Auntie Helen
Well-Known Member
It went very well, thanks for enquiring - I meant to post something earlier.
So I arrived at Manningtree Station after the joy of Cox's Hill (downhill) and saw that Morgana and Moondancer were already there. We set off along the potholey route into Manningtree, then past the swans (that Moondancer later said he thought were geese) and Mistley Towers, then starting our first hill climb. To the other two, of course, it was a minor upward tendency but it was the first example to them of the amazing ability for a recumbent trike, piloted by me, to go slowly up hills.
From the top 'o the hill we wended our way to Mistley Heath, then Bradfield, enjoying the rolling hills from Bradfield to Wix. Passing motorists were, as usual, generally very pleasant and we were able to chat and ride at the same time.
From Wix we headed eastwards on the NCN51 which ends up at Harwich; we turned off it at Beaumont-cum-Moze, heading southwards on a road with an appallingly bumpy surface; it's a lovely sweeping downhill but it shakes your fillings out. We had some nice views of the Naze Tower in the distance.
At the bottom we turned eastwards again, passing Landermere and cycling through Kirby-le-Soken, then reaching Walton-on-the-Naze where we passed the entrance to Titchmarsh Marina. The locals were beginning to appear (we'd left Manningtree at 8:50) and thus started the usual young-children-pointing-at-me-and-laughing experience.
We went through Walton until we hit the sea (almost) and then turned left up the surprisingly hilly bit to the Naze Tower. Which was closed. We cycled round it, then stopped at the tea room just in front (which I always thought was just a toilet block!) They had some very good coffee and walnut cake but Morgana chose the bakewell tart (I think) which was rather too firm for the supplied plastic fork which he broke in two places.
As usual at Walton it was a bit chilly so we didn't hang around for too long. We got back on our bikes and retraced our route to Kirby-le-Soken, then continuing along the road to Sneating Farm Lane (or whatever it's called) and joining the main route from Walton/Frinton westwards. This road was a bit busier and we stayed on it until Weeley, having to ride in single file. Most of the traffic was going the other way, however - presumably people going for a day out at the seaside. It was certainly a beautiful day for it with blue skies, sunshine and reasonable warmth.
At Weeley we turned southwards, picking up the quiet country road by the war memorial which goes to Aingers Green. I swapped bikes with Morgana for a little while and he whizzed off ahead, not paying attention to the satnav and consequently missing our turn. We swapped bikes back in due course, went back on our track a little until we found the turning which took us to Great Bentley.
Great Bentley is a great village with the largest village green in Britain (or is it the world?), surrounded by houses. There are often people playing cricket, although today it was football. The village does have a downside however - nowhere to buy tea! Only one pub and it didn't serve tea last time I went there. So we continued on.
Morgana followed the road sign to Brightlingsea which some local wag had moved (he was actually heading towards the far-from-lovely A133 Clacton Road) but noticed I was wandering off elsewhere so came back to join us. We pootled across the level crossing at Thorrington, then found our way on the road to Brightlingsea.
The big hill as you approach Brightlingsea has an almost unusable cycle path (which starts at the bottom of the hill, on the wrong side of the road for people approaching Brightlingsea, and it's a dance of death to try to cross over onto it when doing 30mph on the downhill, particularly when it has bollards across it which are narrower than my trike unless I go the undergrowth-side of them). Not to mention rumble strips on the road which make my back wheel swing out - almost like riding on ice. Weird! So I spun my way up the hill, holding up a few motorists. Well, apart from those who choose to overtake on double white lines (hint to everyone - the Highway Code says you can only overtake a bicycle or horse when there's double white lines if they are going 10mph or less - but we were overtaken at 20mph in places).
The hill seemed shorter than my memory suggested it was - perhaps because I hadn't been up it for over a year and had done a heck of a lot of miles in the intervening time. However it was no trouble to Morgana and Moondancer who whizzed ahead on the uphills.
We approached Scooby Snax, looking forward to its famed Fish 'n Chips - only to discover it was closed. No Sunday opening for them.
So we continued on to the fish & chip shop by the harbour, locked the bikes to an ugly bit of fencing by the new unsold flats and joined the queue for food.
Karouise/Peter joined us for a spot of lunch and James (Mr Chellers) was cycling on his way to us, having had another engagement for the morning.
Food and tea arrived which was a welcome bit of nourishment after 40ish miles at an average of 13mph (much faster than my usual trundling speed). James appeared after we had finished eating but we had another round of drinks before setting off, four of us this time on bikes, back towards Manningtree.
From Brightlingsea to Manningtree the road goes almost due north the whole way. It's reasonably busy until Great Bromley but after that we had lovely quiet country lanes passing fields full of newborn lambs (aaaah!) and some rather attractive village churches. The end of the ride is the lovely descent of Cox's Hill. I raced down it with a chum last autumn and managed 45mph but did a very measly 38 today - I think Morgana managed to get to about 42mph. We left him at the station (where he had parked his car) and then set off back towards Mistley, where Moondancer's car was parked. On the way to Mistley I realised we were so early that the Co-Op would be open so popped in there to buy some goodies for this evening (choccie cake, yum!) so just waved goodbye to Moondancer. We bumped into a cycling forum friend at the Co-Op - he was waiting for us outside as had recognised the bikes (James's new bike is the same as Nick's bike; he decided to buy it after trying out Nick's last autumn).
James and I then had a 5.5 mile home into a headwind which was rather tiring, particularly as we both did over 50 miles yesterday. As I arrived home I was on 59.4 (should have done another mile!) and James on 30. I have enjoyed both cupcakes and my Garmin tells me I burnt off 3,360 calories so I should be able to have a whole tub of chocolate ice cream tonight!
It was a great day (as cycling always is!) and it was interesting to visit sailing destinations from the landward direction. Hopefully some more of you can come on the next one!
