

We went through Navestock and had a quick look at the puddingstone erected to mark the millennium. Some guys with guns and dogs informed us that the stone had been deposited by a retreating glacier at the end of the last ice age which had been unearthed from a field nearby. As we left the stone the guys with guns and hounds ambled over to a field nearby. Rabbits, ducks, partridges and pheasants beware!

We had coffee at the Dog and Partridge in Kelvedon Hatch which is the home of the not so secret, secret nuclear bunker that is still enough of a mystery to the locals for them not to know its location. A quick delve on the internet and its secrets are revealed here . A visit to the bunker will probably be included in a future ride to the area.

A 3 metre wide Dutch style cycle lane at the side of a busy road takes us into Rettenden and we have dinner at the Wheatsheaf. A very reasonable £4.95 for Cumberland sausages, mash and peas.

We’re restricted to single file riding as we skirt the towns of Hullbridge, Hockley, Ashingdon and Rochford before being released onto quieter roads again after turning eastwards towards Great Wakering and Shoebury Ness. At Shoebury Ness we touch the coast and take a 10 minute break to view the unique shoreline and through the haze the giant chimney of Grain Power Station on the opposite side of the estuary. We lose Gary at this point. The email I received from him when I got home reveals that he went to the toilet without asking permission only to find that we’d disappeared when he returned. We’d ridden about a mile and a half before we realised you weren’t there Gary. We did return to look for you but to no avail. We now know why.

At Southend we had a quick ice cream before catching the train back to London. Trains were only going to Fenchurch St today and 5 of us decided to alight at Limehouse.

Four of us had a drink at the City Pride on the Isle of Dogs before eventually arriving back in Greenwich at about 20:45.

A great day out, thanks everyone for coming.

Ian.