So I arrived at Manningtree Station after the joy of Cox's Hill (downhill) and saw that Morgana and Moondancer were already there. We set off along the potholey route into Manningtree, then past the swans (that Moondancer later said he thought were geese) and Mistley Towers, then starting our first hill climb. To the other two, of course, it was a minor upward tendency but it was the first example to them of the amazing ability for a recumbent trike, piloted by me, to go slowly up hills.
From the top 'o the hill we wended our way to Mistley Heath, then Bradfield, enjoying the rolling hills from Bradfield to Wix. Passing motorists were, as usual, generally very pleasant and we were able to chat and ride at the same time.
From Wix we headed eastwards on the NCN51 which ends up at Harwich; we turned off it at Beaumont-cum-Moze, heading southwards on a road with an appallingly bumpy surface; it's a lovely sweeping downhill but it shakes your fillings out. We had some nice views of the Naze Tower in the distance.
At the bottom we turned eastwards again, passing Landermere and cycling through Kirby-le-Soken, then reaching Walton-on-the-Naze where we passed the entrance to Titchmarsh Marina. The locals were beginning to appear (we'd left Manningtree at 8:50) and thus started the usual young-children-pointing-at-me-and-laughing experience.
We went through Walton until we hit the sea (almost) and then turned left up the surprisingly hilly bit to the Naze Tower. Which was closed. We cycled round it, then stopped at the tea room just in front (which I always thought was just a toilet block!) They had some very good coffee and walnut cake but Morgana chose the bakewell tart (I think) which was rather too firm for the supplied plastic fork which he broke in two places.
As usual at Walton it was a bit chilly so we didn't hang around for too long. We got back on our bikes and retraced our route to Kirby-le-Soken, then continuing along the road to Sneating Farm Lane (or whatever it's called) and joining the main route from Walton/Frinton westwards. This road was a bit busier and we stayed on it until Weeley, having to ride in single file. Most of the traffic was going the other way, however - presumably people going for a day out at the seaside. It was certainly a beautiful day for it with blue skies, sunshine and reasonable warmth.
At Weeley we turned southwards, picking up the quiet country road by the war memorial which goes to Aingers Green. I swapped bikes with Morgana for a little while and he whizzed off ahead, not paying attention to the satnav and consequently missing our turn. We swapped bikes back in due course, went back on our track a little until we found the turning which took us to Great Bentley.
Great Bentley is a great village with the largest village green in Britain (or is it the world?), surrounded by houses. There are often people playing cricket, although today it was football. The village does have a downside however - nowhere to buy tea! Only one pub and it didn't serve tea last time I went there. So we continued on.
Morgana followed the road sign to Brightlingsea which some local wag had moved (he was actually heading towards the far-from-lovely A133 Clacton Road) but noticed I was wandering off elsewhere so came back to join us. We pootled across the level crossing at Thorrington, then found our way on the road to Brightlingsea.
The big hill as you approach Brightlingsea has an almost unusable cycle path (which starts at the bottom of the hill, on the wrong side of the road for people approaching Brightlingsea, and it's a dance of death to try to cross over onto it when doing 30mph on the downhill, particularly when it has bollards across it which are narrower than my trike unless I go the undergrowth-side of them). Not to mention rumble strips on the road which make my back wheel swing out - almost like riding on ice. Weird! So I spun my way up the hill, holding up a few motorists. Well, apart from those who choose to overtake on double white lines (hint to everyone - the Highway Code says you can only overtake a bicycle or horse when there's double white lines if they are going 10mph or less - but we were overtaken at 20mph in places).
The hill seemed shorter than my memory suggested it was - perhaps because I hadn't been up it for over a year and had done a heck of a lot of miles in the intervening time. However it was no trouble to Morgana and Moondancer who whizzed ahead on the uphills.
We approached Scooby Snax, looking forward to its famed Fish 'n Chips - only to discover it was closed. No Sunday opening for them.
So we continued on to the fish & chip shop by the harbour, locked the bikes to an ugly bit of fencing by the new unsold flats and joined the queue for food.
Karouise/Peter joined us for a spot of lunch and James (Mr Chellers) was cycling on his way to us, having had another engagement for the morning.
Food and tea arrived which was a welcome bit of nourishment after 40ish miles at an average of 13mph (much faster than my usual trundling speed). James appeared after we had finished eating but we had another round of drinks before setting off, four of us this time on bikes, back towards Manningtree.
From Brightlingsea to Manningtree the road goes almost due north the whole way. It's reasonably busy until Great Bromley but after that we had lovely quiet country lanes passing fields full of newborn lambs (aaaah!) and some rather attractive village churches. The end of the ride is the lovely descent of Cox's Hill. I raced down it with a chum last autumn and managed 45mph but did a very measly 38 today - I think Morgana managed to get to about 42mph. We left him at the station (where he had parked his car) and then set off back towards Mistley, where Moondancer's car was parked. On the way to Mistley I realised we were so early that the Co-Op would be open so popped in there to buy some goodies for this evening (choccie cake, yum!) so just waved goodbye to Moondancer. We bumped into a cycling forum friend at the Co-Op - he was waiting for us outside as had recognised the bikes (James's new bike is the same as Nick's bike; he decided to buy it after trying out Nick's last autumn).
James and I then had a 5.5 mile home into a headwind which was rather tiring, particularly as we both did over 50 miles yesterday. As I arrived home I was on 59.4 (should have done another mile!) and James on 30. I have enjoyed both cupcakes and my Garmin tells me I burnt off 3,360 calories so I should be able to have a whole tub of chocolate ice cream tonight!
It was a great day (as cycling always is!) and it was interesting to visit sailing destinations from the landward direction. Hopefully some more of you can come on the next one!
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